Two well kent faces from the world of television have backed the Liberal Democrats in the General Election.
Historian and broadcaster Dan Snow says:
This isn't hard. If you're frustrated by two deeply flawed parties, there is a proper alternative. A party led by a young, internationalist, progressive woman who will stop Brexit and take action on the climate crisis. I'll be voting for @joswinson and the @LibDems
There was a highly symbolic moment late in the Yes campaign when its final TV broadcast was made. The TV broadcast featured Dan Snow and was a remake of an earlier Dan Snow film, shot to higher production standards (understandable) and also, intentionally or not, featuring a cast that overall looked younger. From being a film that featured people of a range of ages it became one that primarily featured young people. That was the general tenor of the campaign – with an overall cast of talking heads (in online films, TV films and elsewhere) younger than the average voter.
Yet in a relatively low turnout (I say “relatively” because, once again, turnout was much higher than many of the auto-pilot electoral doom-mongers in the media predicted) election it’s older people’s votes who are vital.
Charles Kennedy MP has emailed Liberal Democrat members and supporters with a “get out and vote” (and “get out the vote”) message, ahead of tomorrow’s elections and referendum:
Tomorrow you have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to have your say on how we elect our MPs to Westminster. Important elections are also taking place across the country for the Welsh Assembly, Scottish Parliament & local councils. Thursday is Decision Day.
When I was first elected in 1983, the idea of changing our voting system for Westminster elections seemed important, but the chance seemed remote. When the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly were established, neither
As I’ve said before, I’ve mixed feeling about celebs speaking out on their political views – they should certainly be free to do so, but unless they’ve got some particular expertise there’s no reason to give their views extra weight over anyone else.
One person who does know a lot about how politics works is Armando Iannucci, courtesy of the detailed research he has done for his famous satirical shows. He’s taken to the Evening Standard this week to put his case for a Yes vote on Thursday:
In the end, I knew I’d make my decision based on which side had the least headbangingly annoying argument, so I’ve come down on the side of voting Yes. This is mostly as a result of David Cameron’s beautifully foolish argument on Sunday that voting for electoral reform wasn’t British. It was so alarming to see him forget all British history from 1832 onwards, where small but steady electoral reform has been a very, very British thing to do (votes for women, anyone?) that I’m now quite alarmed he has any say over how our children are educated.
Here’s a preview of the Yes campaign’s second broadcast which will be shown tonight – it’s on at the following times:
17.55 – BBC 2
18.25 – ITV 1
18.55 – BBC 1
19.25 – Five
19.50 – Channel 4
Dan Snow presents a demonstration of how AV is “a common-sense solution to find out the result that the majority are happy with”, illustrated by a bunch of friends deciding where to go for a night out. It’s a new version of Dan’s previous – and very successful – video along the same lines, highlighting the point that First Past the Post is suited to binary choices, and doesn’t work for multiple choices:
As long as there are only two choices – the coffee shop and the pub – the old voting system works fine. But the trouble starts when there are more than two choices.
I’ve mixed feelings about celebrities endorsing a campaign one way or the other. They certainly should be as free as the rest of us to express their views in public, but unless the cause of their celebrity gives them a particular expertise in the subject there’s no particular reason to be swayed by their views beyond those of anyone else.
However, there is one other exception to this, which is when a celebrity is so at least in part because they are an expert communicator – and then getting them to argue a case and so make use of their communications skills makes a lot of sense.
Katharine Pindar Let's speak up, and demand to be heard. I don't fear what we will say, just the public not hearing from us. Newsnight on BBC 1 last night was an example of what...
David Raw As someone who first joined the Liberal Party way back in 1961, what I have observed since 2006 leads me to agree that David Allen's diagnosis is correct....
David Allen Yes. The Lib Dems have become a Janus Party - Facing both ways. There is a lot of detailed social-liberal centre-left word-play, designed to keep the activist...
David Raw @ Tristan Ward " I am wary of having my children (or any children) educated by the state given the state’s tendency to insist that citizens are there for it...
Anthony Acton The question was - what are the LDs for? IMO we should be the party of the rule of law, which is the essence of liberal democracy. We now have the time and r...
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