Your letters - May 21, 2010

The difficulties of changing democracy

Oh! that restoring "democracy" to our electoral process through Proportional Representation were that simple (Letters 14/05/10) for it will neither automatically bring forth stable, nor Lib-Dem, Governments. This is well proven in Europe where unstable Coalition governments are the norm. In fact, Italy had to abandon PR in 1993 in favour of majority voting in 75% of its seats to overcome inherent flaws which had led to 45 governments in 47 years under PR! I wonder why the Lib-Dems keep quiet about that?

Coalition Parliaments have to water down policies to ensure their MPs get voted back in! As we have already seen, some very unpopular measures to salvage Britain's desperate economy have been repressed by the Lib-Dems to secure their own party policies, rather than the nation's needs - policies which were firmly rejected at the polls by 75% of the electorate; the same percentage who rejected Labour when they were 're-elected'! This aptly named Lib-Con pact won't last long, nor can any 'socialist and right-of-centre' alliance.

A large percentage of Lib-Dem support is from 'protest voters' and will vanish under PR. This is evident in the EU Elections which put UKIP ahead of the fanatically pro-EU Lib-Dems who still refuse to acknowledge that the majority of Britons want nothing to do with a political EU! Nick Clegg even had the audacity to order his MPs to abstain, intentionally denying their constituents a democratic voice, over the Lisbon Treaty Referendum vote; it was passed through, just as Nick wanted. This shows he is not fit even to be Deputy PM! Of course under PR, UKIP, the BNP and Greens will gain 20-30% of the seats in Parliament and will keep the Lib-Dems down as a minority party - and don't forget, under PR, we get Buggin's choice for 'our' MP.

We need to decide whether we want to elect as our representative in a genuine debating chamber, a photogenic President Clegg (and by default get his less photogenic party and policies), or vote for a hard working, possibly independent, local candidate who doesn't hold a personal grudge against a sitting MP.

Surely then, it is better to address the present imbalance in our well tested electoral system to abolish tactical voting by:

1: Redrawing constituency boundaries to get a neutral socio-economic balance - the present boundaries disproportionately favour Labour (as does their AV PR system!). We need more, smaller and thus more democratically representative constituencies - not fewer, as proposed by the Tories.

2: Abolish the Party Whip. Our MP is our servant, not the Party's. There would be no need for Coalition Governments if MPs had a free vote and held binding local referenda on important issues, such as in Switzerland. That way the Government remains the servant of the people and was prevented from joining the EU against the wish of the Swiss people. It would also have prevented Nick Clegg from disenfranchising the electorate over the important Lisbon Treaty referendum vote.

Now that's democracy!

Barry M Jones

Bixley Lane, Beckley

UKIP's decision not to stand in Battle

In answer to the letter from Barry Jones, (Rye & Battle Observer 14th May '10) I will explain why there was no UK Independence candidate in the Battle/Bexhill constituency.

The ex-Conservative, Stuart Wheeler, had supported UKIP financially in the past and his election team had identified Greg Barker's seat as being vulnerable due to his alleged discrepancies 'flipping' London accommodation. I was asked by UKIP's Nigel Farage to stand down as the candidate for Battle/Bexhill in favour of Stuart, who, as a known national figure and ex-Conservative, might stand a better chance of unseating Mr Barker. Remember that my aim is to bring back full rule of Britain to Westminster and not, as at present, have 70% of our laws made in Brussels. With this aim in mind, as a UKIP candidate, I was unlikely to unseat Mr Barker whereas Stuart had more resources and seemed to have a much better chance. As there was a vacancy for a UKIP candidate in Hastings and Rye it was logical for me to stand there and agree to give Stuart the opportunity to stand as an Independent candidate on the understanding that he would promote UKIP's aims of exiting Britain's membership of the EU. Our branch membership meeting, at which Barry was not present, agreed to this change.

I did not know that Stuart would form a new Trust party. About a week before polling day our UKIP branch chairman, Mike Pursglove and I sent out a letter to UKIP branch members advising them to vote for Stuart Wheeler who was representing UKIP's interests in the constituency.

In the 2005 elections I retained my deposit for UKIP in the Battle/Bexhill constituency but only obtained 1,397 votes in Hastings & Rye this last election, although still well ahead of the BNP and English Democrats there. With hindsight it would have been better for me to have stayed in Battle/Bexhill and increase the UKIP vote and advise Stuart to stand in another constituency where there was a smaller conservative majority.

I apologies to all UKIP voters locally who have worked so hard over the years and then found no candidate on the ballot paper. If selected by my branch I will stand again for UK Independence in this Battle & Bexhill constituency with even greater determination.

Tony Smith

Ashburnham, Battle