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<big><big>To members and electoral reformers </big></big><br>
<br>
<big><big>STV democratic arbitration of the Labour party (UK).<br>
</big><big> <br>
The hopeless division of the Labour party is of their own
making. But weak opposition makes for bad government and we
should try to remedy it, no matter how hopeless it seems.<br>
The basic effectiveness problem with the Labour party is
this: They wouldn't go to democratic arbitration.<br>
They had an opportunity to do this as far back as, say, the
Plant report, about 1990.<br>
<br>
There they explicitly shunned the democratic arbitration
offered, anong election systems, specifically by the single
transferable vote. This allows proportional representation
not only between parties, but within parties. <br>
<br>
No, intolerable! And the Plant report recommended any system
but STV.<br>
When Blair came to power in 1997, one of the first things he
did was to dictate that a closed party list be used for
British mainland Euro-elections, even tho STV was already in
use in Ulster (and Ireland) where it had made peace-making
power-sharing possible. <br>
A man of principle would have extended STV for the whole UK.
But not the shop-steward of Westminster, that every PM has
been, since the war, except Churchill, who asked for PR in
1950.<br>
<br>
Again, Blair secretly sabotaged the Jenkins report (See The
Ashdown Diaries 1997-9). Jenkins privately consulted with
Blair, who wouldn't give STV. <br>
Hence the mysterious remark by Jenkins, at the time, that
Blair was a second-rate intellect.<br>
Half a dozen subsequentl commissions (fluctuating with
Westminster display of displeasure) more or less
recommended STV. Not to mention the previous Kilbrandon
report on the Constitution.<br>
<br>
In the official report, about 2002, on the working of new
election systems under New Labour, a commenter was quoted as
saying that it was useless to try for STV because the Labour
party would never give it.<br>
Yet it managed to be passed for Scottish local elections,
albeit with no more than 4 seats per constituency, not very
effective for genuine PR within parties, as well as between
them.<br>
<br>
That is why effective democratic electoral reform should
follow the HG Wells formula: Proportional Representation by
the Single Transferable Vote in large constituencies.<br>
</big></big><big><big><br>
Richard Lung.<br>
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