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Liberal Viewpoint Doing politics differently!
The present House of Commons failed to come clean about expenses claims last year, and it is composed of too many career politicians who have no life and no experience outside politics. The European elections, held on the basis of party lists, chosen by party machines, are a bad example of proportional representation, because they encourage this trend of unrepresentative party hacks. Across the country, the three major British parties exercise power on a fraction of the total vote, operating a whip system which rewards loyalty to the party line. In some wards, Councillors were elected with less than 30% of the vote, on a turnout of less than 40% - in other words, elected to represent an area where only 13% of the electorate voted for them! Despite the protestations of the major party leaders, their failure to come clean over expenses before the Daily Telegraph revelations, and their previous record on parliamentary reform, voters should not expect wholesale and positive change any time soon. The truth is, we need to do politics differently- and there is a political party which already does just that! Across the country, from Gateshead to Truro, elected Liberal Councillors think for themselves, judge issues on their merits, do not have a party ‘whip’ to obey, and represent a party where every member has a voice at Assembly, without spin doctors or party managers. The Liberal Party believes in proportional representation by single transferable vote, so that voters vote for candidates not for parties. Our Councillors are to be seen all through the year, not just at election time. Our party is funded entirely by small, individual, voluntary contributions, not by big business or big unions. We oppose state funding for political parties, unearned income from the taxpayer which would be spent at the whim of party leaders and their intimates. A brief glance at our record and our policies shows that Liberals do a different kind of politics. And I believe that is exactly what many honest, hard-working, thinking people across the country are looking for. Andrew Montgomerie is a member of the Liberal Party’s National Executive Committee This article is written in a personal capacity and is not an official statement of Liberal Party policy. |
On June 4th, everyone in Britain had a vote. Two thirds of the electorate chose not to use it. The media is agreed that the British are very angry with their elected politicians. And rightly so.