What a farce(2)

For years our nation has sent scrutineers to various far-flung parts of the globe to check on electoral proceedings. Coming from the much vaunted ‘mother-of-all-parliaments’ their pronouncements carried weight and gravitas. Not any more.

Following on from cash for honours, MPs expenses, Lobbygate and a really crap voting system, we now have the sight of hundreds and hundreds of voters being turned away from the polling booths. Reports of polling stations running out of ballot papers add to the sense of an inept, outdated and inadequate voting process. Deeply shaming and a national disgrace.

It is time for observers to come from all over the world to check that our system is fair.

Decision day. Polling day. General Election day.

The last two elections have been low-key affairs with turnouts to match. Today is different. Today is not the same. It is the first election following a rotten parliament. It is an election under the biggest financial cloud since the 1920’s. It is the election where the voters are reluctant to put their trust in status quo politics. It is an election where we have a massive 40% of the electorate still undecided or unsure where to put their cross. All results are possible.

There is a mood among the public for a change in the way we select our leaders. The Tories promise the recall of unpopular candidates, the increasing use of ‘primaries’ to select candidates and a reduction of MPs to 500 with redrawn boundaries. However they still support ‘first past the post’ – because it suits them. Not because it is fair. 200,000 voters spread across 150 constituencies currently decide how we are governed. What nonsense! Under this system, it is possible for the party getting the lowest support to have the highest number of seats. This is farcical. The Tories also stand for greed and stupidity.

After 13 years of tinkering around the edges and having had reform of parliament in their 1997 manifesto, New Labour rediscovered reform too late and with too little enthusiasm to convince. They also have an appalling record on civil liberties, corruption and the economy. Throw in an illegal war and accompanying lies and it is time for them to depart, regroup and rediscover their values or rip themselves into oblivion.

The LibDems are on record as having tried to reform parliament to no avail thanks to blocking moves from both the other parties. They have argued for electoral reform for years. They are woolly in several areas but their MPs are more known than their Tory counterparts. [Challenge: name 10 Tory shadow cabinet members]. In Vince Cable they have a respected and rated figure. They did not flip their homes unlike MPs in the other parties. They did not claim second home allowances for MPs living in Greater London.

Above all else we must reform our rotten system. Therefore the Liberal Democrats will get my vote and I fervently hope there is a hung parliament out of which emerges a Single Transferable Voting system and an end to old corrupt politics.

Today – it matters. 

What next for New Labour?

Many left-of-centre voters will face the ballot paper with despair and a sense of a wasted opportunity. 40% of the electorate are still undecided or unconvinced. It is quite possible that despite puffery to the contrary, the Labour vote in many parts of the country will implode. A narrow defeat is the best Labour can hope for. A collapse into a third place way behind the others will set in train a chain of consequences some good, some bad. A significant swing away from Labour would see the Tories elected with an overall majority. A positive outcome could be a re-alignment of British politics. This will follow a period of bloodletting within Labour that will be a battle between the old left and the Thatcherism-light of New Labour. However, without meaningful electoral reform, it could mean the Tories sustaining and tweaking the discredited first-past-the-post system to their advantage. A government headed by a Blair wannabe, supported by less than a third of the electorate would not have the moral authority to take the difficult decisions without provoking civil unrest.

Muriel Gray writing in the Herald last Sunday summed up what a lot of Labour supporters feel.

“Like so many other voters I’m desperate to forgive Labour. I’m terrified of a Conservative government, of a return to the unreconstructed certainties of the right wing that will polarise society, or a limp coalition government with the child-like LibDems, whose plans for the coming financial apocalypse are as well conceived as those of a man sawing off the tree branch he’s sitting on. Where is the party that, for all its faults, actually believed in the common good, and that politicians were the servants of the people’s will?

The stumbling block is that the sins of Labour in power have been so enormous, so grotesque, that it’s impossible to overlook them and let their leader carry on, however skilful we may know him to be in fiscal management. How can we forgive and forget the war? Not just the sheer, repugnant scale of how wrong it was, but all the attendant lying, spinning and self-preservation that followed in its bloody wake.

How can we forgive the staggering losses in our personal liberties, engineered by a party that used to shout about protecting them? Did we ever think that Labour would become the party of the police state? Do we forget about how Labour snuggled up to the bloated fat cat bankers, or how they courted money and sold off peerages? Can we stomach their slithering Mandelsons and their revolting Jim Devines? Do we forget all those expenses sharks and forgive the party’s total abandonment of the working man and woman? Can we shrug our shoulders at an immigration policy that was deviously designed to increase a loyal bloc vote, and instead ended up creating ghettos full of misery and disenfranchisement?

It’s impossible to forgive. The list is too long, the crimes too serious. So what Blair started has effectively finished Brown, and now we stare ahead at years of an ideological desert where the only jobs the administration will care about will be their own, and the idea of the common good will be an anachronism to equal the hostess trolley or the lava lamp.”

