The service began with an introit, then a hymn, and then a dignitary (the Dean?) launched off with "Dearly beloved..." No "Good morning everyone, nice to see so many here. Hope you didn't find the long wait too tedious..." and other vapourings with which today's parsons seem to find it necessary to begin services. There were plenty of "thee's" "thou's" and "unto's"; the prince of the blood was "this man" who was to be married to "this woman", thus showing that the greatest he and the least he are entitled to the same language in these key rites of passage. There was no threatening , take or leave it "This is the word of the Lord" at the end of the Lesson, no clapping the bride and groom for getting their words right and, thank goodness, no hiatus while everyone wandered around shaking hands with each other on the pretext of wishing them "the peace of the Lord." This was Anglican worship as it should be, conducted with reverence and dignity rather than the false matiness which has infected nearly all our parish churches and even some cathedrals.
It was fun to conclude with the hearty singing of "Jerusalem," which I believe can be interpreted as revolutionary. One of the most impressive political speeches I've ever heard was by George Brown in Cleckheaton during the 1964 election. His peroration was that if we did this, that and the other we really would "build a new Jerusalem in England's green and pleasant land." and we all believed him and stood up and cheered. During the singing of the hymn the camera cut to David Cameron. I'm no sure that his market-orientated "devil take the hindmost" new Jerusalem is really what either Gorge Brown or William Blake had in mind.
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
6 out of 10 Australians?
After having explained that Australia uses AV the "No" leaflet claims, that : "in Australia, 6 out of 10 people want to go back to the system we use in the UK."
I Emailed a friend in Australia and asked what substance there is in this claim. His reply cam yesterday:
Re your question, I've never heard of any statistic about ditching preferential voting in favour of FPTP, nor has Liz (his wife) and it's not something that's discussed at all as far as I know. I'll ask around my colleagues, but I think it's a complete non-issue! The only time I heard it being discussed was after the UK election, when there were press reports here of `unfairly' ditched MP's, and some Aussie pride in the Brits considering adopting `our superior system' (rather than the other way round).
My contact goes on to say that what Australians do beef about are compulsory voting (and fines for forgetting to vote) and the necessity in some elections (rules differ from state to state and upper and lower house elections) to put all the candidates in order, not just the top two or three preferred ones. This, he says, can lead to an invalid vote if you accidentally put, say, two number 12s in a rather long list.
Neither of these problems arise, of course, with the current AV proposal in Britain. Voting will remain optional (and rightly so, in my view) and voters are quite at liberty to rank as many preferences as they wish, and if they only want to indicate one preference, that's fine.
So it appears that here is another piece of misinformation from the "No" campaign. I can fully understand why leaders of the "Yes" campaign, and leading Liberal Democrats, including the normally astute Simon Hughes, are waxing indignant about the "No" campaign's tactics, but I still feel that abuse and threats of legal action are counter-productive. The electorate has little sympathy for those who cry "Foul!" Quiet calm deliberation remains the answer.
I Emailed a friend in Australia and asked what substance there is in this claim. His reply cam yesterday:
Re your question, I've never heard of any statistic about ditching preferential voting in favour of FPTP, nor has Liz (his wife) and it's not something that's discussed at all as far as I know. I'll ask around my colleagues, but I think it's a complete non-issue! The only time I heard it being discussed was after the UK election, when there were press reports here of `unfairly' ditched MP's, and some Aussie pride in the Brits considering adopting `our superior system' (rather than the other way round).
My contact goes on to say that what Australians do beef about are compulsory voting (and fines for forgetting to vote) and the necessity in some elections (rules differ from state to state and upper and lower house elections) to put all the candidates in order, not just the top two or three preferred ones. This, he says, can lead to an invalid vote if you accidentally put, say, two number 12s in a rather long list.
Neither of these problems arise, of course, with the current AV proposal in Britain. Voting will remain optional (and rightly so, in my view) and voters are quite at liberty to rank as many preferences as they wish, and if they only want to indicate one preference, that's fine.
