Reform of Britain's voting system must give real power to the people
Submitted by webmaster on Wed, 17/06/2009 - 19:28
One voters positive experience of STV:
"At least in Scotland, thanks to the single transferable vote, we no longer have those problems in our council elections.
It is the system that should be used for all elections, including those for the Scottish Parliament."
Reform of Britain's voting system must give real power to the people
STV and the Tories
I have wondered for a long time why MVC and indeed other campaigners never make any reference to a pamphlet issued in 1973 to the people of Northern Ireland before the reintroduction of STV.
This is a splendid enthusiatic document describing clearly the advantages of STV and how it works. IT WAS ISSUED BY A TORY GOVERNMENT!
It demonstrates the hypocrisy reigning at Westminster where both main parties know very well the failings of FPTP and the advantages of STV; but they are in effect saying that a rational electoral system is all very well for other assemblies but not for Westminster. Democracy is their very last concern. What concerns them is the maintenance of the two party tacit conspiracy which shuts out all other parties, all new ideas and new faces, and lets them swap places at intervals. More important than that even is that many of their MP's in the safe seats under FPTP have a job for life. In short THEY were elected under FPTP and always have been and they are jolly well going to keep it like that!
So far as I know copies of this pamphlet are still available at the Northern Ireland Office, allthough nobody seems to be aware of this. In an aggressive campaign it would put on the spot people like Hazel Blears who described the Scottish systems as "complicated" (the pamphlet categorically rejects this description) and the reason for the voting fiasco in the 2007 Scottish elections, even though it was an adminstrative cock-up that was to blame. Here again her concerns had nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with the tribalism of Labour whose stranglehold on power under FPTP in Scotland has been broken by the PR systems.
In the hope of promoting greater awareness of this document, during the present campaign, I have scanned it and circulated it as an e-mail attachement to MVC and STVAction. Perhaps, when they have had an opportunity to read the scan, the editorship of these two organisations will agree that the content will form a powerful tool to counter the lies coming out of both main parties, but particularly from the Tories whose pamphlet it is.