Is It Time For A New System Of Politics?

[Anna B]

Ever since the banking crisis, and beyond, the world of politics seems to have been in turmoil.

 

IMO the Brexit vote was more about people's dissatisfaction with politics. Before that the number of people bothering to vote had been going down and down. 

Since that vote, everything has been difficult. There's been nothing but in-fighting in both camps. Conservatives have had 5 different leaders and Labour have had as many, all with different ideas on how to proceed.  We've also had 4 elections and it looks like we might be in for another one. The number of parties standing has also grown splitting the vote every which way. It's now possible to get elected to govern with less than a third of the population's vote.

 

The house of commons is so old and antiquated, and full of quirky traditions and privileges, it's no longer a satisfactory place of work. It's about to shut down for years for repairs, and the government needs to relocate elsewhere, though nobody seems to know how or where.  

 

Isn't this an opportunity to take a long hard look at our political system, and the civil service which supports it, and make some changes? The world is changing, it's moving faster, new problem's arise almost daily.

 

Why do we refuse to move with the times and make the necessary improvements? 

 

I'd propose PR, and a coalition of parties to move on long term problems.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by Anna B

[dan2802]

MP's seem to be an old school masonic/elite group who think they are above the law.

I seriously doubt anything will change soon.

Let's see who is the next lamb to the slaughter.

 

[El Cid]

Just seen an MP on Newsnight recommending Grant Shapps. They will elect another lier.

[Anna B]

4 hours ago, dan2802 said:

MP's seem to be an old school masonic/elite group who think they are above the law.

I seriously doubt anything will change soon.

Let's see who is the next lamb to the slaughter.

 

I agree. A system born out of the aristocracy, that was still in existence in the early 1800's when a recognisable house of commons was formed, that has never totally moved on, and is still preserved in its anachronistic means and traditions, and its sense of privilege and entitlement.

 

It's all very nice for the ministers with their luxury cars and drivers, subsidised bars and 4 course meals with the best wines etc. Meanwhile there isn't even enough space for the many MPs (the number of which grows alarmingly every year) to move, let alone work.

 

And the age old voting system of filing out into the lobbies, ayes to the right and no's to the left to be counted etc, just wastes time and manpower, when an electronic voting system could do the job in seconds. 

 

That's just the tip of the iceberg. It needs to change. If not now,when?  

[crookesey]

Oh Anna,

 

You must attempt to stop bringing common sense into the equation, it’s a very steady number as a member of the HOC, they don’t want it ruined by the likes of us. The only action that we can take is to avoid the polling booth, I’ve already done it, be it rightly or wrongly, but at least it was my decision, some nations jail you for doing similar. 😉

[S35_2o21]

19 hours ago, Anna B said:

Ever since the banking crisis, and beyond, the world of politics seems to have been in turmoil.

 

IMO the Brexit vote was more about people's dissatisfaction with politics. Before that the number of people bothering to vote had been going down and down. 

Since that vote, everything has been difficult. There's been nothing but in-fighting in both camps. Conservatives have had 5 different leaders and Labour have had as many, all with different ideas on how to proceed.  We've also had 4 elections and it looks like we might be in for another one. The number of parties standing has also grown splitting the vote every which way. It's now possible to get elected to govern with less than a third of the population's vote.

 

The house of commons is so old and antiquated, and full of quirky traditions and privileges, it's no longer a satisfactory place of work. It's about to shut down for years for repairs, and the government needs to relocate elsewhere, though nobody seems to know how or where.  

 

Isn't this an opportunity to take a long hard look at our political system, and the civil service which supports it, and make some changes? The world is changing, it's moving faster, new problem's arise almost daily.

 

Why do we refuse to move with the times and make the necessary improvements? 

 

I'd propose PR, and a coalition of parties to move on long term problems.

 

 

 

 

 

I agree. I'm not sure I know enough about PR and coalitions to comment further on that though.

 

Our political system has (partly?) enabled party politics to become more and more ideological based, at the detriment of a long-term view of what the Country actually needs. Plus the media is very bias in parts. My view is that the population has been gaslighted to believe that politicians are either corrupt or acting in everyone's interest! 

