This morning's short video has now been published. In it, I ask that whatever else you do today, please take part in democracy for your sake and everyone else's.
And please do remember to take the ID the Tories required of you to suppress the vote.
The transcript is:
Please go out and vote today.
That's my one big request of you.
Whatever else you get up to during the day, and whoever you vote for - because I'm not trying to influence your choice - please do vote.
People died for the right to vote.
People around the world long for the right to vote.
And our electoral system is deeply flawed, I know. But voting matters. Voting changes things. This election will at least consign the Tories to history for a long time, if people vote.
And on that one point I definitely agree with the Labour Party.
But whatever your choice, please go out there. Put a cross on a piece of paper and say you made a change.
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Thanks, Richard. I’ve voted already. My only regret is that Reform is not standing a candidate in my constituency, thereby depriving me of the opportunity of crossing their candidate’s name off the ballot and substituting ‘PUTIN Vladimir’.
I wouldn’t have voted Reform, by the way.
Thank you, Tim.
You may not be aware of how much of the US national security apparatus is behind Brexit etc. As the US “pivoted to Asia”, under Barry Obama, as it wants to contain China, it needed allies. AUKUS is a manifestation of that. EU membership gave the UK choices. On Tuesday evening, a former Fed official* and I chatted about that. *Formerly responsible for bank supervision, payment systems, sanctions etc.
Thanks, in turn, for your reply, Colonel.
I am certainly not aware of all the information available in the public domain about the extent to which the US security apparatus has interfered in UK politics but as I subscribe, inter alia, to Declassified UK and openDemocracy, almost nothing would surprise me.
At least I could vote as I wished in this election: my MP (Labour and Co-op) had a majority of nearly 18,000 in the 2019 election and the seat has been Labour since 1987. I didn’t vote for her.
I find the most effective way to persuade people in safe constituencies to vote is to explain how public funding for opposition parties is calculated. So-called Short money is related to parties’ share of the national vote, so every ballot cast means more money for your preferred party. Your vote is not as wasted as you think.
My second line of argument is that the only way a safe seat can ever become unsafe is if people vote for other parties.
I believe it is true, of every seat in the country, that if all those who did not vote in the last election had voted for the candidate who came second then it would have changed the outcome. In a sense there is no such thing as a safe seat.
I spoke to a lot of younger members of the extended family at my sister’s 80th birthday party a few weeks ago. It was awfully difficult to persuade some of them that the really ought to vote. Excuses ranged from “It doesn’t make any difference.” and “They never do anything for young people.” to “It’s such a hassle getting acceptable photo ID.” The weird thing is that they all knew who they would vote for if they were given the opportunity of doing so there and then.
“It’s such a hassle getting acceptable photo ID.”
Is a UK driver’s license considered acceptable photo ID?
Yes
A lot of young people don’t drive.
Thank you, Richard.
Today, I plan to vote for the first time in my life, having been eligible since 1988. Unfortunately, a tactical vote in favour of Labour as it looks like the Tories could lose the Vale of Aylesbury after 100 years. I would prefer to vote Green. My parents will too, their first since the referendum to join the EEC. There just wasn’t any point around here.
People ask me if I’m not interested in politics. I am and possibly better informed than the person asking, but if one lives in a Tory one party area…
Your abstention has cost the Greens several pounds at least over the years, not to mention the moral authority you could have added to their few MPs and Lords. Short Money funding was introduced in 1974 iirc.
Thank you, Kim.
Do you know anything about where I have lived since I was few months old? The Tory vote was weighed around here.
I don’t have any or claim any moral authority.