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Welcome to the General Election 2010
15 years ago
General
Recommended Listening
dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip - Waiting for the Beat to Kick In
Even the nicest of guys have some nasty within' 'em
You don't have to be backlit to be the villain
Whether it's greed, lust or plain vindictiveness
There's a level of malevolence inside of all of us
Now as partisan as I may be, being a member of the Liberal Democratic party, I will not say any particularly opinionated things for... the first few paragraphs, at least. All I ask is that you people who are eligible to vote should go out today and use that power.
Just 150 or so years ago, only the landed gentry were allowed to vote in this country, nowadays that would be like only letting millionaires have a say in how the country is run. Over the last century and a half, uncountable people have put themselves on the line, protested and even died for your right to put a cross in one little box.
Conversely, you have the right to disagree with all the parties, if you are disgruntled with politics to the very core then you can rebel - but this is not done by staying at home, in a democracy you rebel by spoiling your ballot; cross all the boxes, draw a picture, write obscenities - this way, your non-vote is still counted, still processed like any other, but says something very different: "I vote for nobody."
This, my friends, is the only say you have in how this nation is run for the next five years. If you refuse to use your vote now then you lose any right to complain in the future. If you disagree with anything Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats or any other party does - you are not to utter a word about it. You had the opportunity to stop it, you had the opportunity to rebel, and you refused it. So shut up.
As I stated before, I'm a member of the Liberal Democrats - for those unaware, the Lib Dems are a centre-left political party, currently the third largest in the country, who abide by the ideals of modern liberalism, where the state takes a generally non-interventionist role in social and economic policy however still provides state-run services such as healthcare, schools and benefits to provide a minimum standard of living for all.
I don't think I've ever gone into detail about exactly why I'm a Liberal Democrat, so now is as good a time as any.
The Liberals are just that, liberal - and for those who don't know some basic English, liberal comes from "liberty", which means "freedom". The Lib Dems are the party of the free, their policies are based entirely around stopping intervention into the life of the common man: providing equal opportunities for people of all backgrounds, creeds and races; securing human rights; and letting the economy operate freely (within certain boundaries).
As the child of an immigrant, having lived a significant portion of my life barely above the poverty line, living with a single and being a homosexual; to oppose support for suffering families and immigrants, and opposing equal rights for ... myself, then I would have to be one hell of a hypocritical bastard.
In addition to this, the Lib Dems are much more pacifist and environmentally-aware than other parties; they were the only major party to oppose the war in Iraq, branding it as overly expensive and doomed to failure (to which Charles Kennedy had a very merry "I told you so" moment a few months ago), they're the only major party opposing the renewal of the several hundred billion pound Trident nuclear defence network (which we've never used... ever), and the only major party to propose strict regulations on industry and power plants based on their carbon output.
While I may not be much of a "greenie" myself, I do think the environment matters a significant amount, and would not support a party that did not take the issues of climate change and pollution seriously. However, while I'm not very environmental, I am very pacifist, and have been since before my memory allows. I recall a time some six or seven years ago, at the grand age of 12 when I called myself a conscientious objector for the first time; since then I have consistently refused to have any involvement with the military of any nation, be it school trips to even supporting them - the war in the Middle East is pointless, stupid and deadly, doing nothing but serving the interests of investors.
And, of course, I'm a student. Students have for a long time been the core support of the Liberal Democrats and the party has gladly reciprocated. The Lib Dems probably have the most extensive and comprehensive policies for subjects that affect students and young people, including lowering the voting age, providing better support for young parents and people only just finding their way into the housing market, more money into education, reforming examination practices and - most famously of all - abolishing tuition fees.
Tuition fees have been the bane of students for the last 13 years, leading to record amounts of debt amongst young people and setting them off on a road where they can spend decades paying back what they needed - just to get an education. This to my eyes - and the eyes of every modern liberal out there - is WRONG. All people should have an equal opportunity to succeed and progress through education and imposing a fee to learn is only going to discriminate against the poorest and most disadvantaged people within society.
But then comes electoral reform. Electoral reform is the dealmaker in the event of a hung parliament today - Nick Clegg will only form a coalition government with the Conservatives or Labour on the basis that we change the system we use for voting and change it quickly.
In Britain we currently use the First Past the Post (FPTP) system to elect our public representatives and, while simple, this system not only discriminates (even if Labour come third in the popular vote today, they can still win the most seats in the House of Commons due to being the incumbent party), but wastes votes. While I cannot provide any definitive statistics, under the current electoral system roughly 50-70% of votes will be thrown away. All of that counting, all of that anticipation and effort - only for most of the work to be chucked in the bin?
First Past the Post is fundamentally unfair and is pretty much the whole reason we have a culture of "my vote means nothing" in this country. That is why the Liberal Democrats want to reform our elections to use the Single Transferable Vote (STV), a system that provides much greater proportionality and makes your vote (or rather, two votes under STV) worth something greater than what it is now.
STV is a complex electoral system - much more complicated than FPTP - however provides you with a number of MPs to represent you in parliament and would bring an end to a party running a country, when only 40% of people voted for them to do so in the first place - something that has gone on far too long in the UK. See more about STV on Wikipedia.
General elections are now the only elections in the country to still use FPTP - European elections, regional assemblies and and local government elections all use STV to great effect. FPTP has been phased out in dozens of countries around the world and is now a relic that should be consigned to the history books.
I've just spent an hour and a half writing this journal, I should sleep. Goodnight!
