A General Election? Or a Lottery?

The General Election tomorrow promises to be the closest and probably unfairest election in recent UK history.

Tomorrow we may well see the SNP with about 5% of the UK national vote return 40 - 50 MPs while UKIP with 15% will return 2 or 3.

The Greens will get a national vote share of about 5% will return just one MP. Meanwhile the Lib-Dems with their 5-8% will return anything up to 30.

To emphasise how bizarre, awful and anti-democratic this all is, be aware that the single Green MP may well only get elected after fluking it with support of only 31% of the Brighton electorate (like she did in the last election).

But without that fluke the Greens with their 5% would have no representation at all.

Meanwhile Labour expect to maintain their tribal vote in the North while the Conservatives will expect to maintain their tribal vote in the South

Most of this gross unfairness is down to the rubbish voting system we use. The First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system is both prone to fraud and can easily return an unfair result.

The FPTP voting system strongly favours tribal voting. That's why Labour and the Conservative love it.

That's why five years ago both Labour and Conservative unleashed a wave of fear-mongering to get the referendum on proportional representation rejected. That coupled with an incompetent campaign run by the Lib-Dems led us to voting against reform. (Seriously, who put the Lib-Dems in charge?)

Because we now have many parties with significant (4% or more) support, tomorrow will be more like a lottery than a fair and democratic election. All thanks to FPTP.

So tomorrow, why not just vote for who you believe in?

True, you can try and be clever and second guess a secret ballot by voting tactically.

But really the chances are you'll either guess it wrong or it won't make any difference anyway. You will also disguise your true opinions.

Stay true to your principles.

Of course this travesty of an election is not a one off. First Past the Post has failed us many, many times in the past.

But there is one thing worse than voting in a FPTP election. That is NOT voting at all.

Below are the three biggest FPTP howlers. No prizes for spotting the unfairness.

Scottish Tories and a Changing Game

Murdo Fraser, frontrunner to be the Conservative party’s next Scottish leader is planning to disband the Scottish Conservatives and start up a new independent, though affiliated  center-right party. He sees this as the best way to neutralise what is seen as the poison infecting the centre-right voter base in Scotland.
(Daily Mail article Here)  (Morning Star article Here)

Maybe though there is another agenda here.

Just as the Scottish electorate have lost faith with the Conservative party, I think it quite possible that the Conservative party has in turn lost faith with Scotland.


This proposal from Murdo Frazer would make the political viability of Scottish independence more certain. A General Election in Scotland would be (at least in part) a Scottish electorial fight between Scottish political parties. Today is is in reality, the SNP versus UK national parties operating under Scottish banners. With Murdo Frazer's proposal, a General Election in Scotland will be a Scotland centric affair.

For the Tories, there is certainly no longer any political advantage to propping up the Scottish economy with English taxes. Currently the Tories (and previously Labour) are funding huge subsidies to Scotland via the Barnett formula and various job schemes (such as the two white elephant aircraft carriers). This Danegeld is being paid primarily to try and undermine Scottish Nationalism.

Maybe though the Tories have now dispaired of ever seeing any return on this expenditure and have decided to abandon Scotland to its own self determinist fate. Then the Tories could concentrate on England. England is of course, where the overwhelming Tory support lies.

If the conservatives abandoned Scotland and then promoted and encouraged the formation of an English Assembly they would, most likely, within that English Assembly, be unassailable.

After all, although a minority in the UK parliament they are still today the largest single party. If you take out Scottish, Welsh and Irish MPs, the Tories are solidly in the majority.

Where does this leave Labour?

I think Labour saw this coming in the early 2000's. They tried to defeat the prospect of an English parliament by attempting to dismember England into a number of competing Regions. As we all know their policy was derailed by a popular vote in NE England. Even so, a number of the Regional Quango's, elites and assorted hangers-on still remain.

Labour realised that if there ever was an true English Parliament or Assembly, then Labour would be the main loser. It is likely that, in England, there would never again be another Labour government with an absolute majority.

An English Parliament would be, by far, the most powerful and influential national parliament in these islands.

I don't think it would be long before an English Assembly tired of any remnant UK parliament. It would soon see the many advantages of simply being a wholly separate state. Especially if the other UK nations like Scotland has similar ambitions.

Scotland, and possibly Wales and Northern Ireland too, could muddle along by themselves.

Maybe this statement from Murdo Frazer is less about a new Scottish Party but is more about testing the water for a new English Party - The English Conservatives.

We live in interesting times.

Rethinking England

I'm having a bit of a wobble about where I stand regarding England and an English Assembly. Though to be honest, I have never been totally convinced about the current viability of a separate English devolved parliament. Especially one modelled as the English equivalent of the Scottish parliament or the Welsh and Northern Irish assemblies.

An English Assembly looks like a nice idea. It would bring a level of equality across these islands.

But the cold hard question we have to ask is: Would the English vote for it?

That is of course assuming that the Great and the Good ever allowed such a vote in the first place.

