Showing posts with label LibDems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LibDems. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

"PR, Nick"


"PR, Nick"

Demonstrators Urge King-Maker

To Insist on Election Reform

Saturday, 8th May

Hundreds of demonstrators are gathered outside LibDem HQ in London as I am blogging this, shouting "PR, Nick", demanding that Nick Clegg should stick to his promises of reforming the political system in the UK. "PR" or "proportional representation" in its simplest form, is an election system which distributes the seats of a parliament amongst political parties according to the "popular vote", i.e., the number of votes, each Party gets. Nick Clegg, leader of UK's LibDems, is currently the king-maker of UK's power struggle after the general election came with an inconclusive results and a "hung Parliament", something that the UK has not seen since 1974.


Having to form a coalition to gain Parliamentary majority is a common practice in the political scene of many countries in Europe and beyond and even in local governments in Wales and Scotland, inside the UK itself. But to the British people, a "hung Parliament" on the national level still seems unusual and risky.


Mr. Clegg rightly and honorably said that he will first consider a deal with the "Tories", the Conservative Party of the World's oldest democracy, to acknowledge that this is the Party which got most of the votes and seats. David Cameron, is currently the leader of the party which managed to get the largest number of seats (306), 20 seats short of the clear majority of the House. Cameron had made it clear before that PR (Proportional Representation) was not on the Tories menu. Why should it be? This is a party which can govern the country with 40 something percent of votes in a system where the winner takes it all. Regardless of the number of votes a party gets on the national level, the candidate with the largest number of votes on the constituency level gets the seat. As a result of this system, if your party enjoys a consistent popularity throughout the country of, say 20%, you can theoretically end up with not a single one of the 650 seats of the House of Commons!



This is more or less what happened to Mr. Clegg's Party, UK's Liberal Democrats. Lib Dems got 23% of the votes of the British people, yet, they won only less than 9% of the seats !! And this is exactly what the demonstration outside Nick's office is all about. They want to see the will of the British Voter translated into political power, an ability to shape UK politics.

What the demonstrators fear is that Mr. Clegg, under the pressure of having to quickly form a government that can send comforting signals to the markets amidst bad economic times and intensifying deficit and debt problems in the UK, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, he (Mr. Clegg) will be rushed by Mr. Cameron into a deal that falls short of the reforms promised by Mr. Clegg during his campaign.

This is a unique opportunity, as the demonstrators and indeed many British people see it, where LibDems have a chance to really shape the political system and thus help bring about historical reform which will potentially reward them with many more seats in future elections. Seats which will better correspond to the votes they get from the people.

On that morning, Gordon Brown, leader of the Labor Party, still governed Britain from number 10 Downing Street as the Prime Minister according to Britain's unwritten constitution of doing things. The Labor got only 258 seats of the 650 seats of the House of Commons. Brown came out yesterday and announced that he respected the fact that Mr. Clegg wanted to talk to the Tories first, but that if such negotiations came with nothing, then he will be happy to talk with Clegg and then skillfully put the issue of proportional representation on the table. He knew that Cameron was tough on the issue which is considered as the "Holy Grail" of the LibDems, since it is the issue which can give UK's third largest Party the power it thinks it deserves in making decisions in Westminster. The problem is, added together, Labour and LibDems still do not have a clear majority in the House of Commons. So, why, in Tories' eyes, would a coalition of Labour and LibDems be allowed to form a minority government when Tories alone can do that? The traditions, however, gives the incumbent Prime Minister, Mr. Brown at this case, first right of forming a government.



Wael Nawara

The Other Side of the Tory-LibDem Deal

LibDem Fans Disenchanted with the Tory Deal

While I welcomed the deal as a chance to reform the UK Election System, some UK LibDem voters had a different view.

Here it goes.


Eve Ryman:
My heartfelt apologies, Wael, but as a citizen of the UK - and especially as a northerner - I can't agree. What they've done here is alienated forever those who hate the Tories, such as myself. I'll never be able to vote for them again, now. I shall instead give my vote to the only viable anti-Tory party - Labour. I think that most people in the north of England and Scotland feel the same way. I'm truly sorry to have to say it, Wael, and I genuinely wish it wasn't so: but the Liberal Democrats will rue this day for a very, very long time to come.

Wael Nawara:
I appreciate your sentiment. I just think that the chance to improve the election system is worth some compromises. But I agree that LibDems will lose some supporters because of this - but as it often happens in politics - they will also win some. Being in government is never popular, but it opens the way to actually changing legislations and policies.

Eve Ryman
It's hard to take the longer view when you're already so poor that you're struggling just to survive and a party comes to power that holds the poor in utter contempt.

There's some strength in the argument that it's worth some compromises in order to get voting reform - even for AV (which isn't true proportional representation). Ultimately I find it extremely hard to believe that this is going to happen, though. The Tory party view voting reform as utter anathema, and something that could keep them from power for generations. They are also by far the best-funded party (a fact which contributed in no small measure to their 'success' in the election), and have made sure, in their deal with the Libdems, that they are allowed to campaign against AV, when the referendum comes. The Tories have most of the British press, and Rupert Murdoch, in their pocket, and I fear they will manipulate the media to such an extent, when the referendum comes, that the public will vote decisively against, thus leaving us with no reform for another generation (at least). I guess we'll have to wait and see. I certainly hope like hell that our corrupt electoral system IS reformed. If this happens, I may be able to forgive the Libdems for their pact with the devil.

