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Post by Zany on May 3, 2024 21:20:25 GMT
But will Rushi take the hint.
We need change to give people hope.
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Post by walterpaisley on May 3, 2024 22:00:39 GMT
Not MANY people seem to want ANYTHING.
Low turnouts across the board.
Topic of conversation this evening has been "maybe time to bring in compulsory voting?".
Personally, I'm all for it.
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Post by Zany on May 3, 2024 23:09:39 GMT
Not MANY people seem to want ANYTHING. Low turnouts across the board. Topic of conversation this evening has been "maybe time to bring in compulsory voting?". Personally, I'm all for it. I think we might insist people turn out, but stop short of making them vote. Who would you vote for at this time if you were a traditional Tory voter. |
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Post by walterpaisley on May 4, 2024 0:49:43 GMT
Not MANY people seem to want ANYTHING. Low turnouts across the board. Topic of conversation this evening has been "maybe time to bring in compulsory voting?". Personally, I'm all for it. I think we might insist people turn out, but stop short of making them vote. That would be fine. People could spoil the ballot if they wished - but I'd guess that, once folk have got to go the polling station anyway, they'd probably be more likely to have put at least SOME thought into using their vote for real. |
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Steve
Hero Protagonist
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Post by Steve on May 4, 2024 0:53:44 GMT
Compulsory voting would be the folly of treating symptoms and not the actual problems (of widespread lack of belief in politicians)
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Post by walterpaisley on May 4, 2024 5:36:02 GMT
And that's a separate issue. There's a few simple changes that could improve matters there..
Make being a politician a full time job, not just a side hustle: Upon election, MPs give up any other pursuits - no company directorships, newspaper columns, or TV presenting gigs. Do your MP-ing Monday to Friday, 9 to 5.
Mandatory, weekly surgeries across the constituency - and easily accessible helplines 24/7. (There are still Members who don't bother with such inconveniences.)
Overhaul expenses: Reduce the number of claimable things - for way too long, the whole thing has looked more like cheeky perks than legitimate job support.
The "sponsors" of an MP (private companies, unions, etc) should be prominently displayed on letterheads, website, and chirons during tv interviews. Left up to me, I'd go a bit further and have the Commons floor filled with people wearing the same kind of outfit racing drivers get - with sponsor logos all over.
That's just four, over the first coffee of the day. It wouldn't take much to beef the list up.
MPs I've known personally (mainly Labour, but a tory, too) have been decent, honest, committed to doing good, and VERY hardworking. They've all deserved to be there. If voters could be sure that they were going to be represented by such people, cynicism would eventually evaporate.
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Post by equivocal on May 4, 2024 6:13:05 GMT
Not MANY people seem to want ANYTHING. Low turnouts across the board. Topic of conversation this evening has been "maybe time to bring in compulsory voting?". Personally, I'm all for it. Too paternalistic for me (visceral reaction of revulsion - honestly!).
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Post by Zany on May 4, 2024 6:20:41 GMT
I think we might insist people turn out, but stop short of making them vote. That would be fine. People could spoil the ballot if they wished - but I'd guess that, once folk have got to go the polling station anyway, they'd probably be more likely to have put at least SOME thought into using their vote for real. I fear that if you forced them to a polling station most would just return to type. What makes a party listen to their electorate is not the fear others will offer better, but that their supporters will stay at home. |
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Post by Zany on May 4, 2024 6:24:08 GMT
Compulsory voting would be the folly of treating symptoms and not the actual problems (of widespread lack of belief in politicians) That to. Though I think at this time its more about a split in Tory support between those who want more extreme Tories and those who think they've already gone too far. And ofcourse, the endless sleaze. |
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Post by Zany on May 4, 2024 6:30:47 GMT
And that's a separate issue. There's a few simple changes that could improve matters there.. Make being a politician a full time job, not just a side hustle: Upon election, MPs give up any other pursuits - no company directorships, newspaper columns, or TV presenting gigs. Do your MP-ing Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. Mandatory, weekly surgeries across the constituency - and easily accessible helplines 24/7. (There are still Members who don't bother with such inconveniences.) Overhaul expenses: Reduce the number of claimable things - for way too long, the whole thing has looked more like cheeky perks than legitimate job support. The "sponsors" of an MP (private companies, unions, etc) should be prominently displayed on letterheads, website, and chirons during tv interviews. Left up to me, I'd go a bit further and have the Commons floor filled with people wearing the same kind of outfit racing drivers get - with sponsor logos all over. That's just four, over the first coffee of the day. It wouldn't take much to beef the list up. MPs I've known personally (mainly Labour, but a tory, too) have been decent, honest, committed to doing good, and VERY hardworking. They've all deserved to be there. If voters could be sure that they were going to be represented by such people, cynicism would eventually evaporate. My limited experience of politicians is they are not interested. If you take the trouble to right to them you get cursory corporate responses. Q. How many of you feel enabled to challenge something unfair that has happened to you from a government body. |
