Say what you like about the banks: they give great holiday.
A day for making plans, maybe catching up on a few of those odd jobs – like electoral reform, for example…
2 Big Stories
Alan Johnson writes in the Times, recommending the adoption of the Alternative Vote Plus system: this came out of the Jenkins Report (Independent Commission on the Voting System) over a decade ago.
“The adoption of AV+ would shift the political focus currently concentrated almost exclusively on a few swing voters in a handful of marginal seats. It would end the perversity of the party with the most votes nationally forming the opposition rather than the government, as has happened twice since the war…. My proposal is that we offer the public the two options of AV+ and FPTP. We should debate these two alternatives freely and openly with no party whip and no government recommendation. Then on the date of the next general election we should have a national referendum and let the people decide. This is a genuinely radical alternative that only Labour in government can facilitate.”
Only Labour in government, Alan?
Meanwhile, down in the shed, David Cameron is tinkering with the Tory candidate selection process. From the Telegraph:
“Party hierarchies have always been nervous of anything that isn’t within their control. But people want to have more control over politics, and I want to give it to them.
That is why I’m going to reopen the candidates list and invite new people to come forward. They don’t necessarily need to have been involved in the Conservative Party in the past – more important than that is a belief in public service, and a desire to clean up our political system. Of course, I want them to be conservatives too.”
2 Must-Read Blog Posts
Paul Walter writes at Liberal Burblings on David Cameron’s sham public meeting on expenses, which makes you wonder whether the new politics Cameron’s trying to build has already blown over in a gust of wind. Back to the Black and Decker Workmate, David.
Libcync asks Have “The” Labour Party made a naming error?
“I recently received my postal vote and on the ballot paper for the European election in the Eastern Region there are 15 parties listed. The parties are listed in alphabetical order, so the BNP is at number 2, the Conservatives at number 4, the Liberal Democrats at number 7 but “The Labour Party” due to their preceding “The” are way down at number 12 (UKIP are at 14). Without the “The” they would have been above us.”
Labour are on the slide in more ways than one, and by slipping several positions down the ballot paper, may well have lost the few extra valuable votes that being near the top would pick up.
Happy (Bank Holiday) campaigning!
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3 Comments
Anytime there is a problem with the economy the Euro will fix it,likewise for any other issue PR is the panacea.
The call for PR is of course nothing to do with the third party being almost guaranteed a permaneant place in government or could it?
Can’t win so move the goal posts?
The problems with this `Johnny Come Lately’ Alan Johnson`s piece in the Times `ADV Plus’ are :
1.When the ADV Plus method of PR voting was first recommended by the Jenkins Reform Commission in 1998, where was Labour,(179 Seats majority ) that year,when all the democratic merits i.e. women,ethnic minorities,those in one horse constituency voters and so on and all supporters of smaller parties, could have been understood and experienced?
2.Mr Blair had clearly indicated to Paddy Ashdown, that he was going to support `The Project’, when in Government in 1997 but the coalition of blocker cabinet votes from Brown,Straw and `Two Jags’,reputedly drove any further notion of Electoral Reform into the sand.
3.So we now witness the dusting off of the Jenkins Report 10 years down the road, when Labour are struggling in the Polls and Alan Johnson we find making a vacuous pitch for `Electoral Reform’ and not Gordon Brown , whom was the principal blocker in 1998.
4.ADV Plus was paradoxically preferred to SDV in the Jenkins Report that does not command ,in my view,unanimity in the Lib.Dems. since SDV as always be more highly prized but again not my this tired and listless Government.
5.The existing Devolution and PR Voting for London,Scotland and Wales and NI have all come about, as a result of Liberal Democrat pioneer manifesto campaigns for fair votes and not from either Labour or the Tories.
6.How many General Election Labour Manifestos have been published, to date, have stated that they will unequivocally adopt PR ?
Good try Mr Johnson but I think that this smacks of only promising the moon and stars, as your ship heads towards the rocks.
one of Alan Johnsons intentions must be to bounce the rest of the reform coalition into backing AV+. in this hes right, we have a small, temporary window of oppurtunity which we could easily waste in division over voting systems- the point is to break FPTP & open up politics.
i dont much care if Johnson wants to be PM, his idea is a big step forward, lets back him.