Her despair is palpable. It is the end result of years of a silenced membership, mainly mute MPs and government by sofa cabal.

Fat Cats and Rats

Several commentators have come out recently and declared their support for Labour 'while pinching their nose.’ In today’s Guardian, George Monbiot states why he thinks the case against Labour is strong and why he will not be voting for them. He lists many examples of NewLabour failings and he uses an interesting image to enhance his case.

“There's a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii that colonises the brains of rats, altering their behaviour to attract them to the scent of their predators. The rats seek out cats and get eaten, allowing the parasite to keep circulating. This is New Labour. It has colonised a movement that fought for social justice, distribution and decency, rewired its brain and delivered it to the fat cats who were once its enemies.”

This is of course in total contrast to the Tories, who are happily in bed with the fat cats and engaged in acts of mutual masturbation.

Moral Authority

Cameron is making a bid to be the man who sorts the mess out, promising to hit the ground running when elected to rule over us. The strategy seems to be to get elected as a minority government, set out his case and go for another General Election within 6 months.

The proportion each party gets of the actual vote will be fascinating. A 5% difference has an enormous and different effect on the number of seats won. It is possible under our ridiculous electoral system for the party with the lowest number of votes to get the most seats. Anyone claiming ‘moral authority’ to deliver swingeing cuts will be hard-pressed to make their case. The fact that Cameron has not said where over 84% of planned cuts are coming from undermines his credibility. Unfortunately he is not alone. None of them are being honest with us. And all this follows on from the most rotten parliament in living memory when trust in MPs is at its lowest.

Apparently 40% of the electorate are still unsure about how they will vote on Thursday. This is far higher than in recent elections. What prevailing emotion will govern where people put their crosses? Fear? Hope? Greed? Or despair?

Travelling through Knutsford today, we were in the constituency of George Osborne – aka, ‘The Hidden Shadow Chancellor’ who has been put in a large box labelled ‘Do not open until May 7^th.’ Several trees were voting for him and some of the posters carried his picture. A graffiti artist had added a Hitler moustache and hair. Uncanny.

Mahler 8 - Election 0

Had the very good fortune to attend a special event at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on Sunday evening. It was a performance of Mahler’s eighth symphony – a huge work with massive choirs, several soloists and an enormous orchestra. Mahler wrote it as a hymn of praise to the universe when he knew that he was dying. The conductor has to organise and marshal all these forces into a coherent whole. Sir Mark Elder more than delivered.

It is known as the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ as it has about a thousand participants. From the opening chord it is a sonic spectacular that gave the Bridgewater Hall a real workout. Because of the huge forces involved it is performed very rarely.

A 15 minute standing ovation at the end was no more than the performance deserved. Special mention must go to the Halle Children’s choir that has only been in existence for 2 years and comprises children ages 8-13. They were superb.

The 1000 players comprised: Halle Orchestra; BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, 8 soloists, Halle Choir; Girls of the Halle Youth Choir; Halle Children’s Choir; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus.

Who said collaboration and coalition produced weakness? What twaddle. However you do need a Mark Elder figure to bring things together and make it not just effective but brilliant.

Any offers?

Amicable coalition anyone?

Anyone concerned about our immediate political future should have been at Marple Methodist church in the Hazel Grove constituency last night. It was a most amiable and courteous occasion with a predominantly elderly audience. All three main parties were present. UKIP were running their own meeting elsewhere, following confusion over invites. Questions were submitted on the night so candidates had to respond spontaneously.

The sitting MP, a very experienced LibDem, is a thoroughly decent chap and is recognised as such by his opponents. He has a nice line in gentle humour and gives credit to his rivals when appropriate. The Labour candidate is very effective and relaxed about his non-chances. He is happy to go ‘off-message’ and detached himself from key Labour decisions. The young Tory is well briefed, articulate and personable but struggles to think on his feet when asked questions outside the usual. He does however parrot vapid nonsense from campaign briefing notes. Having seen many candidates in action over the past few days it is clear the Tory campaign machine brief candidates with bullet-point issue notes. It is striking to hear the same answers in very different locations. The responses to the ‘Hung Parliament’ issue have been identical – and generally not well received. Let us hope the candidates feed the reaction back to their masters.

This was not red-blooded politics. Any cut and thrust was gentle and good-natured. There was consensus on several issues. Candidates acknowledged their rival’s good points and the Tory even applauded (yes, incredible but true) a comment by the LibDem.

P.S.
Since posting the above earlier today, it has emerged that the Tory candidate is a special advisor to Oliver Letwyn, who is in charge of the Tory policy unit. Funnily enough he never mentioned any of that. The noticeable absence of any personal background in his opening remarks in retrospect appears even more telling.