In the wake of the Brexit referendum (June 2016), there have been various petitions and protest marches. The government's response is always basically the same: "The British people voted to leave the EU and the Government will implement their decision ( Read more... )

Disclaimer: As with all my blog posts, I am only representing my own views here. I'm not speaking on behalf of any of my employers (past, present, or future ( Read more... )

I haven't given much thought to the Brexit referendum yet, because the election for London Mayor is coming up first (on Thursday 5th May). As I mentioned before the 2012 election, I think it's important to distinguish between national and local policies, and it doesn't necessarily make sense to vote for the same party at different levels of ( Read more... )

Last week was the general election in the UK, so I voted. I didn't actually expect this to make a difference, because my constituency is a safe seat for the Conservatives; according to the Voter Power Index, it's rated 523rd out of 650. ("In Croydon South, one person does not really have one vote, they have the equivalent of 0.069 votes.") However ( Read more... )

Here's a bar chart that's been going around on social media today:


( Read more... )

I recently heard my local MP on the radio, talking about the "Plebgate" controversy. (As a side note, I'm not really keen on the trend where "-gate" means "scandal". At this point, I don't think it's even a direct reference to Watergate, it's just become a synonym. However, in this case the people concerned were at least standing next to a gate ( Read more... )

There are elections in London tomorrow: the bit that's got the most publicity is choosing a new Mayor, but we also need to choose people for the London Assembly. I've been caught out at general elections in the past, when they've asked me to vote for local councillors and I've had no idea who to vote for, so I've just gone along party lines. This ( Read more... )

Yesterday I voted "Yes" in the AV referendum. Today, the results came back with a resounding "No". I'm quite disappointed and disillusioned by this: I've now reached the point where I have to say that democracy simply doesn't work. I realise that this may just sound like sour grapes, but there's more to it than that.

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If you live in the UK, hopefully you're aware of this week's referendum: should we replace our existing voting system (First Past The Post = FPTP) with a different one (Alternative Vote = AV ( Read more... )

I have just written to my MP using the WriteToThem website, regarding the government's spending review. Basically, they are planning to cut funding for disabled people in residential homes, which would effectively leave these people trapped indoors; susannahf has written about this here and here.

( Letter to MP )