So it appears that here is another piece of misinformation from the "No" campaign. I can fully understand why leaders of the "Yes" campaign, and leading Liberal Democrats, including the normally astute Simon Hughes, are waxing indignant about the "No" campaign's tactics, but I still feel that abuse and threats of legal action are counter-productive. The electorate has little sympathy for those who cry "Foul!" Quiet calm deliberation remains the answer.
Monday, 25 April 2011
Chemistry exploded
Since the beginning of the coalition we have heard reports of the "chemistry" between Nick Clegg and David Cameron and their harmonious working relationship. If the AV referendum achieves nothing else (and I have not lost hope and continue delivering the leaflets) it has exposed their relationship for what it is.
A complete page of the "No" leaflet is entirely devoted to Nick Clegg. To support the spurious argument that "AV leads to broken promises" we are told that Nick is unpopular because he broke his promises on four issues: job cuts, the VAT increase, tuition fees and public spending cuts.
The truth is that Clegg, to his shame and ours in my view, was the first to speak of "savage cuts" so the job cuts and public spending cuts are hardly a broken promise. He broke our promise not to increase VAT at the behest of a Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer who had implied a similar promise, and on tuition fees he reneged on his pledge (after having achieved some significant concessions) in order to go along with what the Tories wanted.
William Hague and others mouth the half-truth that since the "No" campaign is an independent organisation its leaflet is not the responsibility of the Conservative party. But we all know that the "No" campaign is over 90% funded by Tory donors and there is no doubt that Cameron could exercise a veto on any publicity material should he so wish.
So whatever the result of the referendum Nick Clegg should emerge from it as a wiser man. He should now know that whatever concessions to Liberal Democrat principles and policies he makes in an attempt to preserve the cosy relationship will be unscrupulously used to attack him and us when it suits the Tories' convenience. Hence we can in future expect a more robust promotion of our policies and a suitable distancing when the coalition's policies are the antithesis of ours.
A complete page of the "No" leaflet is entirely devoted to Nick Clegg. To support the spurious argument that "AV leads to broken promises" we are told that Nick is unpopular because he broke his promises on four issues: job cuts, the VAT increase, tuition fees and public spending cuts.
The truth is that Clegg, to his shame and ours in my view, was the first to speak of "savage cuts" so the job cuts and public spending cuts are hardly a broken promise. He broke our promise not to increase VAT at the behest of a Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer who had implied a similar promise, and on tuition fees he reneged on his pledge (after having achieved some significant concessions) in order to go along with what the Tories wanted.
William Hague and others mouth the half-truth that since the "No" campaign is an independent organisation its leaflet is not the responsibility of the Conservative party. But we all know that the "No" campaign is over 90% funded by Tory donors and there is no doubt that Cameron could exercise a veto on any publicity material should he so wish.
So whatever the result of the referendum Nick Clegg should emerge from it as a wiser man. He should now know that whatever concessions to Liberal Democrat principles and policies he makes in an attempt to preserve the cosy relationship will be unscrupulously used to attack him and us when it suits the Tories' convenience. Hence we can in future expect a more robust promotion of our policies and a suitable distancing when the coalition's policies are the antithesis of ours.
Saturday, 23 April 2011
AV (4); a point and a letter.
The "No" campaign has launched a new slogan: "Under AV losers become winners." Clever, but by this definition David Cameron is a loser: David Davis was first past the post in the first round of their leadership election.
My friend John Cole, described as a "thoroughly good egg" in a comment to a post on this blog (John is dying to know who made it) has a neat explanation as to why running races and choosing a representative are quite different processes , in the following letter to his local paper:
"Sir,
The ”No To A.V.” leaflet has a photograph showing four contestants in a sprint race with the caption “The Winner Should be the One that Comes First”. In this race the outcome is that the competitor originally placed second wins under the Alternative Vote system when other losers’ votes are redistributed. The implication is that such outcomes are intrinsically unfair.
