Sunday 11 November 2007

Why

It’s zeal of the convert time again. Britain is a pluralistic country. First Past The Post was fine while the parties were themselves broadly based coalitions of politicians with strong local bases and close ties to wider civil society. That is simply no longer the case. That’s why we need new parties. And that’s why we need a new electoral system.

4 comments:

  1. It would allow a new Hitchensite paleocon party to emerge from the ruins of Ukip and its semi-detached, internally exiled Tory fellow-travellers. And that is where a lot of voters are.

    It would give a new lease of life to the Socialist Labour Party, since, just as your own traditional Labour Right party would be filling a huge current gap, so also would be a traditional Labour Left party purged of both Stalinists and Trotskyists. Look at the SLP's Aims in its Constitution, and look at its history, and you'll see that that is exactly what it is.

    And then there is the Liberal Party, which still exists and has much to say on liberty, social justice, peace issues, and opposition to the EU.

    100 MPs and 99 Senators for each of them and for your lot, plus a sympathetic Senator each among the national Cross Benchers, sounds absolutely ideal.

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  2. Has Harry's Place apologised for saying that you were a latter-day Mosley who wanted to set up a one-party state? Has Oliver Kamm? Yeah, I bet they have.

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  3. And nothing could happen without the support of at least four parties, in practice yours, the High Tory one, the Old Liberal one, and the Old Labour Left one. Nor could anything be stopped if all four of those were agreed on it.

    Trots, neocons, BNP types and the rest would be nowhere. The slow-motion neocon coup to which we have been subjected would be impossible, as would have been the precursor takeovers of the Tories by pro-apartheid, pro-Pinochet, smash the unions, privatise the air types, and of Labour by the CPGB in the unions and the Trots in the CLPs.

    Bring it on!

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  4. Each could always have an equal number of Cabinet Minsiters, and the guarantee of one Minister on each department's team. The Premiership could rotate. Switzerland-at-Sea. Bliss.

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