I had a rather strong impression that Matt Frei shared my opinion. I think he also agreed that one of the most worrying things about Brexit is the democratic deficit it has created in England (but not in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).
With both LibDems and Labour chasing votes in Leave areas (the southwest and north, respectively) they are unwilling to talk about the massive failings of Brexit, and give no hint of reversing it. That leaves well over 50% of the population effectively unrepresented.
People chasing votes is undemocratic.
It’s just a toned-down variant of “everyone who disagrees with me on the most trivial of points is a fascist”.
He didn’t mind for all the years when all those who wanted to leave the EU were unrepresented though……equally does that mean he considers that all the people in the UK who would vote to bring back the death penalty are suffering from a democratic deficit?
completing the sentence: “and conservatives chasing votes in fringe areas such as the south east which in any proper democratic system wouldn’t count.”
S, SE and Midlands have less than 50% of the population? A quick google…
“I had a rather strong impression that Matt Frei shared my opinion.”
I’d see that as a wake-up call.
Isn’t the NI Assembly suspended? That’s the kind of “democratic deficit” that the Scots and the Welsh long for.
…the democratic deficit it has created in England
Presumably he means that England should have it’s own Parliament?
What of those among us who have a STEM qualification and a calculator, and can see that Net Zero is a load of snake oil that will reduce us to penury (to a far greater extent than any possible negativities from Brexit) and plunge us into the cold and dark – who can we vote for?
(SDP, to answer my own question, but it’s unlikely to be much of an effective protest.)
Chris, following the example of the recent ‘Voters choose Truss / Kwarteng’, followed by the subsequent ‘defenestration of Truss / Kwarteng’, it will never again matter who you vote for because TPTB will make sure you get who they want you to get.
With both LibDems and Labour chasing votes in Leave areas (the southwest and north, respectively) they are unwilling to talk about the massive failings of Brexit, and give no hint of reversing it. That leaves well over 50% of the population effectively unrepresented.
Which might lead one to believe that perhaps less than 50% of the population has been effectively unrepresented. Perhaps much of that unrepresented population has more pressing issues on their minds than reversing Brexit.
Meissen Bison: You’re not wrong there.
And I’d just point out that nobody I’ve ever voted for has won. The only votes I’ve cast in over 35 years which counted towards a victory were “No” in 2014 and ”Leave” in ’16; the response to the first was even more power handed to the Holyrood Mob, which now pretends that the second doesn’t count. Don’t talk to me about “democratic deficits”.
I wish someone would chase my vote. As far as I can tell, none of them gives a flying shit.
Don’t need a STEM qualification and a calculator to see the problems with Net Zero, I’d even say that some of the worse adherents are people with those qualifications.
OT: Question for Bloke in the Fourth Reich.
What’s Lindner up to? Does he really believe there’s better than a cat in hell’s chance of Germany starting to frack or is he getting his politics sorted out so that he can claim he had a solutrion at the next GE?
To Chris Miller. I used to vote Tory but I can’t see myself doing the same next time as I’m fed up with the lying about stuff like migration and they’ve lost their main selling points which are freedom from oppressive easily misused guff like ‘hate speech’ laws, a lack of support for free speech and for sensible economic management.
I can’t in all good conscience vote for the Tories next time and I’d rather embrace a stinking tramp than vote Labour. Therefore my choice will be similar to yours which is SDP or Reform even though I disagree with Reform’s idea of an elected House of Lords.
The Welsh Assembly came about from a wafer thin margin that makes Brexit look like a runaway win, what about the democratic deficit there
I might as well whine about Oz.
After all, ScMo won his election because he appealed to the Labor-voting coal miners of Collinsville. He then decided to grovel to the Greens. And got the chop.
Since I’m a rabid anti-Green, because of course I think they’ll make ME!!!!!! poorer, I naturally believe that if a Tony Abbott style figure preached the ‘Burn them all as bio-fuel’ doctrine, we’d get our totally justified democratic majority.
Still, since the Labor government of Queensland has failed to privatise the coal burners, it’ll be interesting to see what happens when they shut them down and the lights go out. But I suppose they’ll just blame the wicked capitalists anyway.
Boganboy, I’m also a Skip and agree with that. Who is standing up for energy sanity in this country?
@Fahrenheit211
I may vote SDP or Reform, but (if the boundary changes go through) my sitting MP would be Steve Baker, who is not the worst of an admittedly shambolic ‘Conservative’ party.
Of course, he’ll still win whichever way I choose.
Mr Worstall. Slightly off topic but you might be interested in this one. Apparently the Spud has had a fit if pique and blocked on Twitter the author and trade unionist Paul Embery. https://twitter.com/PaulEmbery/status/1589597534473048066?cxt=HHwWhMDSoaOisY8sAAAA