I think at this moment in time, most English voters would only see it as just another layer of bureaucracy. More "Jobs for the Boys" - and expense account fiddles.

I also fear that is all it would become.

The current ruling elites value their precious "World Role" far beyond any concept of national fairness or even-handedness. Yet another layer of bureaucracy could be used to obfuscate their power base. This could potentially make them even more invulnerable to national scrutiny as they prance around the World Stage from their Westminster stronghold.

The political classes would obviously rather keep their virtual dictatorship over English affairs. But if necessary, they could cope with another layer of bureaucrats, as long as they keep their dominant position in Westminster.

Politicians are, without doubt the most disliked (even loathed) class of individuals in the land.

So do we want more layers of self serving elites with their little empires and petty squabbles?

I think the resounding answer from the electorate at any potential vote would be no. Just as has happened before.

Like when the elecorate (or at least the good people of the North East) soundly rejected John Prescotts dirty little regionalisation plan, which would have cemented in the self servers while dismembering England wholesale.

But where does that leave England today? The answer from me is, I am afraid to say, "I don't know".

In previous posts, I railed against the sheer unfairness of the current system which denies an English identity. Especially as English taxes finance almost all of the governance of these islands. The unfairness of tuition fees and prescription charges rankle many. Myself included.

It is not that the Scots and Welsh governments voted for reduced charges.

It is that the English has no say at all. We simply had to put up with what we got. No voice. No debate.

England has in many ways been erased from the UK nationality debate. It is a non country with no representation and is despised and vilified. Especially by the ruling elites.

Of course if Alec Salmond has his way (and he is a very persuasive individual) then the issue of who governs England will soon have to be addressed.

I suppose really, we need to start thinking about this now rather than if/when the Scottish vote for a cessation of the Union.

But I for one, at this moment in time, don't really know what to think.

So I am open to suggestions.

But really I think we all need to get a debate going and a game plan(s) sorted for whatever outcome happens in the Scottish referendum.

We can't simply muddle along like this. The problem and the issues will not go away.

How First Past The Post Harms the Tories

Due to the unfairness of the First Past the Post voting system, the biggest losers in Scotland have been the Conservatives.

During the 2010 election, the Conservatives polled 18% of vote in Scotland but gained less than 2% of the seats. Without a fairer distribution of the votes in Scotland, the Conservatives will never be able to gain their fair Scottish representation.

Here is some Scottish Election data from the last two general Elections, 2005, 2010. Spot the (several sets of) unfairness:

Below, is the result table from 2010 General Election for Scotland. Again, spot the unfairness.

Notice the massive unfair seat allocation.  Particularly see the benefit to Labour and the grossly unfair penalisation of the Conservatives. In 2010, Lib-Dems actually got roughly the correct vote/seat ratio. If you divvied up the seats according to vote share Labour should have got 24 -25 seats, each of the other parties should then have got about 11 seats each

In Scotland, using the First Past the Post voting system, the Conservatives (and the SNP) are punished in exactly the same way that other minority parties are punished across the the UK. The people of Scotland end up with an unrepresentative grouping at Westminster, which strongly leans away from what a sizeable voting minority wish for, leaving these minorities with reduced  representation, or as with the Conservatives, with trivial representation.

Scotland may not  be a Tory heartland under any voting system, but under First Past the Post the Conservatives are guaranteed an insignificant representation.

There used to be a phrase used to define those Conservative who rejected the old class base system. A phrase used to define Conservatives who sought to promote the best interests of the whole of the UK. They used to be called One Nation Tories.

So how can these "One Nation Tories" today still support First Past The Post, especially when it harms their cause so badly as shown above?

By supporting FPTP the Conservative simply entrench themselves in their English heartland and so fail to be a One Nation party. Conservative party supporters need to look to the long term, not just the petty gains to be made in the short term by staying with an outdated and unfair voting system.

Vote for AV on Thursday.

English Railways and English Taxes

It was enchanting to hear that our Scottish cousins, particularly those in the SNP are keen to get a high speed rail link extended into Scotland. (See BBC Article Here)

Evidently such a link would reduce the journey time between London and Edinburgh to three hours. Although, to me, this seems rather counter-intuitive. Why would Scottish Nationalists wish to be closer to London?

But never mind.

One day soon, as many Scots desire, Scotland may become an independent country.

Maybe then the non country of England will also get its own parliament. Strange as it may seem, this English parliament would be primarily concerned with English issues. Including English infrastructure projects and English taxes.

Of course the Scottish parliament would in turn be responsible for Scottish infrastructure projects and Scottish taxes.

Anyway should this all happen, I hope that tradition will dictate that we, the grubby despised Little Englanders will extend the hand of friendship and camaraderie to our noble Scottish cousins.

Yes! We will help build the rail link all the way up to Edinburgh.

Immediately after the cheque has cleared.

Prescott: Declared Inedible

Neanderthals, being unashamedly carnivorous, sometimes look on their Homo Sapien friends as lunch.

Be assured though, Billothewisp does try to eat as few of his neighbours as possible.

