Whilst visiting a rather damp Eastbourne town centre recently, I wandered into an independent trader to have a look around. The owner was very pleasant and he enquired if I had seen the TV coverage of the recent House of Commons fiasco, where the Speaker broke convention on an SNP Opposition Day to allow a vote on a Labour Party amendment.
I confirmed that I had, and we both agreed that the whole episode was an embarrassment to British democracy. A conversation then followed about the upcoming General Election and whom to vote for. I confessed that, for the first time in my voting life, I have no idea whom I would be voting for. I have always voted, and I have been decisive on whom to vote for. Since 2001 I have voted Liberal Democrat, but since the current party leader declared in May 2023 that “some women can quite clearly have a penis”, I am seriously considering avoiding the Liberal Democrats on polling day.
I was a member of the Liberal Democrats for years, I was a borough councillor, county councillor and Mayor of Eastbourne. At this point, it must be said that the method of electing our Members of Parliament is outdated. The ‘first past the post’ system just doesn’t work when you have several different political parties on the ballot paper, and the outcome, in the vast majority of cases, is MPs elected with less than 50% support from those who voted. And when you take into consideration the 30-40% who did not show at the polling station at all, the legitimacy of the elected Member of Parliament does come into question.
Anyway, back to the upcoming election and my dilemma. There are currently three political parties that I am thinking about. Regarding the Conservatives, I am not a natural Tory by any stretch of the imagination, but our local MP is a Conservative and a great constituency representative. My issue with the Tories nationally is that they have been in charge since 2010 and the country has never been in such a mess. Almost everywhere you look there are problems: crumbling schools, NHS backlogs, overcrowded jails, out of control immigration, crimes not detected, underspending in defence and a self-made cost of living crisis.
As I have previously stated, I have been a Liberal Democrat and have voted for the party on multiple occasions. But the only thing I have to try to make Ed see sense on the trans issue is my vote and therefore not to back the party he leads.
The third choice is Reform U.K., the former Brexit Party. I voted for the U.K. to remain in the European Union and marched in London for a second referendum. However, the EU Referendum is done, and no political party is advocating the U.K.’s return. There is much that attracts me to Reform U.K.: robust and fair policies to deal with immigration, to reverse the tide of woke policies, reform the NHS and to change the way we elect our MPs.
A lot can happen before the autumn election, and as it gets closer and the manifestos are published, my decision on whom to vote for may become clearer. As for the independent trader, well, I managed to persuade him to attend the polling station and write “none of the above” on the ballot paper, which was progress from his initial “I am staying at home”.
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I too would be voting ”none of the above”. I’m not convinced you’ve got anyone who can genuinely be expected to stand up to the Islamists, the WEF globalists and the Wokerati, and the massive amount of combined power and influence they wield. You need an equivalent to the German AfD. Will democracy ever make a comeback in the UK again?
”Since 2001, we in Europe have allowed jihadist terrorists the violent veto over freedom of expression, with writers, filmmakers, cartoonists, and teachers murdered for ‘blasphemy.’ Islamists now do so with democracy itself. Our weakness means that any attempt to call out and prevent its worsening is met with the weapons of lawfare and warfare: anti-discrimination lawsuits, and the bombs, bullets, and blades of jihadism. Any serious attempt to shore up our state against Islamist extremism, as William Shawcross attempted to do with his report on the PREVENT counter-radicalisation scheme, is ignored. Islamist groups are still employed by the government, despite their support for terrorism.
Meanwhile, continued immigration will drive demographic change that will increasingly entrench across the country a sub-continental sectarian politics as seen in the 2022 Leicester riots between Muslims and Hindus, and more recently in the Rochdale by-election. The numbers projected to enter and settle in Britain over the next 12 years by the Office for National Statistics are simply staggering: a population increase of 6.1 million, with 13.7 million arriving and 7.6 million leaving. The main source for this inflow will be Non-EEA: Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and the sub-continent. At present, an increasingly balkanised culture, sectarian politics, and an unstable country are likely outcomes. The Islamist intimidation of Parliament today heralds the world we will wake to tomorrow, unless we grow a spine.
Margaret Thatcher’s stand against the IRA was not without cost: MPs died, along with over 3,000 others as a result of the Troubles. But she knew that to give in to the intimidation of terrorists and their thuggish enablers and sympathisers was a sure route to perdition. We no longer seem to have the backbone and moral fibre to halt and push back the coercion of our politics by violent jihadist terrorists and non-violent Islamist extremists. Instead of declaring that “All attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail,” we now bleat “Please don’t hurt us, we’ll do what you demand.” Parts of Europe have now woken up to what is happening today and what could happen tomorrow if nothing changes. But Britain is still sleepwalking into that dark future.”
https://europeanconservative.com/articles/commentary/british-democracy-has-surrendered-to-islamist-intimidation/
Once again —excellent comment, and those of us making comments like this can expect only one thing. To be dragged off to the Equality Diversity Race Gender and Climate GULAG
Muchas gracias, Varmint.