An election, especially a parliamentary election, is not analogous to sprint race. The sole concern in a foot race is “who is the fastest” – speed is the only criterion. In an election, however, a variety of different policy stances (not to mention differing philosophies and values) are being considered. Hence it is valid for the voter to approve of much of what candidate A is offering, some of what candidate B is offering but very little of candidate C’s manifesto. The voter can thus legitimately rank choices between candidates.
First Past The Post, and its protagonists in the “No” camp seek to prevent the electorate operating in an adult fashion which can rank preferences 1,2, 3 etc. They wish to stick with a system which constrains the voter to pick one favoured candidate whilst rejecting outright all others. Life is not that black and white."
My friend John Cole, described as a "thoroughly good egg" in a comment to a post on this blog (John is dying to know who made it) has a neat explanation as to why running races and choosing a representative are quite different processes , in the following letter to his local paper:
"Sir,
The ”No To A.V.” leaflet has a photograph showing four contestants in a sprint race with the caption “The Winner Should be the One that Comes First”. In this race the outcome is that the competitor originally placed second wins under the Alternative Vote system when other losers’ votes are redistributed. The implication is that such outcomes are intrinsically unfair.
An election, especially a parliamentary election, is not analogous to sprint race. The sole concern in a foot race is “who is the fastest” – speed is the only criterion. In an election, however, a variety of different policy stances (not to mention differing philosophies and values) are being considered. Hence it is valid for the voter to approve of much of what candidate A is offering, some of what candidate B is offering but very little of candidate C’s manifesto. The voter can thus legitimately rank choices between candidates.
First Past The Post, and its protagonists in the “No” camp seek to prevent the electorate operating in an adult fashion which can rank preferences 1,2, 3 etc. They wish to stick with a system which constrains the voter to pick one favoured candidate whilst rejecting outright all others. Life is not that black and white."
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Quiet calme deliberation (3) on AV
I have just received a leaflet from the "No to AV" campaign. It is a four-fold A5 size, hence containing four times as much information (or misinformation) as the flimsy single sheet A5 leaflets I've been distributing for the "Yes" campaign, in full colour on very good quality paper. It puts some superficially convincing argument, which do not, of course, bear serious scrutiny, but then, most recipients won't give it serious scrutiny. That, I presume, is the trick of propaganda.
It came through through the post rather than being distributed by volunteers. This, and the quality of the leaflet, means that the "No" campaign has a lot of money to spend. I had supposed that there are rules limiting expenditure on both sides. Maybe the "Yes" campaign is spending our money on those phone banks instead, or maybe the expenditure rules can be circumvented, as in general elections.
The leaflet is basically in white, purple and green, the colours of the Suffragettes, which is a bit of a cheek, since the Suffragettes campaigned to improve a faulty system, not retain one.
The front page displays the slogan; "Keep one person one vote" which of course, AV will also do - simply that if your favoured candidate can't use it you can pass it on to someone else. As Jo Swinson so graphically put it, if you go to a shop for a Mars Bar but they don't have one so you buy a Twix instead, you've still only had one bar of chocolate, not two.
Page 2 repeats the discredited claim that the cost of AV is £250million, including £130 million for electronic voting machines, which will not, of course be required. Votes will be counted by hand and the counts are unlikely to take much longer than the present ones.
Pages 3 and 4 show how the candidate who was second or third when the votes were first counted can emerge the winner under AV whereas under FPTP "the one who comes first is always the winner." At last an element of truth. It is true that AV can produce the least unpopular rather than the most popular candidate, which is presumably why both Labour and the Conservatives use a version of AV when electing their leaders, realising that they need the support of the majority, not just a section of their parties.
Page 5 claims that AV is "not a fair system" but gives no reason to support this. It does not mention that three times since the introduction of universal suffrage, under FPTP the party which came second in the total vote gained the most seats.
