Moving post-politics into issues

I joined a political party over a year ago but as yet haven't attended a meeting. The most i have done (apart from pay the monthly dues of course) is put a poster in my porch window during the local elections. So why is this? Am i just totally lazy? I think there is an element of laziness in this but the main reason is because nothing has so far engaged me.

Meeting to discuss taxation policy or to group read a socialist tract leaves me cold. I'm starting to come to the realisation that party politics themselves are leaving me a bit cold. I have a great interest in political issues especially foreign policy and the environment but these seem to be above party politics, they are pan-national and outside of the old left-right paradigm.

Lets face facts, the three main political parties are pretty much the same anyway. Their policies do not vary that greatly and the personnel at the top are all cut from the same cloth, often coming from the same schools. None of them really speak for me, but a local campaigner aiming to prevent the tarmacing over of green fields does.

So i am moving post-politics and into political issues. I shall keep my membership of the party active for now but i doubt i will be changing my behaviour towards them much (its nice to get a Christmas card from the leader) for the foreseeable future.

Not good enough

Well the AV vote has failed but that was kind of expected anyway because the Yes campaign was so poor and the No campaign effective but negative... but at least visible.

In the light of regional elections Labour has to be rather disappointed i would have thought. I certainly am. OK we win Wales but Scotland is lost and as for winning English councils, well Labour did that throughout the 1980s for all the good it did. The Tories actually won some councils in any case.

The government is unpopular, the Tories have been successful in setting up their Lib Dem coalition partners to be the fall guys but even so, the Tories should have taken a hit so why haven't they?

Granted the effect of their cuts has yet to be felt but much of the publicity has been negative. However there has been little positive narrative from the other side for people to grasp onto. What do Labour actually stand for? I don't know and neither do the party to be honest. People afraid or distrustful of one side will stay with the Devil they know if there is no perceptible alternative. It is that alternative that Labour has to provide and fast.

The party has to come up with a vision, an alternative. The election was lost a year ago yet still Labour are trying to defend their record. No one cares. The Tories and their media lapdogs will attack anyway. Labour needs to set out its vision for rule, a positive vision in tune with the times. A vision that fills the void of hope, that can bring about a fairer society yet one that doesn't punish people just for existing.

So hurry up Ed, the speed at which the Lib Dems are imploding you might need to be coming up with a general election manifesto sooner than you imagined.

To AV or not to AV

Its referendum day, a rare event in England, in fact the last time they held a referendum nationwide (which was for entry into the EEC) i think i was only just out of nappies. The referendum is to decide if we want to change our voting system from the current First Past The Post to Alternative Vote.

I've always been a fan of fairer voting and proportional representation though AV, where we would list the candidates in order of preference, would not give us that. It would be a tentative step on a road to fairer politics and true democracy though. The majority of parliamentary seats in the UK are safe seats which means that the incumbant does not have to try very hard to get re-elected in most occaisions.

I live in a very safe Labour seat for example, which is fine for me because i am a Labour party member, but there is little chance that voters for other parties will ever be able to have their say. A fairer proportional voting system where their votes count, where all votes count, can only be a good thing surely?

The AV campaign has been poor though on both sides, the No argument seems to have largely been that Britain is broke/crap and its population are idiots so we had best keep FPTP. The Yes campaign has been hardly noticable, in fact i do not recall seeing much from them about it at all.

I voted this morning and voted yes. If you have not voted yet why not vote yes to AV too? Has the current system really served us that well, it seems to give us dictatorial government (of both sides) that lasts for years fuelled by a minority of votes. Maybe AV is not perfect but it is a start and it is something different. Lets not be afraid of change, if it doesn't work we can always try something else but until we try how will we ever know?

This is a really poor country

You know its funny, according to the Prime Minister this country is so poor we can't even afford a fairer voting system like AV! However we can afford dropping bombs on Libya and a massive Royal pageant, its a funny old world isn't it?

Back to Coleshill

Another 4 day weekend, i really could get used to this.

Friday of course was Royal Wedding Day. As someone who is quite comfortable with the idea of Royalty even though being a socialist i found the wedding itself quite interesting though the coverage did go on a bit! I find all the pomp irresistible though the Royal Family does of course underpin the British class system which keeps the working class down which i am opposed to.

However this curious inconsistency is a family tradition, one of my ancestors was a card carrying Communist yet hired out his front room to the local Conservative party for their constituency meetings!

Today i went to Coleshill again, this time with my wife. She did not like it though as there were not any shops, bah! I took some more pictures of the church and around the town itself in any case.