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Steve
Hero Protagonist
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Post by Steve on May 4, 2024 9:58:35 GMT
My limited experience of politicians is they are not interested. If you take the trouble to right to them you get cursory corporate responses. . . Mine is mostly the opposite. |
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Steve
Hero Protagonist
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Post by Steve on May 4, 2024 10:03:46 GMT
And that's a separate issue. There's a few simple changes that could improve matters there.. Make being a politician a full time job, not just a side hustle: Upon election, MPs give up any other pursuits - no company directorships, newspaper columns, or TV presenting gigs. Do your MP-ing Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. Mandatory, weekly surgeries across the constituency - and easily accessible helplines 24/7. (There are still Members who don't bother with such inconveniences.) Overhaul expenses: Reduce the number of claimable things - for way too long, the whole thing has looked more like cheeky perks than legitimate job support. . . Unless you want to quadruple the pay you'd only get dishonest MPs then that were doing all the same things just hiding them. It's a tough job that requires a lot of effort and talent. Worth reading Seb Coe's autobiography on when he was an MP. The issue on TV presenting is that GB News etc are breaking the law and they know it. |
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Post by cartertonian on May 4, 2024 11:03:36 GMT
The problem with reforming our parliamentary system is that it's a bit like the old (non-PC) joke about asking for directions in Ireland and being told, "Well, I wouldn't start from here!"
Unless something catastrophic happens, there is no option to scrap the whole thing and start again from scratch (which is kind of what the New World settlers did when they stuck two fingers up at Britain and Europe and set up what became the USA, but that's another thread), so all we can do is try and nudge the mess we currently have into some sort of functional shape.
My anti-authoritarian instincts lend me toward opposing compulsory voting, so I'd be more inclined toward incentivising the electorate. Proportional representation might be one way of giving voters a sense that their vote might count for something. The specific nature of the chosen PR system might also, over time, diminish the degree of tribalism in the electorate, i.e. if you had to select a second preference candidate, that might start people thinking that simply 'voting blue or red cos you always 'ave done' is no way to run a country.
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Steve
Hero Protagonist
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Post by Steve on May 4, 2024 11:14:00 GMT
yes we should have gone for AV but democracy and a fair referendum rejected it. Nowt as daft as folk.
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Post by patman post on May 4, 2024 12:32:00 GMT
And that's a separate issue. There's a few simple changes that could improve matters there.. Make being a politician a full time job, not just a side hustle: Upon election, MPs give up any other pursuits - no company directorships, newspaper columns, or TV presenting gigs. Do your MP-ing Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. Mandatory, weekly surgeries across the constituency - and easily accessible helplines 24/7. (There are still Members who don't bother with such inconveniences.) Overhaul expenses: Reduce the number of claimable things - for way too long, the whole thing has looked more like cheeky perks than legitimate job support. The "sponsors" of an MP (private companies, unions, etc) should be prominently displayed on letterheads, website, and chirons during tv interviews. Left up to me, I'd go a bit further and have the Commons floor filled with people wearing the same kind of outfit racing drivers get - with sponsor logos all over. That's just four, over the first coffee of the day. It wouldn't take much to beef the list up. MPs I've known personally (mainly Labour, but a tory, too) have been decent, honest, committed to doing good, and VERY hardworking. They've all deserved to be there. If voters could be sure that they were going to be represented by such people, cynicism would eventually evaporate. I’d only consider supporting the call for MPs not to have additional paid work if they could only stand for election after having worked in non party political employment for a minimum of 10 years — and give them a substantial pay rise. I see the value of having MPs who have experience of the working everyday world outside Parliament, who are not immersed solely in party politics. As the UK also has devolved legislatures, I’d support a reduction in the number of Westminster MPs — say to 400 or 500 — and a complete restructure of the second chamber (not the half-hearted attempt that’s left us with the anomaly we currently have)… |
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