Page 6 is split into two columns. The left hand side has a four line explanation of FPTP, the right hand side a 30 line explanation of AV, in small print with, presumably, the expectation that most people won't read it but decide that AV is much too complicated. Presumably they are content to receive their radio by cat's whisker and all have black and white television sets.
Page 7 shows a man in a blue shirt winning a running race but a man in a black one being "the winner under AV" with no suggestion that winning a running race might not be analogous to selecting an individual to represent the views of the majority in parliament. There is also the claim that "The AV system will mean an end to equal votes" without any explanation as to why this should be so. AV will make more votes count, so in that sense will be a move to greater equality.
The final page shows a picture of Nick Clegg displaying his personal pledge to vote against any increase in (student tuition) fees, and claims that "AV leads to broken promises." Well, serves us and him right, I suppose, and it is going to take us years to live that one down. But it is not AV which leads to broken promises. Labour under FPTP and with a whopping majority broke their promise not to introduce tuition fees, and then another promise not to top them up. The Tories under FPTP are currently trying to break their promise of "no top down re-organisation of the NHS."
Clearly the "No" campaign is winning the propaganda war. I hope in the next couple of weeks, even with apparently inferior resources, we can persuade people of the truth. I am encouraged by the fact that the young are more likely to vote "Yes" than the old. It is nice to be on the side of "yoof."
It came through through the post rather than being distributed by volunteers. This, and the quality of the leaflet, means that the "No" campaign has a lot of money to spend. I had supposed that there are rules limiting expenditure on both sides. Maybe the "Yes" campaign is spending our money on those phone banks instead, or maybe the expenditure rules can be circumvented, as in general elections.
The leaflet is basically in white, purple and green, the colours of the Suffragettes, which is a bit of a cheek, since the Suffragettes campaigned to improve a faulty system, not retain one.
The front page displays the slogan; "Keep one person one vote" which of course, AV will also do - simply that if your favoured candidate can't use it you can pass it on to someone else. As Jo Swinson so graphically put it, if you go to a shop for a Mars Bar but they don't have one so you buy a Twix instead, you've still only had one bar of chocolate, not two.
Page 2 repeats the discredited claim that the cost of AV is £250million, including £130 million for electronic voting machines, which will not, of course be required. Votes will be counted by hand and the counts are unlikely to take much longer than the present ones.
Pages 3 and 4 show how the candidate who was second or third when the votes were first counted can emerge the winner under AV whereas under FPTP "the one who comes first is always the winner." At last an element of truth. It is true that AV can produce the least unpopular rather than the most popular candidate, which is presumably why both Labour and the Conservatives use a version of AV when electing their leaders, realising that they need the support of the majority, not just a section of their parties.
Page 5 claims that AV is "not a fair system" but gives no reason to support this. It does not mention that three times since the introduction of universal suffrage, under FPTP the party which came second in the total vote gained the most seats.
Page 6 is split into two columns. The left hand side has a four line explanation of FPTP, the right hand side a 30 line explanation of AV, in small print with, presumably, the expectation that most people won't read it but decide that AV is much too complicated. Presumably they are content to receive their radio by cat's whisker and all have black and white television sets.
Page 7 shows a man in a blue shirt winning a running race but a man in a black one being "the winner under AV" with no suggestion that winning a running race might not be analogous to selecting an individual to represent the views of the majority in parliament. There is also the claim that "The AV system will mean an end to equal votes" without any explanation as to why this should be so. AV will make more votes count, so in that sense will be a move to greater equality.
The final page shows a picture of Nick Clegg displaying his personal pledge to vote against any increase in (student tuition) fees, and claims that "AV leads to broken promises." Well, serves us and him right, I suppose, and it is going to take us years to live that one down. But it is not AV which leads to broken promises. Labour under FPTP and with a whopping majority broke their promise not to introduce tuition fees, and then another promise not to top them up. The Tories under FPTP are currently trying to break their promise of "no top down re-organisation of the NHS."
