David Cameron has proposed to reduce the number of MPs in the UK parliament by 60. Everyone seems to have pounced on the monetary savings this would make and how popular this move would be with the public.
To me there is much, much more to this proposal than money and I agree with John Leonard http://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/ who writes "It is this diminishing of our democracy that is my main objection against any such proposals. Such proposals are anti-democratic.What David Cameron and Nick Clegg, more extremely before him, have proposed is the reduction of the nation’s national democratically elected representation whilst retaining the same amount, if not more power in the Conservatives' case (with the speculative repatriation of powers from Europe), of power at the highest level. Such a distillation of power by nature encourages Parliamentary elitism, encourages further distancing of the representatives from the electorate and dilutes the voters’ democratic influence. In short, it is political centralism and furthermore can be perceived as serving only the major political parties and not the electorate".
It is my own understanding, that because the number of Scottish seats was reduced to coerce the UK Parliament into agreeing to the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, there is to be no reduction in Scottish MPs but 10 seats are to go in Wales and the remaining 50 seats are to go in England. England, already in democratic deficit when compared to the other UK countries with their own assembly or parliament, is it would appear, yet again to lose out in the democracy stakes.
Saturday 24 January 2009
Saturday 10 January 2009
Ooops! He's done it again . . . . .
Tory leader David Cameron was on Tyneside yesterday (09.01.09) fielding questions from the public>
One member of the audience complained of the huge differences between services in the North East and Scotland.
She complained that free prescriptions, university tuition and care for the elderly in England should be a priority issue for any Cameron Government.
Mr Cameron responded: “I don’t want to do anything that will encourage a sense of English nationalism and distance between the two countries.”
Can you please tell me David, why it is perfectly alright to celebrate Scotland and all things Scottish but to excercise the same celebration of England and all things English is not to be encouraged?
Why, because I am a resident in England, should I be expected to quietly put up with being a second class citizen within the United Kingdom? You are quick to condemn the lack of democracy in other countries but it seems you are only too willing to turn a blind eye to the democratic inequality that is taking place in your own back yard.
Please do not forget that the majority of seats the Conservative Party gained at the last general election it did so with votes from English constituents.
One member of the audience complained of the huge differences between services in the North East and Scotland.
She complained that free prescriptions, university tuition and care for the elderly in England should be a priority issue for any Cameron Government.
Mr Cameron responded: “I don’t want to do anything that will encourage a sense of English nationalism and distance between the two countries.”
Can you please tell me David, why it is perfectly alright to celebrate Scotland and all things Scottish but to excercise the same celebration of England and all things English is not to be encouraged?
Why, because I am a resident in England, should I be expected to quietly put up with being a second class citizen within the United Kingdom? You are quick to condemn the lack of democracy in other countries but it seems you are only too willing to turn a blind eye to the democratic inequality that is taking place in your own back yard.
Please do not forget that the majority of seats the Conservative Party gained at the last general election it did so with votes from English constituents.
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