AV: Just a Waste of Time and Money

As the Av debate hots up, its interesting to note that the yes/no camp haven't split on party lines, but instead we see members of different parties sharing on the same platform.

Never before in history have we seen what we're seeing now: the true face of UK politics.

To be honest the supposed choice that AV brings is in effect no choice when the parties themselves are microns away from each other in terms of policy and ability.

The major parties now occupy a small space of ground somewhere near what is colloquially called "the centre" of politics. However, that "centre" drifts about daily, chasing populist policies based on the latest opinion polls and focus groups, making it almost impossible for voters to distinguish a clear mandate to vote for.

To be honest all politics in the UK does these days is a lot of talk and a lot of small tinkering, in order to keep up the illusion of being a sovreign state. Look behind the Westminster punch and judy show, you'll see that most of the major political decisions are made wholly outside of the UK and mandated for the UK government to follow (for example ECHR rulings), or in partnership with external political organisations (The EU, NATO, the UN, etc). There is very little real politiking for our government to do, hence the encroachment into areas of our lives where historically government has never been, and should never intend to be, all in an effort to be seen to be "doing important stuff" and look busy.

For an example of how unimportant the governments of EU member states are these days, takle a look at the Belgian situation, where they continue to carry on without a government in power month after month. Its also an extreme example of the effects of proportional voting systems which force situations which require a coalition government. So far there hasn't been an agreement between parties and therefore no government.

Now, along comes AV and supposedly brings about "choice". What its really all about is locking small parties out of the electoral process and reducing democracy. You can bet your bottom dollar that if accepted, the AV rules will try and push out or make it extremely difficult for the small parties and single independant candidates to run for election to seats in Westminster. Instead we'll be sidelined into local politics, without the power devolved to the regions in the EU or even our Welsh, Scottish and Irish governments and assemblies.

The AV vote is also about distraction: its distracting you away from the sameness of Uk politics, its distracting you away from where the real power lies (the EU) and its distracting you away from the real debate, which is whether we should be in the EU at all. Its a poor substitute for the referendum on the EU that David Cameron promised us before the Lisbon treaty.

All in all, despite my disgust at UK politics, I will be voting no to AV next month. Because I want real change, real options, real democracy; not the sham replacement the ruling elite want to dazzle us with and hijack for their own ends.