Clearly the "No" campaign is winning the propaganda war. I hope in the next couple of weeks, even with apparently inferior resources, we can persuade people of the truth. I am encouraged by the fact that the young are more likely to vote "Yes" than the old. It is nice to be on the side of "yoof."
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Quiet calm deliberaltion (2) on AV - PLEASE!
For my original appeal for rational debate on AV rather than a slanging match please see my post on 4th April. Unfortunately instead of arguing the pros and cons of AV and of FPTP, more vitriolic accusations seem to be the order of the day, and what should be great debate in a process which began with the Great Reform Bill of 1832 has degenerated into just another political squabble.
On Monday David Cameron claimed that AV was "obscure, unfair and expensive." and his unlikely collaborator, John Reid said it was "not British." All of these claims can and should be refuted quite calmly.
AV is not obscure. When I deserted (temporarily as it happened - I didn't win) my teaching post in Papua New Guinea to fight the February 1974 British General Election graffiti appeared on some of the school blackboards (and, alas, some less appropriate surfaces) saying "Vote Wrigley 1." Whether the pupils wished to further my political career or simply to get rid of me is not clear, but they were certainly familiar with preferential voting. If young Papua New Guinians could understand voting 1,2,3 nearly forty years ago, then AV is not beyond the comprehension of the mature and highly educated British electorate.
No electoral system is perfect, but AV is likely to produce fairer representation than FPTP, which three times under universal suffrage (1929, 1951 and that same election of February 1974) gave the party which came second in the vote the most seats. It is FPTP which is intolerable in a modern democracy.
It is difficult to understand on what basis the "No" campaign claims that AV will cost £250m. How does that extra expense arise? It is not true that counting machines will be needed. Approximately one third of seats may still be decided on the first count. I doubt if counting staff are paid by the hour, but if they are and some counts take a little longer, the increase in cost will be marginal, and well worth it for a more representative and responsive democracy.
John Reid's claim that AV is "not British" is equally curious. Putting aside the strange notion that a voting system has a nationality, AV is used by the Church of England and most trade unions, variants of it by all three major parties and the Greens, and, according to Vince Cable, who should know about these things, "Come Dancing." What could be more British than that collection?
Finally, Cameron tells us that he feels in his gut that FPTP is to be preferred. True we are guided by our gut feelings in several important areas, such as falling in love and whether or not to eat snails, but more rational processes are available for deciding on the mechanisms of our democracy.
On Monday David Cameron claimed that AV was "obscure, unfair and expensive." and his unlikely collaborator, John Reid said it was "not British." All of these claims can and should be refuted quite calmly.
AV is not obscure. When I deserted (temporarily as it happened - I didn't win) my teaching post in Papua New Guinea to fight the February 1974 British General Election graffiti appeared on some of the school blackboards (and, alas, some less appropriate surfaces) saying "Vote Wrigley 1." Whether the pupils wished to further my political career or simply to get rid of me is not clear, but they were certainly familiar with preferential voting. If young Papua New Guinians could understand voting 1,2,3 nearly forty years ago, then AV is not beyond the comprehension of the mature and highly educated British electorate.
No electoral system is perfect, but AV is likely to produce fairer representation than FPTP, which three times under universal suffrage (1929, 1951 and that same election of February 1974) gave the party which came second in the vote the most seats. It is FPTP which is intolerable in a modern democracy.
It is difficult to understand on what basis the "No" campaign claims that AV will cost £250m. How does that extra expense arise? It is not true that counting machines will be needed. Approximately one third of seats may still be decided on the first count. I doubt if counting staff are paid by the hour, but if they are and some counts take a little longer, the increase in cost will be marginal, and well worth it for a more representative and responsive democracy.
John Reid's claim that AV is "not British" is equally curious. Putting aside the strange notion that a voting system has a nationality, AV is used by the Church of England and most trade unions, variants of it by all three major parties and the Greens, and, according to Vince Cable, who should know about these things, "Come Dancing." What could be more British than that collection?