Just cutting&pasting like a boss.
Keep up the pasting then. ——–I wonder how many people silly governments think can comfortably live in this country. 70 million? 80 million? 100 million? And that does not even address the ignored problem of cultural division so that in 20 years from now our children will likely have to go to school with headscarves on.
If we end up relying on Wind and Solar as Power Sources, and cargo ships, loaded with exotic vegetables and fruit, powered in a similar manner, the outlook looks much harder than could ever be thought possible decades ago, certainly colder and less varied.
And, with Science reduced to being an authoritarian purveyor of deluded aspirations, there is no limit to our demise.
At least the UK now has one less layer in the official political structure of the country, outside the M25, though a slightly more tolerable existence could delay change until it’s too late.
But, of course, the IRA were given into after she was decapitated.
Freedom Alliance are worth a look
I heard Liz Kendall (Labour work & pensions shadow) being interviewed this morning talking about how they’d get the workless back into work. They won’t. She went on about additional training, mentoring etc, no pushback from interviewed. Whenever a shadow minister promises more expenditure (or the same level of expenditure) the follow up question should be “where will you make the savings in existing spending to afford this, or, what taxes will you rise?”
It’s a stalemate whoever gets in. Labour will indulge in culture war stuff in an attempt to deflect the electorate from noticing that they won’t do anything that makes any difference to anything.
It doesn’t matter who you vote for or even whether you vote.
I used to vote for the local Con, but since she has been promoted to Minister for Not Anything Serious she seems to have lost her voice and the last answer I received from her was a standard boilerplate job rather than the personalised and sympathetic resposes of previous communications.
I am hoping Reform fields someone who earns my respect.
The first step is to elect those that raise the risk of government doing something right, rather than the certainty of always making things worse.
And if they don’t move in the right direction, you know what we can do at the next election. It may be slow, but repeating the same thing and expecting a different outcome hasn’t been working.
“Since 2001 I have voted Liberal Democrat, but since the current party leader declared in May 2023 that “some women can quite clearly have a penis”, I am seriously considering avoiding the Liberal Democrats on polling day.”
I will be brutal – this statement is a long way from the logic of any intelligent man or woman.
The Lib Dims, yes Dims are just that. This bunch of rank idiots really are away with the faeries. Yet again there is the usual bleating about the electoral system, a lamentable admission that he voted to Remain and then a good moan about the useless fake tories and what they have achieved these last fourteen years. Sadly, Mr Wallis has not yet woken up to the fact that the tories have been quite successful while in ‘control.’
The WEF overlords running the UK have demanded the destruction of the country and by God the tories have set about their task with gusto.
Blaming the tories for the collapse of the country is wholly in keeping with the myopic mindset of a Lib Dim voter. And Steven Wallis still fails to see that the tory establishment is simply acting under orders.
While I accept that our political class are a long, long way from being the brightest buttons in the drawer it takes a real suspension of disbelief to ascribe fourteen years of Tory destruction to cock-ups.
Thanks for the article as it has succesfully reinforced my opinions of those wandering this country badged as Lib Dims – barking mad and madly dangerous if allowed anywhere near the levers of control.
I couldn’t agree more!
Thank you Pilla.
I still find those that see the delusion in one, small part of the whole, yet refuse to question the rest of it, hanging on to their adolescent political dreams, shocking, but not surprising as it happens to me so often.
So few appear to have any understanding of what Science is, a mode if enquiry, or collected some of the pearls of wisdom, (like Ohm’s Law), collected along the way which, although cannot be taken as Absolute Truth, have stood the test of time.
Contrary to ‘popular belief’, degree level knowledge isn’t required to dispel most of the Climate Emergency and NET Zero fantasies: A’levels in Physics and/or Chemistry would do. Even Biology or Geology would be a step in the right direction. And that would be the Limp Dims demolished, with some useful wealth creating knowledge and experience that could be used in creating wealth instead.
You voted for Ed Davey and were happy to do so. This makes me seriously question your judgement. So what makes you think your judgement has now significantly improved? —-To be fair we have all been burned when voting and we end up having to choose one or other when “none of these” would probably be our preferred choice. Reform to many will be the heroes riding over the hill to save us all from the squirming parasites that have governed us through the Net Zero Impoverishment and the Multi Cultural Mass Immigration disaster, but will they end up morphing into the same kind of parasites as we are hoping to be rid off ? ——-Who knows. But we can only go with the gut, and it may well be telling us REFORM at the moment.
Staying at home is really the better choice because every vote is a vote for the system which claims to be democratic because most people participate in its participation simulation.
Surely, spoiling your ballot paper is an option to register your disgust of the parties seeking your vote. Spoilt papers are counted and published.
It might make you feel better, smug even, but will it stop them?
No! They will continue doing what they do, with an even bigger majority. Oh, how they will gloat.
