I read with interest your recent posts where you express frustration with the
present democratic structures and processes within the UK. It is a view which I wholeheartedly agree
with.
Democratic System
Our current representative democracy is a sham.
It is an affront to each and every person who has voted. We have a system whereby our elected
representatives represent their political party and not their actual
voters. A representatives may enter into
politics with the sincere intention to represent the electorate but once
elected they are cajoled, bullied and blackmailed by party while to represent
the party.
So, if MPs represent their Political Party, who represents us?
Party Politics is failing us
The party political system that we use is in desperate need of real reform. It
is simply no longer fit for service. The
voting system, First by The Post, promotes this partisan types of politics but
even if we had a more proportional voting system there are more fundamental problems.
In the olden days we had a three party system of the Conservatives, the
Liberals and Labour.
Conservatives represent the ‘elite’ and wish to persevere
the status quo.
Liberals represent the ‘middle classes’, wish to
persevere the status quo but has a social conscience.
Labour represent the Labour movement, and wish
to change the system and had a social conscience.
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| Which one represents you? |
changed British politics. The
Conservatives still represent the ‘elite’, nothing has changed there. But
Labour has evolved from representing the Labour movement to attempting and
failing to appeal to former traditional Liberal voters and the Labour movement. This ethos of ‘being all things to all people’
has, in fact, alienated traditional Liberal and Labour voters.
We are now in a situation where there is no political party that is
representing the labour movement at Westminster and for people like us, this is
dangerous.
It seems to me that the labour movement has two choices: Stick with the Labour
Party and change it from within or create another party that will represent the
labour movement’s views at Westminster.
City of London
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| The City of London. |
levers’ that the Treasury and my initial reactions what, ‘Yes! That is GOOD!!’. But I did a wee bit more research and found
out that business in the City of London get a vote in local elections. I couldn’t believe that…but it gets worse.
In the City of London, businesses have MORE votes that the electorate. This means, in effect, that these business
have more ‘fiscal levers’ that democratic government that is elected.
How dare they! The economy of the UK belongs to the people of this country. And
not businesses that care only for profit!
DO you think that these business will put the needs of the country
before their want for more profit?
The Solution
It is ok to have a moan about politics but what can we do differently? How can we improve it?
I believe that we should examine every aspect of our democratic processes and
structures and if they are found wanting, then we should reform them.
Couple of solutions from the top of my head:
A constituency contract between
the electorate and the MP, whereby the electorate can recall MPs who are not up
to scratch.
Reform of the voting system so that
it is proportional representative.
Bring all fiscal tools back into the
democratic system
Democratise our money supply
Create a mechanism so that the general public can force a general election.
Have full transparency on all
aspects of our democracy, esp for lobbying and corruption.
But ultimately, this must come from us.
Politicians will not change anything unless there is pressure on them.
We have a responsibility to stand up for our beliefs.
Take Care Bud
Alan
