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I want radical change, not lipstick on a pig!
Posted by Kasch Wilder (@KaschWilder)
Sunday, 7th February 2010
When watching Gordon Brown's proposals for a "new politics", I couldn't help but remember a line deployed by 'campaign-trail Obama' back in 2008 where he caused much controversy when whacking McCain for pretending to offer "change" to the American people.
"You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig!"- Sen.Obama at a high-school rally. Lebanon, Va.
Let's call AV out for what it is. Change for the sake of change, not the progression of our democracy.
The late Lord Jenkins of Hillhead aired serious doubts about AV in a report commissioned by Prime Minister Blair.
"AV on its own suffers from a stark objection. It offers little prospect of a move towards greater proportionality and in certain circumstances it has even less proportionality than first past the post."
I'm proud to be a supporter and activist for the only political party that proposes making Parliament actually proportional to the number of votes cast, however that is only a small step in strengthening and re-energizing our democracy. It is not enough to stop at reforming the way we send MP's to Parliament or the Upper House.
The United Kingdom is a UN Security Council nation, a nuclear power and a NATO state. We play a leadership role in the European Union, we have an expansive diplomatic service that spans the globe and have over 100,000 armed forces in active theatre right now.
I personally feel that it is wrong and dangerous for the leader of such an influential country to be elected by a couple thousand people in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, Witney or Sheffield Hallam under AV, FPTP or even STV.
I want to see a full separation of powers in this country.
Charles Walker MP couldn't have put it better on his ConservativeHome post on the issue:
"Restoring the necessary checks and balances into our systems of Government and cutting out the cancer of patronage can only be done through the separation of powers. A separation that would see the Executive removed from Parliament - unshackling both sides. The Prime Minister of the day would have a direct mandate and have the freedom to hire our greatest talents to run the Country. Likewise, released from the burden of stocking the Ministerial Offices of Whitehall, the nation would get a leaner and meaner Parliament, reduced in size for the right reasons, dedicated to scrutinising legislation and holding the Executive to account."
I suspect Mr. Cameron will make some political reform speech soon in response to Brown. No doubt it will be a shining example of the kind of reactionary headline-grabbing politics that has hampered efforts to change our politics for the better.