Still, he firmly believes that the inhabitants of the House of Commons, and their associates should, if necessary, be regarded as a potential emergency food store.

But there are limits to everything.

It has been known for a long time that John Prescott (Prezza to his mates, of which he has none) has always been a marginal food store as he is so full of shit.

But his toadi-ing up to the Chinese over emissions control finally removes him from the menu. See Guido Fawkes Post Here

You may know that Prescott once planned to dismember England into a number of rival regional assemblies. He got as far as appointing regional dictatorships with powers that trumped those of the elected councils within the regions.

His intention was to roll out some form of fixed/spun regional democracy into the dismembered England and cement the murder of nation. His little plan came a cropper when in the first regional referendum, the people of the North East, told him to bugger off.

Since then the whole plan to dismember England has been somewhat muted. Some steps have been made but today, for example, The South West Regional Assembly is essentially run by delegates from local councils rather than by the original imposed flunkies. Soon the whole sad abortion will be abandoned.

Perhaps when this travesty is finally buried in its own cess pit we can get back to looking for an English assembly or even an English Parliament, just like the one in Scotland.

Meanwhile Prescott, in backbench retirement continues with his bitter tirades against anyone he designates as non-working class. (which must included most of the labour party these days)

He appears to simply regard his own background as the sole point of reference for a continuing class struggle. Anyone living south of Watford is, by definition, an oppressing toff. While his narrowness is unappealing, I do have a level of sympathy. As he is undoubtedly from a working class background he must feel very lonely in the upper echelons of the Labour Party.

But that does not get us past the unsavory fact that he is without doubt inedible. Luckily as he has now retiring, his removal from the House of Commons will not affect the the number of specimens available in the food store.

It may also improve its quality.

The Striking Out of England

Today at mid-day I had no lunch. Not one morsel passed my lips. Even the bloody "Oily Rags" I have to work with had their "Ham" sandwiches and "Muesli" snackbars. But I had nothing.

Anyway to kill the pangs of hunger, I decided to surf to the BBC website to read the news instead.

BilloTheWisp decided to navigate to politics. More precisely to this page. Nice layout! Lots of fine words (well, they do get nearly 3 Billion quid a year from you suckers) but....

There was something missing.

Underneath the headline stories there was a section Scottish Politics. Another for Northern Ireland Politics and finally a third for Welsh Politics. Really, there was something missing. Neanderthals are really built for stability rather than speed so I had to mull it over for quite sometime.

What could it be? Then it came to me. In a flash. Or more a rumbling of discontent, a bit like the rumbling of my unfilled belly. There was no mention of English Politics. Not one word. Let alone a heading. It was as if England had been airbrushed out of the political make-up of the UK.

BilloTheWisp is a trusting sort of chap, though a bit hairy. Consequently, I have decided that until justice is served and fairness established for England by the establishment of an English Parliament, I will follow the lead of the exceptionally well fed at the BBC by airbrushing England out. This will undoubtedly also save any embarrasment to our leaders in England, who of course, cannot be our English leaders anyway, because England does not exist. Let alone have any political representation.

Unfortunately this Neanderthal centric blog is mainly about England. Consequently I felt it would be rather messy to simply remove all references to England and the English. So please excuse this simple Neanderthal who, instead of airbushing England out, will now ensure that any reference to the non country of England is now struck out from this blog instead.

I hope that will enable all of us who live in England to stop worrying about silly things like democracy and fair-play. We can then get on with paying our English taxes into the Barnett formula so the other real countries around us can flourish and push forward leaving us English ever wistful for the fiction of the non country of England

TV Debates: Cameron, Brown and Thingy. Who Eats Who?

We Neanderthals have a way with politics and politicians. Generally we think they need a good stewing in the heat of public debate, if not in a bit of Garlic and onions, with marrow from the bones of long dead Mammoths hmmmm.

We don't think that simply trying to get them to dazzle each other with the shiny glints off their ultra white teeth is really going to cut the mustard. How about some hard options like addressing their policies to a bunch redundant steel workers from Redcar. I am sure they would love to hear why globalisation is such a wonderful idea.

Simply getting them to trading their latest spin is going to be boring. Why not spice it up a bit, say, each one gets a given a baseball bat, then we could bet on the winner, and eat the losers . Hey! Perhaps that means we get to eat all three! Hmmmm.

It is nice to see that the SNP are likely to sue. I like the SNP. Although they stiff us English soooo regularly they are, after all, almost Nethanderals themselves (and I mean that in the nicest possible way).

How about seeing UKIP, English Democrats, Plaid Cymru, Greens, even the bloody BNP having a fair crack of the whip too.

Simply divvying up the airtime between the staid old boring out-of-date self important berks who have no ideas, and no hope is really just too depressing to contemplate.

Some say, that if you are going to eat Homo Sapiens, especially of the political class, they are best boiled with lentils. Personally I prefer them char-grilled. Perhaps the lads from Redcar could lend us one of their mothballed furnaces.