The AV vote - Making the right call

NEXT week, Britain goes to the polls again.  This time, it could well decide how the country votes in future elections.  Thanks to Nick Clegg and his failing party – we have to decide whether we want to keep the current voting system, or go for the ridiculous idea of numbering party candidates by first choice, second choice and so on.  Are you confused by the AV system, do you even care?  I don’t think people do to be honest, but all the same – it gives me the chance to express my thoughts on such a crucial system.

LISTENING: Cameron looks on as Reid gives his reasons

     Last week was a funny one, to see political rebels on the same platform as one another, promoting their views on AV.  Prime Minister David Cameron shared a stage with former Labour Home Secretary John Reid.  When Cameron said; ‘There aren’t many things me and John agree on,’ can you imagine what must have been going through Reid’s head.  Talk about stating the bloody obvious!  Cameron, Reid and the BNP leader, Nick Griffin are in the ‘No to AV’ camp.  I must admit – I’m in the same camp.  Yes, you heard it here first – I actually agree with something that Nick Griffin says and that makes me feel dirty inside!

     The current voting system works fine.  Okay, it doesn’t favour minority parties such as UKIP, the BNP, Green Party and others and it would mean another century of either ‘hung parliaments,’ or Conservative and Labour majority governments.  However, what’s so bad about that and I think, after the Liberal Democrats dramatic fall from grace in the past twelve months, many feel its bad enough they are part of a coalition at the moment, let alone if they governed the country solely.

     This referendum on the voting system was agreed in the coalition package last May, and was one of Nick Clegg’s critical reforms in his party manifesto.  So, he stuck to one of his pledges in pushing for something.  Such a shame he didn’t think the same way, when it came to tuition fees.  Students always saw the Liberal Democrats as their ‘natural’ party.  They were the only party that seemed interested in making higher education and University tuition fees a thing of the past.  Labour introduced them and the Tories were only interested in raising them.  So, when Clegg and current Business Secretary Vince Cable had their chance to rebel their point, they blew it and lost a load of staunch supporters.  Clegg doesn’t seem to regret it, but he should.  Last year, the Lib Dems were the crème of the crop and could have forged a major surprise in the General Election.  Fast-forward twelve months and the party has been battered at numerous by-elections, looks set to be thrashed at next week’s local and council elections and isn’t very liked within society.  Maybe ‘Yes to AV’ is a fairer voting system – but is it necessary?  Politics might be in a complete mess nowadays, but I think it would be in a worse state should ‘Yes to AV’ be passed. 

UNPOPULAR: Ed Miliband will do well to turn around his fortunes

     Plus, if you didn’t need any more convincing about the ‘Yes to AV’ being the wrong idea, Clegg’s biggest supporter is the Labour leader Ed Miliband.  Ed Miliband seems to be about as popular as a micro chip!  His party doesn’t seem to like him already and let’s be honest – what has he done since he was elected leader of the opposition last September, absolutely nothing!  If Miliband ever got into Downing Street, the consequences could be unimaginable.  What were the Trade Unions thinking when they backed Ed over David in the leadership contest last autumn!  David Miliband would have given Labour a more positive future, after the backwards steps it took in Gordon Brown’s later days.  In Ed Miliband, they have the wrong man in the job, when Labour could make big steps forward – especially when the coalition’s popularity is not very high in society.  Miliband backing Clegg doesn’t surprise me and it convinces me enough that ‘Yes to AV’ is the wrong way to go.

     In summary, the AV vote is not the most exciting thing to have ever gripped the country, but it is still valuable, especially with future elections in the balance on what happens at the ballot box next Thursday.  Whatever the nation ends up deciding, it will and with good grace.  I just hope you use your vote wisely and think of the possible outcomes before making your mind up.    

2009 - The Year In Review (Part 2)

                

Around Easter 2009, British weather forecasters predicted a barbeque summer. Although Wimbledon fortnight proved to be a sizzling heatwave, once again, their promises turned out into spectacular failures as for the third summer running, Britain endured a miserable July full of damp and dull rainclouds. Maybe that helped Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to dump the Manchester misery for the Spanish sunshine. At the Portuguese star’s request, Manchester United sold Ronaldo to Real Madrid for a world record £80million pounds. July saw BBC make their controversial decision to axe Arlene Phillips from the judging panel on Strictly Come Dancing for former winner Alisha Dixon. And Fern Britton made an emotional goodbye to daytime show, This Morning. She was to be replaced by Holly Willoughby. Pay-per-view company Setanta Sports went bust, unable to keep up with payments and the competitiveness of Sky. It left the FA in chaos, with half of its TV deals up in the air, but American broadcaster ESPN stepped in to pick up most of the rights available. Formula One once again was plunged into the headlines for the wrong reasons when Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was struck by debris in a freak qualifying crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Despite needing life-saving surgery, the Brazilian has made a very thankful and welcome recovery. Also, football said an emotional farewell to Sir Bobby Robson. Sir Bobby succumbed in his long battle with lung cancer, but the former England manager’s passion for the beautiful game will never be forgotten.

