Now For the Great British Debate

As someone who was always a very staunch no, I am delighted that Scotland has voted to stay in the union. Yet do not believe for a second that this means that questions and issues raised during the campaign will be ignored until the next referendum. I say next referendum as if nothing changes then another referendum will be inevitable, as will a yes result. The referendum has invigorated people, and the demand for change is far too great for politicians across the United Kingdom to ignore. We need a “Great British Debate” on how to reform our country, a debate which involves every part of the country and every political party small or large, not just the big three and the SNP. We must find a way to make British democracy more representative by replacing First Past the Post. We need to federalise the United Kingdom with defined, and equal powers for the parliaments created, including regional parliaments for England. This is the greatest opportunity we have had since the end of WWII to radically reform Britain. Let’s do it.

A new method of voting for MPs

In the 2010 General Election, the Tories won 36.4% of the vote and 47.1% of the seats, labour won 29% of the vote and 39% of the seats, whilst the Liberal Democrats won 23% of the vote yet only 8% of the seats! This is clearly not particularly democratic, but the 2010 General Election was one of the most representative elections we have had! For example; in 2005 Labour won 35.2% of the vote and 55.2% of the seats!

I do not support full proportional representation for a couple of reasons; I believe that it is important to have local representatives that are elected locally, which cannot be done under proportional representation. I also believe that when selecting a government you need to have a balance between democracy and effective government. Having proportional representation frequently leads to reduced government efficiency due to more coalitions of many different parties forming. It also eradicates any chance that independents or regionalist parties will get elected. I believe the best way to balance the interests of democracy with effective government is the d’Hondt method. This is the way we send MEPs to the European Parliament.

I propose merging constituencies into ‘mega constituencies’, which would send around 4 MPs to parliament each. This would mean that you maintain a local representative, have a more democratic system without causing coalitions of half a dozen parties.

Giving votes to 16 and 17 year olds

Another important step forward in democracy would be to give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote, as they received in the referendum. It is supported by the Liberal Democrats (who had it in their 2010 manifesto) and the Labour Party (Miliband announced the policy during last year’s Labour Party Conference) but opposed by the Conservatives. As a country we have decided that at 16 you are mature enough to leave school, raise a family and join the military. Surely that means we have decided already that they are mature enough to vote.

House of Lords Reform

It is time to get rid of the remaining hereditary peers in the House of Lords altogether, along with the Church of England Bishops. It is also time to make the chamber at least partially elected, to reflect the views of the people of the country. The reason why I do not want a wholly elected House of Lords is because I believe that it can be beneficial to the country to have people who are in Parliament because of their expertise, rather than their electability. Technocracy in moderation is a good thing. Quite what proportion of the House should be elected is up for debate, but I believe it should be no lower than 1/3. However, I do not want the House of Lords to have the power to veto laws, as at the end of the day it should be only the people’s representatives that decide whether or not a law should pass.

Federalising the United Kingdom

This will be the hardest part of the whole process and will require a lot of hard work from every part and party of the United Kingdom. I completely agree with Ed Miliband that we should have a constitutional convention within the United Kingdom some time after next year’s election. Each of the new parliaments should have the same defined powers along a similar line to the states that make up the USA. A great debate should occur over what powers these new parliaments should have. How can they raise taxes or spend money? Should they control their own education systems? What about the NHS and benefits? Since this debate is only just beginning, I do not know exactly where my opinions are just yet. Once I decide on a point of view, I will be sure to inform you!

So involve yourself in the Great British Debate, read up about the different possibilities, write to your local representatives at every level and make sure to change this country for the better!

Victory for Equality!

History was made yesterday when the House of Commons voted 400 – 175 in favour of gay marriage, an overwhelming majority. Despite this, it did not go as well as planned for David Cameron as more Conservative MPs voted against it rather than for it. Here is the breakdown of how the parties voted (note the SNP did not vote as it is a devolved issue and Sinn Fein doesn’t sit in the House of Comons).

