Guido is wrong
Guido Fawkes is the most-read, the best connected and the most famousest blogger in all the world. His posts are read by opinion-formers across the land. His merest word can make or break an MP. His least utterance .. well, you get the picture.
However, in spite of this, CF finds himself in the position today of completely disagreeing with every fucking word of this post.
In the post, Guido suggests that we must all 'punish' the mainstream parties by voting for minority parties. He's quite clear on how this is to be done:
"No party is perfect, but if your sympathies are to the left, this election is the time to vote Green, if your sympathies are to the right, time to vote UKIP, if you are more centrist, perhaps Libertas deserves your vote. "
So, everyone has an alternative, and all without involving the nasty BNP. But hang on, why should we switch parties? According to Guido:
"That would punish the major parties."
Punish them how, exactly? Voting is anonymous, and so changing your vote is, by definition, ANONYMOUS. No-one from the party you didn't vote for is able to contact you to ask you why you didn't vote for them, or what they need to do to get you back, are they? They can't.
None of those other, for want of a better phrase, Mickey Mouse parties is going to win (well, not significantly) so all that you'll be doing in most cases is effectively not voting. You may as well spoil your ballot paper, or even stay in bed.
And if we do do as GF suggests, and all readers of his blog decide to withdraw their votes from the big three, then effectively there's no swing, no change of seats and everything stays the fucking same. That's hardly going to "learn 'em", is it?
CF suggests a different approach. If you really care, don't wait for the election: take action yourself, now. Join the party you would have voted for before the expenses shambles.
Become an active, vociferous member.
If your chosen party's local MP is a proven trougher, demand their deselection: force a by-election. If your chosen party is not in power locally, make sure your prospective candidate is clean and trustworthy, then support them, help them, canvas for them, do all you can to get them elected.
Sounds a bit too much like hard work? Not got the time for all that? Would prefer to just move your biro down by an inch or so once every few years? Want to make your protest easily, without breaking sweat, without giving up your own valuable time?
Thought so...
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15 comments:
My PM is Conservative Adam Afriyie and he's one of the few who did not trough. I was going to vote Conservative because I always do, but all the blogging had me wavering lately. Thanks for your post because when I think about it, Adam is a brilliant MP.
BNP are also starting to look good these days.(Crybaby gets ready for a bashing)
Absolutely right CF. Guido is wrong on this one, for the reasons you outline. What are the 'protest parties'? Greens, UKIP, and the BNP. The Greens are a bunch of misanthropic communists - is there any other sort? UKIP's MEPs scoff even deeper from the trough than our beloved Westminster set. Libertas - who they? The BNP have one thing going for them - if I am allowed to steal Lenny Henry's joke. My wife could claim their £5,000 to go home - it would be quite beneficial for the family finances. Maybe they'll offer my daughter halfies too. That would be a bonus.
Guido even admits that the Euro election vote would be a protest, and then suggest we all get in line for the Westminster poll. What good is that if they haven't cleaned their house? If your MP is a trougher, then make an effort to get them deselected. There are honest people on all sides (really!), make sure one of them is representing your party of choice. If the constituency party refuse to remove a trougher, then by all means protest with your vote.
My constituency MP is Labour, but he is close to the bottom of the expenses league. I'll give him credit for that. I hope any Tory replacement follows his example.
Great solution CF EXCEPT the party machines are way ahead of you and your anger. You need to be a party memeber for 12 months in the Tory party to be able to vote on the deselection of the sitting numpty. I think the Labs are possibly worse, in that once they have been reselected you can't get the bugger out at all save for any intevention by the NEC, which is why it is meeting this week. Who knows abou the Lib Dems.
Guido is wrong.
However while you can't put gunpowder in the basement of the EU parliament, you can fill its chamber with racist fascists which might have a similar effect.
If you want to make a point - that seems to be the only option available to you.
Unfortunately, voting is no longer anonymous. We all have a voter ID which can be tracked by TPTB.
I agree wholeheartedly that for the EU elections, voters should vote tactically, to let the 3 mainstream parties know that we are pissed off with their espousal of the EU and their refusal to grant us a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty or repeal of it should it be ratified by all EU countries.
I agree that we must get McMental and his anti-English party out at all costs, at the GE. But the political landscape is likely to change after:
1) the police/CPS decide to prosecute MPs;
2) MPs are de-selected;
3) by-elections are triggered by errant MPs standing down (possible);
4) UKIP win a large number of EU seats.
I'd hesitate to vote UKIP in the local elections, unless my MP is found to be a trougher. Should that occur, I might well vote UKIP, depending on the political landscape.
By July, we should see a sea change.
My first priority is to have the f*cking Lisbon Treaty repealed because it will destroy England.
My second priority is to get Labour out of power.
My third priority is to break the back of the corruption which is endemic in the power base. In particular, I ABHOR the alliance between corporations and State in that the powerful and the monied can subvert democracy.
I'm conservative to my core, but am disquieted by Cameron's stance on Europe and his lack of detail. He's playing to a tune which we have not heard and this does not fill me with confidence.
Sorry CF, but it's you who are wrong. I've known people who have done exactly what you describe and they have been blocked and bamboozled all the way. One had a background of working in unions and for the Labour Party for decades, but still was blocked in his oppositions for candidates, whether as councillors or MPs. As for forcing a by-election - not by any legal means.