With regard to what you say about losing some supporters and gaining some - that's exactly my fear. They're going to lose their left wing supporters and gain right wing supporters - and since parties have to keep their supporters happy, this will make them move to the right as a party, in terms of policy. The Libdems have always been seen as a party of the middle classes (rather than the poor, I mean), in the UK, and I fear that what we have here is a crossroads at which they take a road that leads them even further away from the poor.

Still, for all that I'll now never vote for them again, I *am* glad that we haven't got untramelled Tory power, and that the Libdems will (probably, hopefully) act as some kind of restraining influence on the Tory party.

Monday, September 15, 2008

What do Politicians do? ooo

Nick Clegg's** Speech

to Bournemouth 2008 Rally

Sat, 13 Sep 2008




During his speech at the Liberal Democrat opening night rally in Bournemouth Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg set out bold plans to fix the political system of the UK, which LibDems believe to be broken and outdated. In his speech, he attempts to answer a question from a ten-year-old girl: "what do politicians do?"


Hello everyone, welcome to Autumn Conference 2008. Thank you very much to Dorothy and Henry for their speeches.


When we decided to talk about democracy tonight I immediately remembered a primary school I visited in Sheffield recently. I was trying to explain to the pupils how Westminster works and what it means to be an MP. I talked about elections, about making decisions on grand matters of state...that kind of thing... And a little girl put up her hand and said:
"But what is it that you do?"


She had that look on her face that only children can do - my eldest son does it all the time. Earnest. Innocent. Deadly.


The thing was, although she probably didn't realise it, she had a real point. What do politicians do?


Frankly, what we do in Parliament probably isn't a million miles away from what that little girl sees in the playground every day. We jump around and shout at each other like children. But worse behaved.


I don't know how many of you have spent much time in Parliament, but I'm sure the MPs and Westminster staff here will back me up.


The place is obsessed with pointless procedures and rules that make no sense in the modern world.


Take my first committee room debate. I was new to Parliament, and I had been under the impression that outside of the big, set pieces in the main debating chamber, I could skip the "Rt Hon Member for such and such" stuff and call people by their names.
Not their first names - obviously. Just a bit of "Mr this", "Mrs that" - 1950s style. Big mistake. Ann Widdecombe, was chairing the debate. She stood up. She screeched at me...

"Please refrain immediately from calling people by their names..."

"Mr Clegg".....?

Even the cafes in Westminster have silly rules. There's a sort of coffee shop-cum-bar arrangement in the Commons where you can go if you're an MP. Or if you're a Peer that used to be an MP. But not if you're a peer that wasn't. And if you're an MP you can take three guests. But if you're an MP's spouse you can only take one.


Keeping up?


And down the corridor there's a very ordinary canteen where anyone who works in Westminster can get lunch. Except temps. Temps can't have lunch at lunchtime because they're temps. And this is the place where we legislate on workers' rights.

I could go on all night with these kind of stories - don't even get me started on who can use the lifts. But I don't just want to carp about the silliness of Westminster. Because this stuff matters - it matters a lot.

What is left of "the Mother of Parliaments" when you take away the wigs, the rods, the cat-calls and the jeers?

Not a lot. Just broken politics. We know that every time there's a vote in Parliament, it's not the argument that wins. It's the Government. Labour was elected with the support of 22% of Britain's voters. And in 11 years they have been defeated just three times.

Three times. One of which was a vote on whether or not MPs should all go home early. That's not accountability. It's not democracy. It's got to end.

This is broken politics. Westminster is home to a political class sheltered from reality and shielded from an increasingly alienated society. Its rules are designed to keep out real protest, real emotion, the hardships endured by real people.

Earlier this year I met fifty retired Gurkha soldiers who had been refused the right to live in Britain. They felt so let down, so dejected, that they surrendered their long service and distinguished conduct medals to me as a symbol of protest.

They were awarded these medals after risking their lives for this nation. Just imagine what it means to give up something so hard-won, so treasured, so meaningful.

I was ashamed of the government that day. Ashamed that any veteran of our British Army could be so mistreated he would want to return his medals. I wanted to take one of these medals into the Chamber, for the Prime Minister to see it for himself.

Because those medals convey more strongly than words ever could their sense of betrayal. But I was told it was impossible. The same rule book that concerns itself with knee breeches and silver buckles forbids anyone taking a "prop" into a debate.

You can dismiss this silly rule as trivia. You can dismiss every one of the thousands of rules. But you can't dismiss what they add up to.

When I look at that medal it has even more meaning for me now than before. It tells me you shouldn't look for freedom of expression in parliament. You should look in village halls, in kitchens, in staff rooms. Anywhere where you can have real debate.

