The party system
Those few of you who read everything on this site may have come across a response to my RIPA post by Watching Them, Watching Us. If you did not then do follow that link.
The reason I mention it, though, is that we have a problem here in the UK – not such a big problem as the US though, but a problem: That is we have a choice of three parties:
What we have missing from that list is the simple requirements: Socially flexible and economically flexible. Of course I am not commenting at all on WTWU's economic politics.
My point, I guess, is that when people vote for parties they are being stuck with something similar to NTL's TV packages: You cannot choose just the channels you want, you have to take Turner Classic Movies as well as Sky One. I am quite sure there is no-one (and I mean no-one) who is happy with everything that any one party does.
The Liberal Democrats really are an odd bunch, but they aren't always completely wrong... Though I suspect this is more luck than judgement. UKIP has great swathes of good policy as do the Conservatives. And, if I dare say it, sometimes Labour's not completely wrong!
If it were practicable I would much rather we had a much much larger Parliament. Maybe a Parliament containing as many people as there are Councillors in the country. Those people can be questioned far more closely by their electorates, they could have their own position on items and they could be, bizarre as it may sound, representative!
A massive forum without parties would be far better.
The reason I mention it, though, is that we have a problem here in the UK – not such a big problem as the US though, but a problem: That is we have a choice of three parties:
| Party | Social and economic standpoint |
|---|---|
| Traditional Labour | Socially non-committal and economically extremely inflexible |
| New Labour | Socially inflexible and economically inflexible |
| LibDem | Socially flexible and economically inflexible |
| Traditional Conservative | Socially inflexible and economically flexible |
| Cameron's Conservatives | Socially flexible and economically non-committal |
What we have missing from that list is the simple requirements: Socially flexible and economically flexible. Of course I am not commenting at all on WTWU's economic politics.
My point, I guess, is that when people vote for parties they are being stuck with something similar to NTL's TV packages: You cannot choose just the channels you want, you have to take Turner Classic Movies as well as Sky One. I am quite sure there is no-one (and I mean no-one) who is happy with everything that any one party does.
The Liberal Democrats really are an odd bunch, but they aren't always completely wrong... Though I suspect this is more luck than judgement. UKIP has great swathes of good policy as do the Conservatives. And, if I dare say it, sometimes Labour's not completely wrong!
If it were practicable I would much rather we had a much much larger Parliament. Maybe a Parliament containing as many people as there are Councillors in the country. Those people can be questioned far more closely by their electorates, they could have their own position on items and they could be, bizarre as it may sound, representative!
A massive forum without parties would be far better.