August saw the only man to be convicted of the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 to be given leave on compassionate grounds. The Scots released him and Gordon Brown backed them, much to the chagrin of Barack Obama and David Cameron. We were told that the man had only 3months to live with terminal cancer, but he was giving a sickening welcome home to Libya like a legend. The Great Train robber Ronnie Biggs received similar treatment. August saw football take a backseat and cricket take over. England regained the Ashes with a historic triumph over Australia, winning 2-1, thanks to a thrilling win in the final test match at the Oval. Ricky Ponting became only the second Australian captain to lose back-to-back tours in England ever and Freddie Flintoff bid farewell to Test Cricket. Usain Bolt ran an awesome 9.58 in the men’s 100m at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, smashing his own record set in the Olympics a year ago. It was a positive summer for Athletics, despite South African Caster Semanya woman’s 800m win, which came under scrutiny when tests revealed ‘she’ might be a ‘he.’ Semanya was eventually cleared.

                 

In October, Nick Griffin’s appearance on the BBC’s Question Time drew 8million viewers and the BNP leader was hung out to dry. Mass demonstrations took place on why Griffin was allowed onto the show in the first place. However, every answer he gave was cheap, pathetic and made look like a complete idiot. It didn’t do the BNP any good. On a more positive note, Jenson Button produced a stunning drive at the Brazilian Grand Prix to clinch his maiden World Championship. Button, who started the F1 season without a drive after Honda pulled out of the sport, persevered with Brawn GP to achieve his dream. He takes the No.1 plate to McLaren for 2010. Sadness gripped the celebrity world again with the tragic death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately at the tender age of 31. Gately was found dead in his apartment in Spain after a night out. Ireland mourned one of their prodigal sons and another death rocked the showbiz world. The world also said goodbye to Senator Edward Kennedy, German goalkeeper Robert Enke, Dirty Dancing icon Patrick Swayze, all three remaining survivors from WWI including Harry Patch, TV chef Keith Floyd and actresses Maggie Jones, Wendy Richard and Natasha Richardson.

Sporting scandals included Thierry Henry’s shameful handball in November left the Republic of Ireland with broken hearts in Paris. Henry’s intervention conned the Irish out of a famous win in their World Cup play-off, shaming his reputation and aiding the calls even further for video technology. His, wasn’t the only cheating to be caught in 2009. Lewis Hamilton was caught lying to the stewards after an incident at the Australian Grand Prix. He was promptly disqualified and made an emotional, wailing apology to his fans and family. Harlequins were caught out using fake blood on players during a Heineken Cup game but got off scot-free, as did Renault for fixing disgraced Nelson Piquet to crash during last year’s Singapore Grand Prix. However, charismatic boss Flavio Briatore was given a lifetime ban for his actions, which was later overturned on appeal in a French court.

Although Britain pulled out of Iraq, we are still in Afghanistan and suffering more losses. Over 250 brave, heroic soldiers have lost their lives since the conflict in 2001, and over 100 in 2009 alone. Once again, the country paid their respects in fitting tributes across Remembrance weekend. In November, a £90million jackpot was shared between a British syndicate in the EuroMillions draw. Simon Cowell also received a barrage of criticism on ITV’s X-Factor, by saving the much-publicised ‘Jedward’ in a public vote, despite having previously called them ‘vile little creatures.’

December saw Tiger Woods private life exposed to the full truth. His downfall began when he had a minor car crash outside his home in Florida. Revelations were made that several woman had liaisons with Woods, who clearly was obsessed with the bedroom. He has lost many sponsors and taken an indefinite break from golf to try and save his marriage. Nice try Tiger! The winter battle for TV ratings was won again by the X-Factor over Strictly. Whilst BBC breakfast reporter Chris Hollins scored a quiet triumph on the BBC’s flagship show, ‘Strictly Come Dancing.’ Geordie Joe McElderry won the X-Factor series, but for the first time since 2004, the X-Factor winner failed to get the Xmas No.1. It went instead to ‘Rage Against the Machine,’ thanks to a powerful campaign on social networking sites, Twitter and Facebook.

So as we bid farewell to the end of 2009, what will 2010 bring. Well we have a General Election and the World Cup in South Africa. Will it be England’s year? Is the country heading back to the Conservatives? Only time will tell…