Party	Yes	No	Abstained
Conservative	127	136	40
Labour	220	22	16
Liberal Democrat	45	4	7
DUP	0	8	0
Plaid Cymru	3	0	0
SDLP	1	0	2
Alliance	1	0	0
Respect	1	0	0
Green	1	0	0
Independents	1	2	0

The Tory rebels included two cabinet ministers, Owen Patterson the Environment Secretary and David Jones, the Welsh secretary. This is a massive blow to David Cameron’s authority within the Conservative Party, a lot of party members are unhappy about this self-inflicted wound.

Although the bill has not become law yet, when it passes through committee and the House of Lords it will mean that same-sex couples in England and Wales will be allowed to get married. The law will not apply to Scotland or Northern Ireland, although in Scotland there are plans to pass it soon. The combined population of England and Wales means that it will become the largest jurisdiction to have passed gay marriage. This means the UK will join 11 other countries (Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa and Sweden) as well as subdivisions of Brazil, Mexico and the US. There is still a lot to do for gay rights, although progress is moving quickly in several places. There is discussion about passing gay marriage in several states of Mexico and the US. Gay marriage is likely to be legalised in Andorra, Colombia, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Nepal, New Zealand, Taiwan and Uruguay within the next couple of years.

Unfortunately for gay people, there are worse issues. In most African and Middle Eastern states homosexuality is a punishable offense, sometimes even by death. Gay rights groups need to do more work trying to convince more people in these countries that gay sex is not a sin.

2013 is looking like it could be the best year gay marriage rights have ever had, here’s just a few key dates to watch out for:

12^th of February: France’s National Assembly votes on a same-sex marriage bill (likely to pass)

28^th of February: A Select Committee in New Zealand’s parliament will report on whether a same-sex marriage bill should continue.

April: Uruguay’s Senate will vote on a same-sex marriage bill that has already passed the Chamber of Deputies

Spring: Same-sex marriage will be discussed at Vietnam’s National Assembly

20^th of June: If Colombia’s Congress does not legislate then same-sex marriage will automatically be legalised.  

A day of Celebration for Labour

Labour + 823

Conservatives: -405

Liberal Democrats: -336

Greens: +11

Without a doubt Thursday was a resounding success for Labour. Labour gained Birmingham and Wales, retained Glasgow but did not win London. The Labour party gained a total of 823 councillors, the Tories losing 405 and the Liberal Democrats losing 336.

Prior to the election the Conservatives were trying to inflate what Labour should win, saying that anything less than 700 councillors would be a failure. At the same time Labour was trying to downplay what would a good result would be, saying that getting 300 would be a good night. In reality both parties were probably predicting around 500 councillors for Labour, the truth was far better than anyone had expected. Labour managed to gain over 800 councillors, which prompted Ed Miliband to proclaim “Labour is back”. This has devastated the coalition, many Conservatives believe that they are being punished for being too liberal and allowing UKIP to take their voters.

Without a doubt the Lib Dems had the worst night of the three main parites. They have been reduced to the smallest number of councillors since the party was created 30 years ago. Lib Dems feel that they are being punished for being too Conservative.

Neither party appear to understand what being in coalition means.

What the government will try to do is point out that the turnout was painfully low, around one third, and it therefore isn’t a good indicator for public opinion. They also have pointed to the disappointing result for Labour in 1999, yet Tony Blair still went on to win in 2001. Yet they forget that Blair was coming off the back of a huge victory and a growing economy when people went to the polls in 1997. The Conservatives on the other hand haven’t won an election outright since 1992 and the economy has just fallen back into recession, although it is much better than the Lib Dems, who haven’t won an election outright since 1910…

Labour managed to take 38% of the vote, 2% up from last year, the Conservatives took 31%, down 4% and the Lib Dems took a measly 16%, unchanged from last year.

I will now go into the election results in each of the four areas of the UK that voted in detail; England, Scotland, Wales and London. 

