Labour Must Find Its Spine

Not much blogging of late. I have been too ill with various viruses . And I have been too angry.
Mulling over events of the past couple of weeks I feel that Labour has to find its spine again- soon.Or else we are in danger of losing the immense goodwill from voters which has delivered stunning by-election success in Barnsley and Oldham and Saddleworth.
It is an absolute disgrace that only a handful of Labour MPs voted against the Government's Welfare Reform Bill.
Well done those who did ie John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyn, Kelvin Hopkins, Jon Cruddas, Katy Clark, Mike Wood The rest abstained.
Sitting on the fence as we go to hell in a handcart is not an option in my book but it seems to be increasingly Plan B for too many in the Labour Party.
Now most of the council budgets have gone through we also need to ask some pretty searching questions as to why not one local Labour-led authority did the decent thing and voted against cuts.
I don't buy into the argument councillors had no choice. They did.
I also don't buy into the argument that Labour cuts are kinder than Tory cuts.
If you are one of the many recipients of a P45 or enforced retirement it matters not a jot who delivered the redundancy notice. So the lack of real opposition from Labour councillors has been a serious disappointment to many of us.Hand-wringing simply doesn't wash with me.
Nevertheless, we must continue our fight against the real enemy of the working-class , this Conservative-led Government.
Here in Yorkshire, thousands are heading for Sheffield this weekend to protest at the Liberal Democrat's spring conference. I hope Clegg gets a seriously rough ride..
Speaking as one of the many thousands looking the dole queue in the face I'm less conciliatory than some on the left. But frankly I have every right to be angry.And I will continue to be

WHY I'M SAYING NO TO AV .....

See the LRC website for more but here are my own personal thoughts on the matter......

Whatever happens on May 5, AV is not an issue I would die in a ditch for
However, ignoring the obvious temptation to just give the Lib Dems a bloody nose with a massive "No" vote, AV should be opposed for several reasons.
Firstly, it was none other than Nick Clegg who described it as a "miserable little conpromise."
It is not PR. It will not help minority parties like the Greens and those to the left of Labour get representation at Westminster. In fact, it will make it harder.
In strong Labour seats, the heartland constituencies, AV makes no difference at all.
In marginal seats, however, it is likely to lead to even more centrist politics with Labour candidates tempted to be all things to everyone to get over the 50 per cent threshold.
As the Electoral Reform Society says,it "rewards broad church policies."
On average, candidates who win under FPTP get 46 per cent of the vote anyway.
At the last election, AV would have given the Liberal Democrats 32 more seats and lost Labour 10 seats.No wonder they are in favour!
FPTP is by no means perfect but does mean that coalitions are less common..
It also sticks to the principle of ‘one person, one vote. .
AV, is only used in Papua, New Guinea and Australia, where voting is compulsory.
It is not particularly progressive.It is at best an irrelevance, and at worst a distraction from the real struggles people are facing in the face of this Government..
Liberal Democrats sold their souls to hold this bogus referendum with a bogus electoral change with little positive consequence for those facing cuts to services and job losses..
Let's not give them any credibility whatsoever. Vote No.

