Meeting held on Tuesday 20th February 2024
11 people were present. One gave their apologies.
On a positive note, there is an election for a seat on the Council following the resignation of an existing Tory councillor. Canvassing has elicited a very positive response towards Labour.
Discussing the possible outcomes of the next general election, we considered more generally the possibilities for more proportional forms of parliamentary democracy. Drawing upon the experience in Jersey and discussions in the Compass group, it was important for any PR system to be based upon a number of principles. Suggested principles were: that it should be proportional; that there should be a direct link between elected members and their constituents; that the public, rather than the Party, should select the candidates for election; that constituencies should be of an equal size; that any reform should command general support amongst the public. We also suggested that something along the lines of citizens’ assemblies should play a part, perhaps in arriving at a PR system, or in the functioning of the system, or as a second chamber.
Any move towards PR may be less likely if Labour gained a large overall majority and therefore the whole issue of ‘tactical voting’ was more complicated. Might a hung parliament be a better outcome than an outright Labour majority? For what outcome might one tactically vote?
The present system was undemocratic not only because of the form of representation but also because of the role of finance. Large financial and corporate donations to Tories distort democracy in their favour. Also financial and corporate interests play a large role in lobbying. Already, we noted, Starmer is courting, and being courted by, business and their influence is likely, for example, to lead to a dilution in Labour’s concern to improve the rights of working people. If the state funded elections the system would be much fairer and policy could respond to public rather than corporate interests.
A Labour government would have an enormous problem to overcome the appalling problems (NHS, police, potholes, transport, etc etc) left by Tory austerity. A fear is that the state of public finances will make it impossible for a new government to fix these, and that this failure could lead to the rise of the extreme right, as has happened in other European countries.
We were disappointed that Labour has decided not to introduce wealth tax, which we thought would be popular. It was suggested, however, that Labour was ‘gaming the system’ by keeping quiet about details of policies so that they would not become targets of the Tory press. They would be revealed only once the election date had been announced.
There was a brief discussion of the importance of education which should have a more prominent role in policy.
The next meeting will be on 19th March