tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174365426491035419.post2012658494474784519..comments2023-12-29T19:36:37.539+00:00Comments on peezedtee: The coalition so far: good or bad?peezedteehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08280444890826046800noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174365426491035419.post-62439880783172213152011-01-28T14:57:43.464+00:002011-01-28T14:57:43.464+00:00"[P]referential voting could lock in more lef..."[P]referential voting could lock in more left of centre governments in the long term."<br /><br />Yeah.<br /><br />http://www.labourlist.org/tories-consider-informal-anti-labour-pactJamiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04992989840233745094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174365426491035419.post-88333524703153645192011-01-28T14:54:45.613+00:002011-01-28T14:54:45.613+00:00Alas, this Tory-led government has been so very ri...Alas, this Tory-led government has been so very right wing and the Liberals so very near invisible in their 'leftward dragging' role that the AV referendum is already a referendum on Liberal involvement in the coalition, rather than on voting reform.<br /><br />The referendum has therefore already been lost. This isn't good news, obviously.<br /><br />I can see why a rump of Liberal voters are okay with what has been got (runways, Crossrail, ID cards) but these were all things the Tories were pledged to do anyway.<br /><br />So far, it seems that, if it's Tory and Liberal policy, it goes through. If it's Tory policy, it goes through. If it's Liberal policy, it's ditched immediately *by the Liberals themselves*. They're not even sticking to the coalition agreement as they fall over themselves to throw their lot in with the Tories.<br /><br />I suspect that this confirms what Labour party members used to say when I was a member of the Labour party: the Liberals pretend to be radicals of the left, but they are political whores, happy to be radicals of the right as well.<br /><br />As for reigning in the Tory Eurosceptics... nah. The truth of the matter is that we cannot leave the EU. The Tories know that it would be impossible and economically ruinous and that the Americans would object loudly too.<br /><br />All the Tories can do is resist further integration publicly (whilst doing it behind the scenes). This is what they've always done anyway. They don't need the Liberals for that.Jamiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04992989840233745094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174365426491035419.post-51928619256336074452011-01-28T14:27:10.992+00:002011-01-28T14:27:10.992+00:00You're right, I certainly welcome those consti...You're right, I certainly welcome those constitutional changes. They, and the abolition of the ID scheme, are definitely on the positive side of the balance sheet.<br /><br />Whether AV "locks in more left of centre governments in the long term" is a very moot point, but anyway is answering the wrong question. The proper criterion for judging a voting system is not whether it is likely to further one's own political aims, but what is best for the voter. I am in favour of preferential voting because it frees the voter from voting tactically, i.e. trying to guess what other voters are doing. However, it looks as if we could very well lose the referendum, and then where will we be?peezedteehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08280444890826046800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174365426491035419.post-69740790073828558202011-01-28T12:13:43.082+00:002011-01-28T12:13:43.082+00:00Agree with your summary and I know you were not tr...Agree with your summary and I know you were not trying to duplicate the article to which you referred but was surprised you didn't mention the welcome AV Referendum, the abolition of the Labour ID card scheme and the much welcome dampening of the Tories usual Euroscepticism by their Lib Dem 'ballast'. Lords reform is on the list. Four really important achievements in my view. I also welcome fixed term parliaments, as I have always thought the ruling party advantage in calling election dates, to be morally outrageous. There have been a host of other smaller administrative changes which are also to be welcomed. I deplore all the cuts but am prepared to hold my nose and tolerate them temporarily just to get the referendum which I care about much more than anything else, having craved a more preferential voting system for 45 years... I think preferential voting could lock in more left of centre governments in the long term. I seem to be one of very few people looking to the long term, constitutionally.Chrishttp://kif1@mac.comnoreply@blogger.com