MASTERCHEF

Tonight's dinner chez moi is likely to consist of new potatoes (reduced at the co-op) with mashed swede (likewise) dressed up with herbs, onion and fishcake.
Last night I did spaghetti with kale, tomatoes, onion and ginger. So with a bit of luck the £10 i allocated for food on Sunday will stretch till tomorrow.
Such penury is, superficially, unnecessary. However, I am on Death Row at my current place of employment and waiting to hear if it's two, three, or possibly a month or so's time until my resources really will be stretched. And necessity the mother of inventions Greg and John could only imagine .
The only comfort, amid all this uncertainty, is that one is anything but alone. A growing band of shoppers in my local co-op do a little circuit to the sell-by veg and other items in the hope of picking up a bargain. Which means there are fewer and fewer to be had.
While welcoming the U-turn on the sell-off of the forests, it is striking there will be no turning on any of the policies which fundamentally affect people's lives. It is a nightmare beyond our worst imaginings.
In the 1930's, people flocked to the pictures to see how the other half lived and these days that translates into enthusiasm for vapid programmes like Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs, newly revived for a new generation facing a return to the days of sharper class diviision and what is clearly a wholesale attempt to destroy the welfare state most of us took a little too much for granted.
The anger felt by millions will hopefully translate into a massive turn-out on March 26 for the anti-cuts demo being organised by the TUC. But what happens afterwards is far more important.
There is a danger that the despair many feel at the daily news of cuts and job losses will fade into apathy and resignation. It is up to the leaders of the labour movement to steer a path towards a fighting spirit and hope that things can change.
Meanwhile, I am battening down the hatches, re-trenching for a rough road ahead and trying not to fall into the slough of despond.
The truth is that Cameron, Clegg et al have NO IDEA what it is like to live on a limited income. If they did, they would know that their Big Society is a sick society - in which the poorest and the weakest are set to face years of suffering . On a scale very few of us could have imagined in the run-up to the General Election. The leadership of the Parliamentary Labour Party, now threatened by the gerrymandering of 50 constituencies, also needs to get its act together fast and come out in real solidarity with those it is supposed to represent.
The solidarity shown by these six councillors in Hackney is at least a start
http://l-r-c.org.uk/news/story/all-behind-the-hackney-six/

THE GREAT DIVIDE

A story in today's Independent outlines how the health and wealth gap between the North and South has never been wider. Anyone surprised?
When the vast majority of the money of this country is London-focussed, don't be too surprised when people up here die up to 15 years before their counterparts down south.
On Saturday I was in Halifax for a "Northern Towns Against The Cuts" TUC demonstration which felt as though the 1980's had never gone away.
Halifax itself, awash with Poundland-type premises and empty shops, is a town which never did well even in the good years. Now, like many other pplaces in the North, it's facing meltdown.
Yorkshire currently has a 20 per cent rate of empty retail premises in its towns and cities - the worst in the country.In places like Hebden Bridge, almost entirely dependent on the service sector, the effect will be catastrophic.

NO BAR TO VOTING......

I've been burgled. Twice. Major ransacking of my tiny little flat in Salford was the major reason I moved to the quiet hills of Hebden Bridge 14 years ago.
And having your house trashed is a not a pleasant business.
However......it woulsd made not ablind bit of difference to my distress had my burglars had access to the ballot box.
Indeed, I hope they would have voted Labour - and remain utterly astonished at the way in which the various Westminster tribes have huddled together on the issue of prisoners voting.
Only a handful of Labour MPs (Glenda Jackson, Andy Love, John McDonnell, Kerry McCarthy) took the (I think) sensible stance that just because you are behind bars that does not utterly negate your basic right to have a say in our democracy.
In short, you are still a human being
But clearly I am in a minority so tiny it does not even include most of the "usual suspects."
Did the overwhelming majority of MPs back this incredibly reactionary stance on a wave of outrage whipped up by "libertarian" Tory David Davis and hard-liner Jack Straw.
Or were they just scared of upsetting constituents also frothing at the mouth thanks to the rubbish spouted by the Daily Mail et al.
For the life of me I cannot see what the fuss was all about.
Even the poor wretches shipped off in clanking irons and transported to Australia eventually got the chance to rehabilitate into society.
In denying prisoners the vote, we are writing them off as irredeemable. Bad call.

NOT A FAIR DIVVYING UP....

In times of stress, people tend to seek the comfort of addictive substances like alcohol and cigarettes. No they shouldn't, but that doesn't give anyone else the right to act as judge and jury. Especially when they profit from others' nasty habits.
So bad call by the Co-op, which has just banned smokers from getting reward points on the divi for their fags.
Outrageous is what I say because why don't they do similar for alcohol, saturated fats, junk food or indeed any other substance ( there are many) sold in a Co-op store which is unhealthy and unlauded by the lifestyle police.
Logically, the answer would be to INCREASE points for healthy choices not penalise the (largely working class) people who have already been hounded out of pubs, restaurants and most public places.
I don't think any of us have a problem with considerate behaviour to others not wishing to be polluted by others' smoke. But I do have a problem with shoppers who still smoke being singled out for punishment in a country where we're building supersize ambulances to cope with the fast increasing number of morbidly obese.

