Cash for Peerages...

[bhsup]

Sounds like you need to abolish Parliment and let Queen Elizabeth deal with things directly. Absolute power has no need for other Lords and whatnot, eh?

 

[brennan]

X

(that's my vote btw)

 

[EdwardTking]

If one of Blair’s close aids is found guilty

a trial could take a year or so

there is no doubt Blair would have to resign

perhaps...perhaps not...

and John Prescott would have to take over as PM.

Maybe, but I think it more likely that Her Majesty would either ask the
UK Chancellor Gordon Brown to form a government or if, by then the
five year term is nearly up, dissolve Parliament and call a general election.

 

[brennan]

Members of the Blair government have been extremely reluctant to resign so far.

 

[GinandTonic]

Mer Maj has no role in calling for an election unless the MP's are unable to put foward a prospective PM. If Blair goes the MP's simply put foward a new candidate for PM. Since Lab have the majority the leader of the party would be that canditate.

The country doesnt need to be balloted. Hell look at the tories, they dont even (meaningfully) ballot their party members.

 

[bigfatron]

Seriously though...if we want a more open, democratic society then those are the 3 major things we need to do before we can move towards it.

The latter two are not dependent on the first. I'm perfectly happy with the monarchy as a titular/ceremonial head of state, far better than a president. Just remove the right of lords to opine, institute PR and state fund the parties based on historic voting levels.

BFR

PS - we have to wait for William the fifth to get to the throne, after all he's the first real English monarch in 950 years, being the first to be descended from the last rightful king, Harold of Wessex!

 

[ComradeDavo]

Yes they are. They win someplace else.

Do I really need to bring up the fact that labour got a majority of 65 with only 35% of the vote? Or that the Lib Dems got 22% of the vote yet only 9.6% of % of seats? Results like that are proof enough that the first past the post system is not really that representative.

Yeah, but who do they represent? If I don't like my local MP I can vote him out next time around. Under a PR system, that simply can't happen. Remember Portillo getting the boot? Wouldn't happen under PR. What about independants like Martin Bell? If one guy gets 2% of the vote does he get to represent 4 seats?

The idea we have a 2 party system is faulty at best. Off the top of my head I can think of 7 parties represented in the Commons.

What a Single Transferable Vote system? Even thats more democratic than what we have now...

 

[Mega Tsunami]

a trial could take a year or so
perhaps...perhaps not...

Maybe, but I think it more likely that Her Majesty would either ask the
UK Chancellor Gordon Brown to form a government or if, by then the
five year term is nearly up, dissolve Parliament and call a general election.

Sorry, I did of course mean ‘charged’ and I do believe that Blair’s position would be so untenable (it virtually is already) that he would be forced to resign; a bit like Thatch did.
And surely the Queen will have no option but to appoint the Deputy PM for the few weeks it would take to appoint a new leader of the Labour party. (That’s what I have read somewhere). Surely she cannot pick and choose whether it should be Brown or not. Why Brown? Why not Reid? (OK I know Brown is the obvious one but the Queen can’t decide that can she - the name Deputy PM must mean something. After all when Blair is off sunning himself at another aged rock star’s pad, it has always been Prezza that has stepped in.)

 

[GinandTonic]

And surely the Queen will have no option but to appoint the Deputy PM for the few weeks it would take to appoint a new leader of the Labour party. (That’s what I have read somewhere). Surely she cannot pick and choose whether it should be Brown or not. Why Brown? Why not Reid? (OK I know Brown is the obvious one but the Queen can’t decide that can she - the name Deputy PM must mean something. After all when Blair is off sunning himself at another aged rock star’s pad, it has always been Prezza that has stepped in.)

Her Maj doesnt come into it, AFIK. Prezza gets his hands on the launch keys and is Acting PM (not pukka PM) for the time it takes the lab to elect a new leader. Parlament then gets Liz to swear the new leader in and its biz as normal.

 

[brennan]

Do I really need to bring up the fact that labour got a majority of 65 with only 35% of the vote? Or that the Lib Dems got 22% of the vote yet only 9.6% of % of seats? Results like that are proof enough that the first past the post system is not really that representative.

The only way to have a truly representative government is to have a little voting console in every home and we all vote on every single issue. Any system in which we have representatives instead of voting ourselves is not truly representative. First Past The Post more or less guarrantees that one way or another, our government will be able to pass legislation. PR systems can result in weak ineffective government that cannot do a thing. I think the distortions of our system are a good trade off to avoid that.

 

[ComradeDavo]

The only way to have a truly representative government is to have a little voting console in every home and we all vote on every single issue. Any system in which we have representatives instead of voting ourselves is not truly representative. First Past The Post more or less guarrantees that one way or another, our government will be able to pass legislation. PR systems can result in weak ineffective government that cannot do a thing. I think the distortions of our system are a good trade off to avoid that.

What about STV?

I do think we should start voting on some issues. A bit like Switzerland, or those US states.

I still maintain we need a more representative system than we do today.

 

[brennan]

I suspect STV would be more or less the same as PR.

Single issue votes are expensive.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Single issue votes are expensive.

They also tend to end up with all of the unpopular or hard decisions getting ducked.

 

[brennan]

Well why waste time paying for a referendum you'll lose?

 

[Mega Tsunami]

I just heard on the radio - Blair was questioned by the police for a second time last Friday. They don't know if it was under caution.

What fine, upstanding Politicians we have.

The net closes in a little further...