[trastrick]

19 hours ago, Anna B said:

Ever since the banking crisis, and beyond, the world of politics seems to have been in turmoil.

 

IMO the Brexit vote was more about people's dissatisfaction with politics. Before that the number of people bothering to vote had been going down and down. 

Since that vote, everything has been difficult. There's been nothing but in-fighting in both camps. Conservatives have had 5 different leaders and Labour have had as many, all with different ideas on how to proceed.  We've also had 4 elections and it looks like we might be in for another one. The number of parties standing has also grown splitting the vote every which way. It's now possible to get elected to govern with less than a third of the population's vote.

 

The house of commons is so old and antiquated, and full of quirky traditions and privileges, it's no longer a satisfactory place of work. It's about to shut down for years for repairs, and the government needs to relocate elsewhere, though nobody seems to know how or where.  

 

Isn't this an opportunity to take a long hard look at our political system, and the civil service which supports it, and make some changes? The world is changing, it's moving faster, new problem's arise almost daily.

 

Why do we refuse to move with the times and make the necessary improvements? 

 

I'd propose PR, and a coalition of parties to move on long term problems.

 

 

 

 

 

Politics will change Anna. But it will be forced on society.

 

Voters, and none voters get the government they deserve. Right now the divided government reflects a divided population.

 

They will vote for the "free lunch" every time. Whoever promises more for their own particular preferred constuency.

 

As long as politicians can borrow the money to satify all the people's demands, not to mention the money they are sending out of the country to prop up other regimes, nothing will change.

 

But they are running up unsustainable, spiraling, National Debt, at an historical unprecedented pitch. One day, the piper will have to be paid, and then, and only then, willl you see a paradigm shift.

 

But it won't be pretty! 

 

Right now all you can do is hang on tight and enjoy the ride. And, along with the politicians, hope to die before the bills become due!

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by trastrick

[Anna B]

You may be right, you can feel the tension mounting, but I'm all for making changes before it boils over rather than after if possible, while people are still in a sensible state of mind rather than a frenzy when mistakes will be made.

 

As for National debt, I think it's absolutely crucial that whoever is in government tames the super rich and gets them paying their correct taxes. We have a global economy so there should be nowhere to hide and a coalition of world governments working together to make it happen. At the moment they are facilitating tax avoidance and evasion, and passing the burden onto the ordinary taxpayer who quite simply cannot afford it any more.

 

Levelling up is a joke. Why pay rises have to be the same percentage across the board is a mystery to me. A percentage of a low wage is next to nothing, the same percentage of the CEO's salary is enormous, and yet they are the ones who need it least.

Surely it would be better to have a sliding scale with the emphasis on those at the bottom.

Having a more equal society will benefit the economy, and therefore benefit everyone.   

Edited July 8, 2022 by Anna B

[alchresearch]

48 minutes ago, Anna B said:

Levelling up is a joke. 

No, it isn't. And you were given lots of things about that on that thread

 

 

[L00b]

The fundamental problem is the FPTP voting system.

 

It is what perpetuates the dominance of Labour-Conservative dualist politics and stops alternative parties from gaining a toehold in the HoC and some political relevance.

 

It is the reason why so many voters are so disenchanted, as to vote for a Lab/Con candidate against their better judgement because they “don’t want to waste their vote” (🙄), or not vote at all anymore (which makes the problem still worse, the more of them do so).

 

The greens accrued 1.2m votes in December 2019. 1 MP to show for that.

 

Boris Johnson was elected by 25,000-odd votes. Less votes than the ventriloquist runner-up on Britain’s Got Talent.

 

PR is one of the better solutions to the enduring problem. Not the only one, but one of the more fundamental ones.
 

And yes, I’m well-aware that, under that solution, UKIP would have got a non-trivial number of MPs in years gone by. Which wouldn’t have been a problem (-with that PR system), so far as I’m concerned, because UKIP voters would have got representation for their votes. Fair is fair.

Edited July 8, 2022 by L00b