Andrew Marr in his usual fawning style failed once again to challenge a blatant untruth spoken by the Tory chancellor George Osborne on Marr's BBC programme this morning (Sunday 6th May 2012). Osborne claimed that "more than half of the British people voted for Conservative or Liberal Democrat candidates in the local elections last Thursday." That is a blatant LIE.
From the BBC's own figures, 31% of votes cast were for the Tories and 16% for the LibDems. But then only 32% of the electorate voted. This means that actually only 15% (32% of 47%) of the electorate voted for the Coalition candidates, about one person in seven. But you also have to take account of all those people who are denied the vote. People under the age of 18 (who account for nearly a quarter of the population), prisoners, unregistered voters and people in long term institutions for instance. Taking this into account the ConDem vote accounts for less than one person in eight of the UK population.
The same hyperbole applies to Ed Milliband and his crowing Labour Party. Their share of the vote (38%) represents just 12% of voters. Taking into account the disenfranchised, less than one in ten of the UK population voted for New Labour in the local elections. This is hardly "winning back the voter's trust" as Ed Milliband declares.
Andrew Marr continues with the BBC Bias as he allows Osborne to talk about the "three political parties", as if no other political parties exist apart from the ConDems and Labour. Between them them parties garnered votes from less than a quarter of the population of Britain and yet they control more than 80% of local councils and dominate Westminster politics. This is in part due to the refusal of the BBC and other broadcasters to acknowledge that voters have the right to vote for whomsoever they choose and allow the ConDems and Labour to dominate political debate. At the last general election for instance, in my constituency (Richmond, North Yorkshire) the BBC made a prime time TV programme about the contest in Richmond and spoke to the Conservative, Lib Dem and Labour candidates, but did not even inform the one other candidate (from the Green Party) that the programme was being made. I should know. I was that Green candidate. My complaint to the BBC remains unanswered to this day.
It is not a democracy when the state broadcaster decides which politicians you can or cannot listen to. It is not a democracy when less than a quarter of the population decide who runs both national and local government.
So now it is time for you to do your bit. Are you fed up with all politicians, their corrupt ways and economy with the truth? Then do something about it. At your next election, do not vote Labour, Tory or Lib Dem. But rather than sit at home calling a pox on all their houses, go out and vote (if you can) for someone else. Be it Green, be it UKIP, English Democrat, SNP, Plaid Cymru or even a penguin, use your vote to help remove the corruption that is the British political establishment from our green and once pleasant land.
Leslie Rowe: Independent Councillor for Catterick & Brompton on Swale in Richmondshire and founder member of Green Leaves. Supporter of the Brexit Party after the Green Party switched from Eurosceptic to unconditional support for remaining in the EU.
Sunday, 6 May 2012
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Real Electoral Reform
The English can learn from the Scots (& Welsh & Irish). If you want to get real change (or even independence) do not vote Conservative or Labour or Liberal Democrat. If you live in the Chilterns, you are really not obliged to vote Tory. You could form your own party to oppose the high speed rail link. If you banded together and opposed the Tories in their "safe" seats, just think how quickly you would change their minds?
If you are a member of Unite or another union, put up your own candidates, please stop fooling yourself that Labour represents anyone but themselves. Ed Milliband is just another Tony Blair (as is David Cameron), pandering to big business and the banks. All these politicians promised us the taxpayer would not lose by supporting the banks, so how come we have lost £20billion on Northern Rock alone?
And after the disgraceful betrayal of the Liberal Democrats on student fees, every University Student Union in the country should be putting forward their own candidates.
Everyone else should vote for anyone other than the old elected dictatorship of Labour, Liberal and Tory. Personally I think the finest political leader in the country is Caroline Lucas of the Green Party, but whatever you do, just don't vote for five more years of Nick Clegg!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)