Just 150 or so years ago, only the landed gentry were allowed to vote in this country, nowadays that would be like only letting millionaires have a say in how the country is run. Over the last century and a half, uncountable people have put themselves on the line, protested and even died for your right to put a cross in one little box.
Conversely, you have the right to disagree with all the parties, if you are disgruntled with politics to the very core then you can rebel - but this is not done by staying at home, in a democracy you rebel by spoiling your ballot; cross all the boxes, draw a picture, write obscenities - this way, your non-vote is still counted, still processed like any other, but says something very different: "I vote for nobody."
This, my friends, is the only say you have in how this nation is run for the next five years. If you refuse to use your vote now then you lose any right to complain in the future. If you disagree with anything Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats or any other party does - you are not to utter a word about it. You had the opportunity to stop it, you had the opportunity to rebel, and you refused it. So shut up.
I DON'T CARE WHO YOU VOTE FOR, JUST USE YOUR DAMN VOTE.As I stated before, I'm a member of the Liberal Democrats - for those unaware, the Lib Dems are a centre-left political party, currently the third largest in the country, who abide by the ideals of modern liberalism, where the state takes a generally non-interventionist role in social and economic policy however still provides state-run services such as healthcare, schools and benefits to provide a minimum standard of living for all.
I don't think I've ever gone into detail about exactly why I'm a Liberal Democrat, so now is as good a time as any.
The Liberals are just that, liberal - and for those who don't know some basic English, liberal comes from "liberty", which means "freedom". The Lib Dems are the party of the free, their policies are based entirely around stopping intervention into the life of the common man: providing equal opportunities for people of all backgrounds, creeds and races; securing human rights; and letting the economy operate freely (within certain boundaries).
As the child of an immigrant, having lived a significant portion of my life barely above the poverty line, living with a single and being a homosexual; to oppose support for suffering families and immigrants, and opposing equal rights for ... myself, then I would have to be one hell of a hypocritical bastard.
In addition to this, the Lib Dems are much more pacifist and environmentally-aware than other parties; they were the only major party to oppose the war in Iraq, branding it as overly expensive and doomed to failure (to which Charles Kennedy had a very merry "I told you so" moment a few months ago), they're the only major party opposing the renewal of the several hundred billion pound Trident nuclear defence network (which we've never used... ever), and the only major party to propose strict regulations on industry and power plants based on their carbon output.
While I may not be much of a "greenie" myself, I do think the environment matters a significant amount, and would not support a party that did not take the issues of climate change and pollution seriously. However, while I'm not very environmental, I am very pacifist, and have been since before my memory allows. I recall a time some six or seven years ago, at the grand age of 12 when I called myself a conscientious objector for the first time; since then I have consistently refused to have any involvement with the military of any nation, be it school trips to even supporting them - the war in the Middle East is pointless, stupid and deadly, doing nothing but serving the interests of investors.
And, of course, I'm a student. Students have for a long time been the core support of the Liberal Democrats and the party has gladly reciprocated. The Lib Dems probably have the most extensive and comprehensive policies for subjects that affect students and young people, including lowering the voting age, providing better support for young parents and people only just finding their way into the housing market, more money into education, reforming examination practices and - most famously of all - abolishing tuition fees.
Tuition fees have been the bane of students for the last 13 years, leading to record amounts of debt amongst young people and setting them off on a road where they can spend decades paying back what they needed - just to get an education. This to my eyes - and the eyes of every modern liberal out there - is WRONG. All people should have an equal opportunity to succeed and progress through education and imposing a fee to learn is only going to discriminate against the poorest and most disadvantaged people within society.
But then comes electoral reform. Electoral reform is the dealmaker in the event of a hung parliament today - Nick Clegg will only form a coalition government with the Conservatives or Labour on the basis that we change the system we use for voting and change it quickly.
In Britain we currently use the First Past the Post (FPTP) system to elect our public representatives and, while simple, this system not only discriminates (even if Labour come third in the popular vote today, they can still win the most seats in the House of Commons due to being the incumbent party), but wastes votes. While I cannot provide any definitive statistics, under the current electoral system roughly 50-70% of votes will be thrown away. All of that counting, all of that anticipation and effort - only for most of the work to be chucked in the bin?
First Past the Post is fundamentally unfair and is pretty much the whole reason we have a culture of "my vote means nothing" in this country. That is why the Liberal Democrats want to reform our elections to use the Single Transferable Vote (STV), a system that provides much greater proportionality and makes your vote (or rather, two votes under STV) worth something greater than what it is now.
STV is a complex electoral system - much more complicated than FPTP - however provides you with a number of MPs to represent you in parliament and would bring an end to a party running a country, when only 40% of people voted for them to do so in the first place - something that has gone on far too long in the UK. See more about STV on Wikipedia.
General elections are now the only elections in the country to still use FPTP - European elections, regional assemblies and and local government elections all use STV to great effect. FPTP has been phased out in dozens of countries around the world and is now a relic that should be consigned to the history books.
I've just spent an hour and a half writing this journal, I should sleep. Goodnight!
I think my vote is for the lib-dems too, however.
My vote was for the Lib Dems. Next time, I'll be able to do with someone.
I don't want to waste my vote, and I wouldnt, if I could help it.
Also, hung parliament so far.
C'mon, at least stay that way. I don't want the Tories in power.
Though i haven't made up my mind yet who i am going to vote for in there place.
However...
*Grabs break-in gear* >:D
Even more luckily, I'm out of the house for most of the day, going down to London to see a radio show being recorded (for those interested, it is a sitcom called "Clare in the Community"), so I'll miss all the tedious build-up. I'll be listening to the coverage on the radio on the way back home.