I have published this video this morning. In it I argue that Scotland already has proportional representation for its local authority elections. England needs it, and Labour would win as a result. If we're to have a pathway to better democracy in the UK as a whole, this is a place to start. It's time Labour gave us PR in local elections.
The audio version of this video is here:
The transcript is:
I'm talking about the changes that Labour could make to the UK that would cost very little in terms of government spending, but which would make life better.
I am going to propose something which is a little bit off the wall, but it's a good idea - the introduction of proportional representation into local elections in England and Wales.
Scotland already has this. They don't need to change.
But if we were to have proportional representation, most especially in England, for all local elections, and that that voting took place on a single transferable vote system with bigger wards than exist now so that there was a greater chance of a broader range of representation of people to really reflect the views of local communities on the councils that serve their interests then two things would happen
One, Labour would actually fulfil the pledge that its own membership demanded of the party to introduce proportional representation in this country. More than 80 per cent of its members voted for that idea in a recent party conference.
Secondly, Labour would begin the pathway towards proportional representation for the whole of the UK when it came to parliamentary elections.
It's fair to say that people will take time to get their heads around the whole idea of PR. I don't know how long it would really take because in Scotland they've done this already, they have no difficulty with the concept, and it clearly works. But in England apparently people do have difficulty with understanding this and comprehending how it will work. So, we need trial runs in proportional representation to pave the way for its use in general elections.
Labour could keep a lot of people, including its party membership, happy if they did this, because they would improve the quality of representation of Labour members in many councils across the UK and ensure that it had a voice in places where sometimes it has none at all. That surely has to be to its advantage. And, surely Labour wants to make sure that it's represented on every council and that those who align with its interests do get a voice in those places? Labour could guarantee that.
This is an almost no cost change, but which will improve the quality of local government and the relationship of people in England, in particular, to that local government so that it delivers better for the people of this country.
Come on, Labour, you can do this. The people of England should be able to do this. The people of Wales want it. The people of Scotland have got it. Let's do it now.
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Of all creatures on this planet human beings are uniquely prosocial in that they have the capacity to extensively think about how they can balance their needs as individuals against those of others and in doing so achieve much greater control over how they lead their lives through cooperation.
However, what many human beings fail to recognise is that this balancing requires accountability in key areas.
So for example, it requires knowing that democracy requires high levels of accountability, market capitalism and using the resources of the planet does too, and since money is widely used to be prosocial particularly caring then being accountable means voters understand fiat money reality, how it works and can best be regulated.
In the UK voter accountability in understanding the above is at low levels which is why the country is moving towards fascism. Fascists don’t like to be accountable and the less voters fail to understand the criticality of certain ways human beings need to go about their lives for well-being of the many the happier fascists are.
I think this is a great idea.
Expanding a system already used successfully in the UK (but not to Westminster) shouldn’t be too controversial. Also, I suspect it could be done without a referendum.
Once this is operating it will soon become apparent that Westminster is the “anomaly”.
Quite so
Using STV rather than the d’Hondt system imposed on Scotland under Devolution would be a smart move: it’ll produce results that more closely reflect how the people have actually voted. The d’Hondt system was imposed in Scotland to produce a parliament where no one party would prevail and so compromise by all would be required. This was done deliberately to hobble the pro-Independence parties and those who vote for them and as a result it doesn’t accurately reflect how the public has actually voted.