Shark Bait Blog

Environment.. and Scuba Diving.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010




UK Election 2010.. the year to let 'em hang.


This year, the General election is the evil of three lessers (conducted in a brash X Factor style) all vying to tell us that we, the electorate need to tighten our belts to help bail out the institutionalised shortcomings of the western economic model.. that is quite frankly, no longer good enough.

The major UK parties are telling us that the financial community would throw up its hands in horror, at the prospect of a hung parliament.. tough, the financial community owe us a favor.
We just pulled their unmentionables out of the fire and will be paying to sort out the mess that their untrammeled enthusiasm for deregulation has created, for a good few years to come.

A hung parliament is the surest way to finally achieve electoral reform in the UK.

The fact is that at the last election in 2005 the percentage of the electorate who decided not to vote at all, was greater than those who voted for the Labour party


The 'First Past The Post' system is specifically designed, not with the best interests of the British public at heart, but those of career politicians from just two political parties.. who at each General election attempt to rest power and influence from their opponents by lavishing the largest number of disingenuous blandishments on a disenchanted electorate.


The 'First Past The Post' system has given us the Poll Tax, Privatised Uitilities, Outsourcing in Hospitals, The Iraq War, Deregulated Banking, Selling off over 50% of the UK's Gold Reserves at the bottom of the market, Surveillance Society, Taxation of Pension Funds, etc, etc, etc.

This has occurred because the current system allows the political party in power, to drive often farcically flawed, ideological policies into effect, simply because the opposition is unable to adequately modify, much less halt the legislative juggernaut of an outright majority in the House of Commons.
Indeed it was for this reason that the Allies imposed proportional representation on Germany after WW2 and it certainly doesn't appear to have stymied germanic economic potential.


Labour's percentage of votes - at 36% (down by 5% from 2001) - is the lowest any winning party has ever achieved...

There was an overall turnout of 61% - up 2% from 2001. But this still means that 1/3rd of those registered to vote did not do so.

More people opted not to vote (38.7%) than voted for Labour (36%).

Labour's share of the total possible electorate was 22%.

Labour got 55% of the seats but 36% of the votes cast
The Conservatives got 30% of the seats but 33% of the votes cast
The Liberal Democrats got 10% of the seats but 22% of the votes cast.

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/2005_british_general_election.htm
(my emphasis)


To be fair to the Labour Party, that figure of 38.7% of the electorate opting not to vote, is a damning indictment of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats as well.


The current electoral system represents the vested interests of the Conservatives and the Labour party, with the Liberal Democrats riding on their coattails.. and we still do not have a directly elected Upper Chamber to replace the archaic House of Lords.

Mr Straw's proposals (cutting member numbers from 733 in the current Lords to a mere 300) are propaganda window dressing of a particularly tawdry nature, designed specifically to neuter its legislative power.

Use a tactical vote to send a very clear message to Westminster, we want change, we want modernisation and we want it now!

We want our vote to represent us in Westminster, whichever political party we chose to support. That would be a valid reason for the public to re-engage with politics.

No taxation, without proportional representation.


(image courtesy of Man vyi)

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