At least voting in the Monster Raving Looney Party would have been an improvement, though, hopefully, we can do better than that.
There are some new fringe parties like Patriotic Alternative snd Freedom Alliance that are truly patriotic, British parties, but who are deliberately attacked and shadow banned.
Britain is heading for a third world election system with third world mindsets and behaviours, very soon. Violence and civil unrest will result.
Sadly it may be too late for these parties to make any headway for the 2024 election. Whatever one’s views of Reform UK, at 14% in the polls, this party may be the last chance for small c conservatives to unite to deliver a considerable blow on the corrupt uni party state. From my perspective we have absolutely nothing to lose by voting for ReformUK.
But the Tories are dominated by wet Lib Dems. I understand why Lib Dems would vote Tory, but traditional Tories are leaving the Party in droves.
A move from the far left Lib Dems to right of centre Reform is a huge jump, and I congratulate you for taking the leap. Labour, Lib Deb, Greens and the current Tory party are anti-British, anti freedom of speech, authoritarian, big state socialists.
Well done for your Demoscene Conversion from the dark side.
Those parties you mention, not only do they act in unison, they also keep in step with all the ‘respectable’ parties across the West.
By ‘respectable’, I mean a political party that has been deemed acceptable by the BBC.
On the whole I agree with Mogwai below.
There is currently no party I could vote for in a GE ( lnone of the three main parties and definitely not Reform). It is ‘none of the above’ for me. I don’t think much of Richard Tice or Reform (read Miri AF on the subject). We effectively live in a one party state.
Who is Mira AF. ——–I googled it and she seems to be a facebook poster
https://miriaf.co.uk/about-miri/
Miri AF (not Mira). Miri Finch. miriaf.co.uk
Like yourself, I too harbour doubts about Tice. But at least the Party threatens to blow the fake, wretched Tory Party asunder and on that alone I will not only vote for them but they will have my active local support too. Doing nothing is not an option for me.
When all you have is a chance to take a risk that someone might do something right, go for it!
You’re right, one absolutely has to go and vote. Crossing through your ballot paper and writing ‘none of the above’ is not doing nothing and may be the only positive thing to do. Do seek out Miri AF’s website. She has done an excellent interview with Jonathan Tilt, who is an independent mayoral candidate in the West Riding (?) Yorkshire. He says that all ruined ballot papers are reviewed. Whereas if you simply don’t turn up at all, you are written off and used as part of their statistics of agreeing by not bothering (not phrased well, am in too much of hurry, but hope you know what I mean). Also see Miri about Reform, Bridgen, etc.
A change is as good as a rest.
If by that you mean a change to Reform, I think you might live to deeply regret it.
I have read Miri on Reform and Bridgen – very interesting perspective. I always support Independent candidates whenever I can and I do believe that we would be in a far better place had we 650 Independent MPs rather than the Party System. Yes, Bridgen was a full-on jabber but at least he has seen the light of day. .
We all know ReformUK is not going to form a government because there are far too many tribal voters. But I do think on balance that it is worth giving them a great deal of help in my constituency. The candidate is very active and a decent sort of chap who I have talked to at length. What else can we do to play our part at the this eleventh hour?
Read her latest on AB: https://miriaf.co.uk/blog/ – wolves and sheep!
Join the spoilt ballot party.
It is at the very least catharsis.
In order to decide if a vote has been cast, every spoilt ballot is scrutinised by every candidate and their entourage at the count.
So if you want to get a personal message across directly to you favourite or least favourite politician in the election spoiling your ballot is the way to do it.
And if you also ensure you have given a clear indiction of your preferred candidate a spoilt ballot does not have to be a wasted vote.
IMHO no spoiled ballot is wasted.
If only enough people spoiled their ballot papers it would give a great message to all the candidates and parties.
At least 30% and often more people do not bother to vote.
Just imagine what they could achieve if they voted.
30% voting for one party would elect the government.
That’s very interesting. If you cross through your ballot paper and write ‘none of the above’, how do you indicate that you have a preferred candidate? I shall send what you’ve written to all the people I know who plan to do the same, but especially to those who might not bother to go along to vote at all (which is the worst choice of all, in my view). Thank you.
Former MP Heidi Allen explained on Have I Got New for You some years back that during the count a decision had to be made about a spoiled ballot.
In one candidate’s ballot paper voting box the voter had drawn a limp penis. In Heidi Allen’s voting box the voter had drawn an erect penis.
So it was agreed the voter had indicated a preference for Heidi Allen.
If you write ‘none of the above’ and give no indication of any preference then the ballot is likely to be considered a spoiled ballot.
Normally the number at any count is no more than a handful.
But imagine if there were hundreds or a thousand or so.
And think of all the disruption it would cause if this happened throughout the country – the count would take a week or more.
Hey, vote Conservative – at least you know what you are getting.
LOL.
Remember, there is a generation who know nothing else.