tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221901955641373488.post3976469976952038047..comments2024-03-20T07:12:19.838+00:00Comments on A VIEW FROM HAM COMMON: If voting changed anything, they'd abolish it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221901955641373488.post-85398087709235375202011-07-22T12:51:46.061+01:002011-07-22T12:51:46.061+01:00I hope you come back - it may be slow old bus but ...I hope you come back - it may be slow old bus but someone needs to check it's being driven in the right direction....<br /><br />meantime you might find this site interesting http://www.2020uk.org/ <br /><br />it's about many of your concerns. It's nothing to do with me - I have had a post put up on it.<br /><br />cheersRichard Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03546947405923306990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221901955641373488.post-63096047216257826022011-07-21T12:09:38.046+01:002011-07-21T12:09:38.046+01:00I've already let my party membership lapse, fo...I've already let my party membership lapse, for precisely the kinds of reasons you've expressed here Richard. I'll probably join again on the cusp of the next revolution.<br /><br />Now we're in government we see significant deeper issues within the party; the real question is, as you say, will Britain be a better place by 2015? I don't feel like the changes that have been made so far will give us affirmation to that question.<br /><br />I feel like there is something fundamentally wrong within the party (and all others) regarding its outlook, hopes, aspirations and, most importantly, membership demographic. For a while I've had a nagging feeling that these are the wrong people to claim exclusive ownership of liberal Britain; surely the people that need our ideology most are the downtrodden, oppressed, trapped citizens of our poorest regions? Why can't we communicate with these traditional Labour voters? Why do we so often come across as self-rightous, middle-class intellectual sorts that the working man wants little to do with?<br /><br />These are the very folk that suspect all their lives that "if voting changed anything, they'd abolish it". I can't see any profound change until we can integrate normal people into our party and democracy, but I fear we're still a long way off doing this. A clutch of Etonian/Oxbridge millionaires that have lived in a bubble all their lives are simply not appropriate sole leaders of our nation, they've not spent long enough living the problems to understand them implicitly. I'm not saying they're bad people, they want to do good things, mainly, but they're institutionalised. I never had these issues until I met Nick Clegg, since then, these have been my greatest concerns.<br /><br />Why is the House of Commons not really for commoners?<br /><br />If a change is gonna come, it's a slow, old bus.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221901955641373488.post-5581133536328184782011-07-20T15:27:31.002+01:002011-07-20T15:27:31.002+01:00Thanks - great feedback.
First off I hope you'...Thanks - great feedback.<br /><br />First off I hope you'll stay in the party. We in the Lib Dems are unique in that it really is the membership that sets the policy for the party, and its us who can get things changed. Now we are in government, we are in a position to make real change in this area - for example we have been fighting for some time for meaningful regulation of media ownership including maximum levels of share. It's the members - if we care enough - who can make this a priority and influence legislation.<br /><br />Ditto for saying how we feel generally. While The Guardian deserves all the kudos for keeping the phone hacking saga alive, Twitter et al made it real and has had a profound effect on the story. The voice of the people still counts.<br /><br />I think you're right that the establishment is unlikely to change itself (Turkeys voting for Christmas); but the people still can.Richard Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03546947405923306990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221901955641373488.post-2622153853803532242011-07-20T12:27:43.480+01:002011-07-20T12:27:43.480+01:00Great post Richard, completely agree.
...but what...Great post Richard, completely agree.<br /><br />...but what do we do about it?!<br /><br />For a long time I've felt like my party membership was a waste of time/money, now I know it is, but I have no other alternative. I can't see how real change can happen in a system like this. Despite all the wrongdoing, News Corp shares are rising, because investors know that governments can only do so much, and once this is over it'll be business as usual, legal or not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com