Finally, Cameron tells us that he feels in his gut that FPTP is to be preferred. True we are guided by our gut feelings in several important areas, such as falling in love and whether or not to eat snails, but more rational processes are available for deciding on the mechanisms of our democracy.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Cycling "recklessly and to the common danger."
I was re-introduced to cycling in my two years of Voluntary Service Overseas in Malaŵi. There we were each issued with a bike as a means of getting about. The bikes were of "sit up and beg" design with rod brakes and no gears, and prompted condescending remarks from our Peace Corps contemporaries, whose bikes were VTT with 234 or so gears and fancy tyres, on the lines of: "Gee, do they still make those things! "
Fortunately the college where I worked was downhill from where I lived so I arrived each morning without a great sweat, and the five mile up-hill journey in the evening provided exercise which obviated the need for jogging. This Malaŵian experience prompted me on my return to the UK to buy a bike before I bought a car, and I use it for short journeys when it isn't raining and I don't have a lot of shopping to carry.
The above is to show that I'm really on the side of the cyclists, because I am appalled by the behaviour of the many who seem to think that the law simply does not apply to them. My own cycling conduct was learned in the 40s and 50s when you cycled on the road, stopped at halt signs and traffic lights, gave hand signals and displayed lights in the dark. I doubt if the proposal for a new a new law of "death by dangerous cycling" is really necessary, but we do need to change cyclists' culture and get the "lycra louts" to obey the existing laws.
One law I would like to see changed, however, is the use of the pavement. Within towns and villages these should be exclusively for the use of pedestrians, but there are many stretches of pavement between towns which are sparsely used by pedestrians and would provide a safer haven for cyclists than the road. This is the case, for example, in the two mile stretch between my house and the nearest supermarket, where the road is relatively narrow and has been made narrower still by little-used "pedestrian refuges." Lorries in particular rarely slow down for a cyclist when passing one of these and there is a real possibility of the cyclist being flung into the gutter. The law could usefully be changed to legalise the use of such pavements by cyclists, with the clear understanding that pedestrians had priority and cyclists should be limited to a moderate speed rather than emulating Mr Toad
Finally, all bikes should have a bell which should be used as a warning of approach rather than a demand to "get out of the way," and motorists should be fined heavily for parking across cycle tracks.
Fortunately the college where I worked was downhill from where I lived so I arrived each morning without a great sweat, and the five mile up-hill journey in the evening provided exercise which obviated the need for jogging. This Malaŵian experience prompted me on my return to the UK to buy a bike before I bought a car, and I use it for short journeys when it isn't raining and I don't have a lot of shopping to carry.
The above is to show that I'm really on the side of the cyclists, because I am appalled by the behaviour of the many who seem to think that the law simply does not apply to them. My own cycling conduct was learned in the 40s and 50s when you cycled on the road, stopped at halt signs and traffic lights, gave hand signals and displayed lights in the dark. I doubt if the proposal for a new a new law of "death by dangerous cycling" is really necessary, but we do need to change cyclists' culture and get the "lycra louts" to obey the existing laws.
One law I would like to see changed, however, is the use of the pavement. Within towns and villages these should be exclusively for the use of pedestrians, but there are many stretches of pavement between towns which are sparsely used by pedestrians and would provide a safer haven for cyclists than the road. This is the case, for example, in the two mile stretch between my house and the nearest supermarket, where the road is relatively narrow and has been made narrower still by little-used "pedestrian refuges." Lorries in particular rarely slow down for a cyclist when passing one of these and there is a real possibility of the cyclist being flung into the gutter. The law could usefully be changed to legalise the use of such pavements by cyclists, with the clear understanding that pedestrians had priority and cyclists should be limited to a moderate speed rather than emulating Mr Toad
Finally, all bikes should have a bell which should be used as a warning of approach rather than a demand to "get out of the way," and motorists should be fined heavily for parking across cycle tracks.
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