PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION: So we’ve finally got a government. Well, a government of sorts. It all seems a little bit like Everton and Liverpool putting out a joint team in order to beat Manchester United to me.
The Conservative and the Liberal Democrats just don’t seem natural bedfellows. After all, during the TV debates it was Gordon Brown who just kept saying ‘I agree with Nick’.
The word farce doesn’t even give enough justice to the last few days. I for one can’t believe there was even talk of a losers coalition. One pundit on the radio got that spot on – he simply said Chelsea didn’t win the league, because between them Manchester United and Arsenal had got more points...
The vote across the UK was indecisive – but in a way it could not have been more decisive. Whatever else the good people of the UK had said, they had made it quite clear that not-so-flash Gordon must go.
They may not have embraced JFK’s reincarnation whole-heartedly, but they had still given David Cameron more votes than anyone else.
You can’t help but think we could be here again in a few years though, or even less. Which brings me to my next point. The imfamous PR. No, I don’t mean David Cameron’s stylish spin, or the ill-fated decision to tell Gordon Brown to smile more, I am talking about Proportional Representation. The saviour or nemesis of British politics, depending on whose opinion you listen to.
If we get PR, then we get more situations like now, uncertainty following elections, wrangling over who is in charge. Good thing or bad thing? Do we get an ineffective government, or do we get a government that benefits from two lines of thinking. Two heads, or so says the proverb, are better than one.
Are the parties compromising for the good of the nation? Or are they just compromised?
Take a look around Europe. In Germany, where they have a form of PR, they have had lots of coalition governments, but with it lots of stability – at least post 1945. The parties there seem to be able to just get on.
Yet in Italy there has been a series of chaotic governments, one of which even managed to have Silvio Berlusconi in charge. In Wales it’s a system known as the mixed member system (which is also used in Germany).
They system is geared slightly more towards allowing major parties to control the governments, but can still produce hung parliaments and coalitions – as is currently the case in Wales.
So for the people of Wales the question is are you happy with the system here? Does it work, are you happy with the Labour-Plaid coalition? Would you like to see the same system replicated on a parliament level?
There’s lots of talk of the AV system. PR for the gutless. PR for a party – like the Tories or indeed Labour – who know they’d lose seats as a result of any other system. AV, for anyone wondering, is a complicated counting system where by a candidate in any one constituency has to get 50% of the vote.
Voters rank their candidates in order of preference.
After each count the loser is knocked out until there is a last man standing.
That is a very simplistic explanation, but it still produces one MP per seat, and would not have a dramatic effect on the overall make-up of parliament – certainly not as dramatic an effect as other PR systems.
It also would mean a lot more counting on election night...
SWEEPS: The other day we had a chimney sweep round our house. For some reason both the girls seemed incredibly excited by this impending arrival.
It seemed a little odd, they were buzzing – more excited than when one of there friends comes to play.
All soon become apparent, when the sweep arrived and set to work. Amelie bounded into the room and asked him earnestly ‘so are you going to dance on the roof as well?’