LibLink: Andrew Duff – Europe gripped by UK election

Over at the Financial Times, Lib Dem MEP Andrew Duff offers a European perspective on the UK’s general election – and finds the continent as gripped as the rest of us by Thursday’s national poll:

In Brussels and across Europe there has been a surge of interest in the British general election campaign. People had more or less accepted that David Cameron would form a Conservative government, probably with a large majority, but now the outcome looks far from certain. …

Yet the thing that has galvanised continental political interest is the exposure of the iniquity of British electoral procedure. That Mr Brown could come third in terms of the popular vote yet still retain the largest number of seats in the Commons, and return as prime minister, is thought to be scandalous. Indeed, if such a result were to be declared in any benighted east European country, MEPs would pass cross resolutions about corruption and the abuse of fundamental rights.

Whatever comes out in the wash after May 6, a change to a system of proportional representation in Britain, where seats won at Westminster broadly match votes cast in the country, is a precondition for the rehabilitation of Britain’s reputation as a democracy.

You can read the rest of Andrew’s article here.

Read more by or more about .
This entry was posted in Europe / International and LibLink.
Advert

3 Comments

  • Paul McKeown 4th May '10 - 9:59am

    But what is http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0e6bd692-56ef-11df-aa89-00144feab49a.html all about?

    Needs explanation, surely electoral reform is a Liberal Democrat sine qua non? Surely NC is talking purely about giving confidence and supply to a credible minority government, or is more intended?

  • Paul McKeown 4th May '10 - 10:32am

    Yes, I understand and accept the four pre-conditions; they promise a better future for the country. I don’t understand, though, how this article talks about dropping one of them. LD’s should give NC, his front-bench and the parliamentary party as much manoeuvring room as they need, but surely this makes no sense?

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • Dominic
    2) you can work with the current rules and foster an environment where US tech businesses are encouraged to locate more of their value creating activities in th...
  • Dominic
    @Joe Bourke - at risk of being the tax bore on here, the UK already has a corporate alternative minimum tax, namely the domestic QDMTT enacted as part of the OE...
  • David Murray
    Nigel, two (or even more) aircraft carriers are no longer the protection you suggest. They present large slow-moving targets, plainly visible on the surface (un...
  • Joe Bourke
    Trump is by no means unique in American society. Many US businessmen, large and small, will recognise and welcome the hardball transactional business approach t...
  • Steve Trevethan
    Might it be more accurate to describe thé referred to group as the “Neo-Liberal elite”? As Michael Hudson points out, there are three basic power groups...