Britain needs a real change if we're going to mend our broken politics. And you can be sure the Conservatives won't ever offer it. Because they are waiting for their "go".

David Cameron thinks that two parties take it in turns to run this country. Neither is willing to change the system because it's that very system that returns them to power every few elections.

British politics has become like a giant dance of the hokey cokey. David and Gordon skipping round in circles, hand in hand. Taking it in turns, left foot in, right foot out, left foot out, right foot in.

You see, while Labour and the Conservatives purport to be the greatest of enemies, when it comes to keeping power, they are actually the best of friends. And let's face it the Prime Minister needs all the friends he can get.

You see there are friends, there are enemies. And then there are Cabinet colleagues. And then - there are party whips.

Poor Gordon - he must know its bad - he's even been jilted by his beloved Darling.
Do you know David Cameron has already held conversations with "the security people" about measures he'll need to take "once" he's in Number 10? How's that for arrogance?

Here's a man who'll speak fondly of "hardworking families" but has no actual plans to help them. A man who - with recession looming - puts millionaires first. A man who hopes that soundbites can fix the economy.

The best George Osborne can offer is that Gordon has failed to "save for a rainy day". Apparently George would "fix the roof while the sun is shining". What is this? Just William? The Secret Seven?

If you want real solutions for Britain's economy are you really going to call this bunch of Conservative Cowboys? There's only one man who can be trusted with our economic future, and it's Vince Cable.

And there's only one party that can be trusted with our political future, and it's the Liberal Democrats. In 2001, for the first time in election history, more people stayed at home than voted for the party that took power.

The same happened in 2005. It's not right. It's up to us to change that, and I know we can. We can do things differently to make our country better.

And that's what I told that little girl in Sheffield when she asked me what politicians do. I told her that the job of a politician is to give a voice to the voiceless. Maybe it sounded a bit sentimental for an 8 year old's taste. But even if it's cheesy, it's true.

Our Government just isn't listening. It keeps the public at arms length with layers of confusing, impersonal and inefficient bureaucracy. Faceless Britain. Where form-filling and paper pushing have become a national sport.

I could at least understand it if the computerised bureaucracy replacing human face-to-face contact was doing the job properly.

But when it comes to Government IT systems, the computer can't even say no. The Department's lost the file.

Is it really a surprise that millions of people feel powerless? This sense of helplessness - of not being able to control your own life - is a blight on our society.

It breeds anger, cynicism and fear. It creates hopelessness. Frustration. It is fertile breeding ground for extremism.

This is broken politics. This is not the society that I want to live in. This is not the society I want my children - any of our children - to live in. This is not a Liberal Britain.

But we - we together - can change it. We can rock the establishment. We can shake-up the system so that Whitehall doesn't control our lives. We can put power back in the hands of those who know best.

Let's give patients, parents and pupils power.

Let's give school and hospital staff a say over the services they provide each day. Let's give communities control. Where Liberal Democrats are in power locally this is already happening. You heard it earlier tonight from Dorothy.

In Liberal Democrat controlled Kingston any 100 local people can call in any council decision. In Sheffield within days of winning power we announced new community panels to take power from the town hall down into the hands of the people who count.

Imagine that. Real control. Real accountability.

Liberal Democrats trust people.

That's why I'm announcing today that over the next nine months we'll be knocking on one million doors across the nation. Listening, connecting, and engaging with people.
I want us to reinvent community politics for a new generation. The Liberal Democrat vision is shaped by the experiences of real people. Which is why only the Liberal Democrats will bring down the faceless state.

We will protect the front line services at the heart of communities across the country. We will redirect billions of pounds of tax payers' money by making central Government accountable for every penny they spend in our name. We will protect the privacy of British individuals by scrapping the preposterous and expensive ID card scheme.

We are the only party committed to taking the price tag off power - capping donations, slashing party spending and keeping politics clean.

And - we will reform the voting system so that each and every person counts.

Only the Liberal Democrats can reunite people and politics. Because we do it up and down the country every day.

Our councillors make change happen. Our councils give power and money back to the communities they serve. Our MPs stand up for people when the system lets them down. Our MEPs are the difference between a Europe that tackles climate change and one that turns a blind eye.

Liberal Democrats - make no mistake we are already a party of power.

And this week we will set out our blueprint for a freer, fairer Britain.
******************
Source:
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** Nick Clegg is the elected leader of the LibDems.

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Comments:
- What do politicians do in Egypt?
* You mean apart from sending ex-police chiefs to kill ex-wives in x-countries?
When they are not busy drafting corrupt "anti-monopoly" laws which will only protect their turfs and possibly double their profits, profiteering or really racketeering from monopolized commodities?
What do politicians do in Egypt?

Politicians in Egypt come in three kinds really ... the opposition kind ... often ending up in jail, like Ayman Nour ... and the NDP unkind, which has obtained "a permit to exploit the people" from the regime ... for and on behalf of the regime itself ... the third kind ... is the harmless opposition or independent kind ... minding its own business ... often busy in interpreting dreams and singing the praises for Mubarak and his regime ...
... and that's about it ... that is what politicians do in Egypt ...

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