The Referendum

Next year, probably on May 5th, the UK will once again go to the polls. Not to decide the outcome of an unwinnable election but to indeed decide how we go about such elections. The referendum to decide our voting system, which was a key factor in the coalition agreement, is supported by our default Prime Minister, but not by his secretary/deputy, Nick Clegg. I'm not sure how this is going to work. The Government as a unit is proposing this electoral change and I suppose will publicly push for it, however, it is well documented that Cameron and most of the Conservative contigent of the cabinet are against changing to the Clegg-preferred, AV system.

Voting reform: the options explained

The same questions will arise as we approach the next general election, if the coalition lasts that long, both Clegg and Cameron will campaign for their own parties whilst defending the same Government. Until the point when the cabinet have to get serious about the referendum, they will continue to use the 'It was in the Labour manifesto and now their against it' gag. This is of course true, although where the majority of Conservatives are against the switch, it is only a minority of Labour MP's who a similarly adjacent to the idea. As far as I know, all of the Labour candidates are supportive of changing the system and my view is similar but not at the same level of Nick Clegg or indeed his Yellow Tory Party.

In truth, the UK parliamentary system is archaic; leader of the Greens, Caroline Lucas recently compared it to the Brussels-based, super-contemporary, European Parliament and stated that as we are one of the most developed countries in the world, the UK should be moving with the times and modernising our system as needed. This is one of the few points I will probably ever agree with her on. This is the key. Not changing the literal way in which we elect our government but the way in which parliament runs. I believe that if the Houses of Parliament and the system its working under was actually modernised, all parties would be able to function better and get their views heard in the Chamber. This of course includes the smaller parties who are more in favour of switching our voting system, if they could interact in'direct politics' without the 'motion to solve a query about a bill which was revised in the Lords under another motion about a different bill proposed by an EDM' - that's just stupid, but's that's how it is. The UK are basing politics on the sentiment of keeping our tradition in place. We need an urgent revamp of Parliament, I think changing the voting system is the least of our worries. Direct politics, that's what we need.

Lost election, new leader!

I'm in the middle of my GCSE exams at the minute so there is likely to be a few more breaks in my posting. Sorry. To keep the whole thing fresh, I have also given the place a makeover! Hope you like!

Onto the politics, I haven't actually posted since before the Election, so after reading my last post you'll realise how very wrong I was. In fact, I couldn't of be any more incorrect. And although, for obvious reasons, I don't want to dwell on the election, it was very interesting watching how the country didn't take to Nick Clegg as much as the poll said they would and how good, old Gordon finally conceded defeat.

Anyway, moving very swiftly on, to the new leader of the Labour Party! Miliband, Miliband, Burnham, Balls or Abbott? Well, i'm going for Miliband, Ed that is. I don't want to tempt fate but I do believe he is the best option and I do believe he will become our leader. Although I wouldnt begrudge any of the other candidates the leadership, except maybe Ed Balls, but David M is fantastic on foreign affairs and the other three, I believe just don't have the spark needed to salvage Labour, which apparently, is no longer New and the New Statesman-organised leadership debate outlined that, although, Diane Abbott spoke very well on the main talking point of the event, immigration, Balls & Burnham preached the usual "power to the people" talk and David, I'm afraid to say, seem to do a lot of sucking up to various factions who are supporting him, such as young people. Put simply - EM4Labour. Support him now.

And that really has been the hot political topic since the election...oh, except the, ahem, cuts. The cuts devised by George Osborne and David La- Danny Alexander. As unclear as they were, what stood out was a repulsive decision to scrap the Child Trust Fund; an initiative introduced by the former Labour government to support children, financially, once they turn 18. Just another sign of the Conservative minded way in which the finances of the country look set to run over the course of the next Parliament. £6.2 billion has been taken out of the budget, yes, while the economy is still trying to recover. I fear for the future, to tell the truth. £620m comes out of Education and £836m from the Communities budget, the strong infrastructure put in place by Labour, slowly being dismantled. The coalition are criticising the former government for wasting money, so what are they doing now by scraping initiatives and re branding departments?

Anyway, i'll try and keep up the posting, although, there is now the added distraction of a certain tournament taking place in South Africa...

The similarity of the salesman

The Politics Show with Jon Sopel, today featured a Question Time-styled audience interrogating Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg. Immediately, as Clegg's responses were heard, I felt the presence of a certain David Cameron. In the run up to the election, it has become obvious that Cameron is a salesman who lacks any real substance on policy, but never had I considered Clegg's real qualities as a leader until today. The way Clegg talks, his mannerisms, the smile, they are all strikingly similar to that of the Tory leader.

So, with both parties offering ''change'', they may be best placed to look across the opposition benches at one another and actually try to clarify what sets them a part as leaders and potential prime ministers. Well, only one thing sets them apart of course, policy. Thankfully for Labour, as the polls continue to suggest a hung parliament, the Lib Dems are still far from compromising on policy with the Conservatives; and as much as Clegg will deny it, they are much closer to the Labour Party than any other.

I apologise for stating some of the obvious there, but I found it quite amazing how Cameron and Clegg can be so close yet so far apart. The leader debates will highlight this once again, on personality, Cameron and Clegg may come out on top, but on policy and substance, Gordon Brown has it in the bag.