Author Archives: Andrew Jones

Andrew Jones

Opinion: Lib Dems should not shelve House of Lords reform

By Andrew Jones | Tue 10th May 2011 - 11:56 am

Despite our best efforts, we Liberal Democrats failed last Thursday to make electoral reform sexy. Quelle surprise. The economy is faltering, public services have a shaky future and, frankly, how people vote for their MP’s is not of major concern to the British people.

Using my trusty retrospectoscope, I can tell you that the Yes campaign got the message wrong, and it did not resonate with people. The campaign went for the anti-politics, anti-politician approach of saying they were offering the people a way to make their MP’s work harder and suffer more. Britons shrugged. The fundamental nature in which politics …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 14 Comments
Andrew Jones

Opinion: The Flawed Logic of No to AV, Yes to PR

By Andrew Jones | Tue 5th April 2011 - 11:28 am

As a supporter and campaigner for a Yes vote in the referendum on the 5th of May, I have often faced the argument that, “I support a proportional system, but AV is not proportional, so I will be voting No”. A prima facie logical argument – if you do not like AV, then why on earth would you vote for it? Big names in the world of electoral reform have signed up to this “No to AV, Yes to PR” ethos, including Lord David Owen, one of the Gang of Four. According to the No to AV, Yes to …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 26 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • PM
    Tim, What would happen to the economy if the price of your Chatham house fell to £70k? There's quite likely someone living there with a mortgage of quite a ...
  • Tim
    @PM. Yes, allowing a LOT more houses to be built would reduce wealth inequality dramatically. We should aim to return to the c1997 price to income ratios - whic...
  • Peter Davies
    and building more houses of course....
  • Peter Davies
    The rising property market contributed more to the impoverishment of the poor than the enrichment of the rich. It is owner occupiers who hold the greatest propo...
  • PM
    @ Tim, You may be technically correct with your argument but it doesn't change the fact that we have become very much more unequal in recent decades. The ...