[In reply to an email asking Brian’s opinion….]
I agree that it is very hard to be sure about the vote on AV – the issue is complicated.
And I also agree that the glossy leaflet you refer to is skilfully done … they obviously have spent a lot of money on it … and, yes, it sure looks like the Conservative party to me!!! It’s so convincing at first sight … but a close look reveals all the flaws in their argument. Yes – the candidate who gets the most votes might be called the ‘winner’ – and you might think he is the best person to represent his constituency. But if he got most votes, but only 30 per cent of the electorate actually voted for him, the falseness of this conclusion immediately shows up. In fact, this candidate does NOT have the support of even half his community. This is exactly what happens in many wards now. And I believe it’s wrong. And it’s very easy to spot the hypocrisy of a government that is complaining about spending millions on getting a fair voting system, and saying the money should be spent on Nurses! I have to laugh. In fact this government IS spending more money on Nurses? It is Hell ! It is cutting jobs in the private sector, and spending billions on fighting wars we don’t need to be involved in!
In a sense, as has been pointed out to me, the very fact that the Conservative leadership are so desperate not to allow the YES vote to succeed tells us something. This government is Hell-bent on bringing back hunting with dogs and slaughtering our badgers, has refused to tighten controls on cruelty in farming, and is overall the most unfriendly government to animals this country has seen for a very long time. The fact that they feel so threatened by a change in the voting system in itself probably tells us that voting YES for CHANGE is the right thing to do. That’s what I will be doing. It’s time for a change. We have a government right now which none of us voted for. Neither the Conservatives nor the Lib-dems had sufficient support from the British public to form a government. But they did a deal in which they both sold their mothers, and managed to grab power. I want to see this country REALLY choose its leaders in a fair way.
I am not well enough informed to be sure that AV as proposed is the perfect system – it may still need work – but I AM convinced that we need to vote YES for CHANGE – for a chance of a better, fairer Britain.
Cheers
Bri