To amplify (and as said elsewhere):
You don't make yourself a pain in the arse by threatening to hide behind a curtain and tick the wrong little box.
There's a hundred ways to get your voice heard, and secretly changing your vote is not any of 'em..
You could buy one of those famous 'grassy knolls' they have an effect on politicians
I am a big fan of Guido but, also, on this one I disagree with him.
The priority, surely, is to get rid of the busted flush that is New Labour. This is not going to be achieved by pissing about voting Greens, UKIP or Libertas.
The reality is that it will most likely be effected by the election of a Tory (warts and all) government.
Sure tactical voting can provide some sort of instant gratification that 'I showed'em', but that is about all. The idea that MPs need to be 'sent a message' lost any sort of urgency about a week ago. Look at them; listen to them. For the most part they are shaken, frightened rabbits. I think they've got the message.
Tactical thinking is not needed here; it needs to be strategic. We have to be governed: and if the next government is to be Tory, and if we think that's sort of OK, then the strategy to get them to defeat Brown begins at the EU and council elections of 4th June. Because voting Tory, as I will, hopefully to get them elected to councils and as MEPs, sets the stage for Brown's removal and provides the springboard/impetus for a subsequent Tory victory in the general election.
Hmmmm! I agree CF. However, Guido's argument is flawed by the voting system for the EU elections - proportional representation.
The place to give the parties the kicking they deserve is at the General Election, and only then to vote against the sitting MP should his/her expense claims be well outside the spirit of the Green Book.
To amplify - no CF - Reductio ad absurdum - to be polite.
Changing your vote so as not to elect someone you don't like is pretty loud. It also has the benefit of that person or party not being in power if enough voters change.
There are "a hundred ways to get your voice heard", but trying to work from within is naive to say the least. I've seen a retired headmistress with decades of service to 'the community' dropped as a local councillor candidate in preference to the party's preferred 'positive equality' candidate. Anyone who objected was called a vile racist and threatened with expulsion.
This is what has destroyed the option of 'working from within', that someone can construct and put forward a valid and cogent argument, but it can be brushed aside by some facile guilt-ridden fool - or manipulative power-mad fool - playing the 'racist' or 'not Green' or whatever cards.
That's not hiding behind any curtain, but accepting the reality of the situation in the UK these days.
Slightly off topic,but;
£141,866 is both Ed Ball's salary and his wife's salary.
After the usual tax and NI is paid (I HAVE to assume they do pay THAT?!!),the total comes to £7,500 EACH per month net salary.
So £15,000 per month joint net salary in the Ball's household.
Annual net salary = £180,000
Per week = £3,461
They claim £600 per month for food.
Now,think of the pensioner who is living off an annual state pension of £4,716 per year.
= £90.70 per week.
Any savings they have saved over their lifetime as any kind of nest egg has virtually zero returns at the moment.So they are now eating into their nest egg just to pay the hugely increased utility bills,food bills etc.
Think of a 75 yr pensioner,living alone and trying to simply survive on £90.70 per week while these two MP's bank £3,461 per WEEK and then claim £138 per week (£600 per month) on food.
So the WEEKLY net income for these two characters is actually 73% of the 75 yr old pensioner's ANNUAL pension.
Feeling comfortable with the sums so far? Obviously Jack Straw will need help understanding these figures as of course "accountancy is not my strongest suit" - he is, after all, only the Justice Minister.
Or perhaps another way of looking at it is this;
Balls and wife claim ONE AND A HALF times more, for their food every week,than a pensioner gets every week to live off.
Now think of those people who are trying to earn a living and are paid the minimum wage - the kind Mr & Mrs Ball's have helped to ensure they have another 7 PENCE per hour........
Still feel comfortable?
Of course,if any of these calculations are incorrect (I have checked them several times),I will revert to Mr Ball's excuse - "I made a mistake / it was an error".
The thing that we must not forget with all the repayments and spin about reform is that has been going on for a long while.
The party leaders are only huffing and puffing now, after it's all been found out. If they truly believed that the system was wrong then they could have easily issued their MPs with instructions only to claim from an approved list and they could have made an effort to publicise what was going on. They didn't. However they now want us to believe that they are appalled and righteously indignant. Talk about fooling some of the people...
As for UKIP, when they found out that two of their MEPs had been troughing they were sacked. No pay it back and we'll forget it. Sacked. Plus of course the whole basis of UKIP's policies is for the UK to pull out of the EU and so to end the need for al UK MEPs. In that respect they are turkeys voting for Christmas.
Why is Guido wrong?
You answer the question from the perspective of a supporter of one of the main parties.
But perhaps Guido isn't a supporter of one of the main parties?
Perhaps Guido is a libertarian anarchist, in which case what he argues makes sense, and therefore isn't wrong for him.
My MP is Bill Cash. He has been outed in the Telegraph, but he is trying to get justice for the people who were abused at Stafford Hospital, he was also involved in the Staffordshire Pindown investigation and Operation Ore. He is against the Lisbon treaty and has been a lone voice for a long time warning about the European common purpose fiddle.
I think he is trying to do his best to be a good MP, so I am going to overlook his sheep at the trough behaviour and vote for him.
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