Council Elections in England

Labour: + 534

Conservatives: -328

Liberal Democrats: -190

Green: +5

Without a doubt Labour did fantastically in England as a result of Thursday’s council elections, Labour gained control of 22 councils and held 39. Labour did very well in its heartland areas around Manchester and Liverpool where it added more councils, Labour also gained Carlisle in the north and Birmingham in the midlands. The great success for Labour was in the south, although the south is still Conservative the Labour party managed to attract many votes. Most importantly, Labour managed to attract votes from places that once voted Blair, but turned their backs and returned to the Conservatives in 2005 and 2010. This was something people thought “Red Ed” could never do. In the south Labour gained Southampton, Plymouth and Exeter and took four councillors in Cameron’s backyard of West Oxfordshire.

What Labour gained, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats lost. The Conservatives lost ten English councils, bringing their total to 42 whilst that Liberal Democrats lost one and held six. This hides just how devastated the Lib Dems were, they lost a total of 190 councillors across England. Does this mark an end to the Liberal Democrats in England? Who knows, the rise of the Greens and UKIP could facilitate a Lib Dem decline.

Election Night

Yesterday was election night, but what will the results mean for the country?

There are a number of different elections going on across England, Wales and Scotland (no voting in Northern Ireland). What the majority of people consider the most important is the mayoral election in London. The mayor of London is arguably the most powerful politician outside of the cabinet in the UK and so it is very important to both Labour and the Conservatives. Last time Boris Johnson won due to his “doughnut strategy” this was whereby he targeted the London suburbs where there are more Conservatives to be found. Now aware of this strategy Ken Livingstone has also targeted these areas, his promise to cut rail fares pleases many voters in places such as Bexleyheath.

Outside of London there are also very important elections in Birmingham and Glasgow. Currently one party does not control the Birmingham city council; instead it is ruled by a coalition between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. To win Birmingham outright Labour need a swing of just 2.5%, for the Labour Party this would be particularly important as it would send out a message that the tide is turning against Conservative-Lib Dem coalitions. The results in Glasgow could be extremely important, if the SNP manage to take control of Glasgow, or at least make sure no party gets an overall majority, then it would prove a devastating blow for Labour. It would also be a phenomenal victory for the SNP and give them hope for the 2014 referendum.

Wales is looking likely to go Labour’s way, Labour hopes to prise the likes of Swansea away from the Liberal Democrats and outright win Cardiff, Labour has called on the Welsh people to “send the vicious government a message”.

If the elections were to be a great night for Labour, they’d win London, Glasgow, Birmingham and Wales outright, on an alright night they might lose London and on a bad night Birmingham would not fall there way. If Glasgow or Wales were not to vote for Labour it could mark the beginning of the end for Labour, if an alternative party were to rise.

The English Riots

What started off as a peaceful protest over the shooting of Mark Duggan by police soon descended into a riot in Tottenham. Over the next few days it spread to other areas of London and then onto other English cities such as Manchester, Salford and Bristol. The riots provoked a huge backlash from the public which was reflected by politicians, such as when David Cameron called the riots “mindless criminality”. Although I do agree with him, to an extent, and it would be a mistake to put the riots solely down to political reasons. The fact remains that many young people, especially those from ethnic minorities, feel distanced from the police and something needs to be done about this. An attempt to improve the lives of many of the less fortunate is required if we don’t wish to see a repeat of the riots.

Something I do worry about is the reaction of the judiciary to the riots. People got very harsh punishments for the simplest of crimes. Two men were locked up for four years for attempting to organise a riot via Facebook. The danger of this is that prison doesn’t reform people, in fact is does the opposite! In cases relating to the riot, people should be handed community sentences as it is proven to be better at reforming and they would be helping to repair the communities that they destroyed.

Some people compared the riots to the ones that often happen in Northern Ireland. These are not really comparable as, unlike the English riots, the Northern Irish ones have a huge political dimension. It is also important to note that the Northern Irish rioters don’t gain anything materially, whereas in England it was one of the main reasons for people rioting. The final key difference is that the English riots could not have been predicted and no-one knows when, or if, they will occur again. In Northern Ireland on the other hand, you can predict the date and even the location of many of the riots!

English rioters set a building ablaze.