FROM GRIMMER TO GRIMMEST

The harsh winds of the recession have reached gale force round here which means blog time is soon to be mine once again.
"Grimmer" is about to become "Grimmest" as in a couple of weeks' time I will be starting from scratch and looking for work along with thousands of other unemployed journalists.
"Unemployed" is a slight misnomer in that as a freelance I have job-hopped for 21 years.
But this time it is serious.
After 16 months as a casual shifter at a leading paper in Yorkshire the management have decided that our services are no longer required. Why?
Despite the fact they got us cheap there is even cheaper to be had in the form of young trainees who will work (who can blame them?) for salaries many were earning 15 years ago.
Circulations are plummeting along with advertising and the internet has made massive inroads into newspaper readerships. Paywalls don't work. And neither do many of my colleagues in the NUJ.
Much publicity recently re Miriam O' Reilly who successfully won a case against the BBC for getting rid of her on grounds of age. As a fellow baby boomer, I sympathise.
My generation had a good time. We got free NHS orange juice, free university education, and we came in at the tail-end of the good times in journalism. And I had those too.
This means I face job-hunting in my fifties with at least a fair back-up of money which I saved for the bad times. Because I knew they were going to come.
Thatcher arrived when I was 21 and those of us who knew the horror of the Tory years never bought the end of boom and bust.
The 1980's have haunted most of my working career and now they are back it seems they have never been away.
I'm shortly off to meet a publisher. I have an idea for a book.It won't make me much money but maybe channel my thought in the coming months on other ways of earning a living.
Over the years I have learned resilience. And now I shall need it more than ever.
In recent weeks, many of my pieces have been on the plight of students at the sharp end of this Government's wholesale destruction of the things we all took for granted.
At the recent demonstration in Manchester, I felt like weepng for all the youngsters facing mountains and mountains of debt. It was as if Thatcher never went away.
So, though this maelstrom of misery, I plan to chart life as it is at the Coalition coalface. Solidarity to all in similar state.....

OFF TO CAMBRIDGE

Braving weather to go to Cambridge LRC and if I get there will be looking in on student occupation. Just want to say thanks to those who have posted to say they enjoyed the blog.
I truly don't have the time to post much anymore......but as Bob Piper said, never say never....Thanks, comrades.

GOODBYE TO GRIMMER......

Tonight kids from Calder High School are out protesting and surrounded by an absurd number of police as the nationwide demonstrations demonstrate that sometimes direct action is the only way of making your voice heard. I applaud their determination and am greatly cheered that they are getting so much coverage.
Things move fast these days and after careful consideration I have decided that it is a goodbye to this blog.
I nearly made four years - but my time is limited and i simply don't have the time to write considered long posts on a regular basis.
Instead, I'm concentrating on Facebook and twitter as a more effective way of getting ideas across as and when events occur.
Thanks to all who have contributed over the years.It is time for action, not words, as anger grows against this wretched Coalition. And, hopefully, we really are in it together.......

THE ROYAL WEDDING ..........

Funny how at times of economic hardship those toffs can always be relied upon to come up with a feelgood solution to current crises.
It worked in 1981 so obviously they are going to do it again. Yep. Another Royal Wedding..
Almost 30 years on from the circus that was Charles and Diana we are back in a land rife with unemployment and Tories hell-bent on making the lives of millions as miserable as possible.
But let's forget all that and raise a glass .... er, No.
Last time round I held a "Toast The Royal Couple" party at my little flat in Penge which involved photocopied invites - complete with knives and forks.
I wish neither ill and am not of the Ekaterinburg Tendency.
However, at atime when thousands are facing serious poverty, the thought of the guff which will be spouted by the media all over again is truly, truly nauseating.
I hope the next generation does better than mine did - and gets a Republic ASAP
Next thing you know we will be fighting with the Argies

TURNING UP THE VOLUME......

Not much time for blogging recently as too busy trying to hang on to employment and in many ways the sheer scale of the onslaught against working people makes Twitter a much easier option.
I have tweeted my anger at Labour MPs defending the odious and indefensible Woolas, support for the students on yesterday's anti tuition fees demo.
Today, we have the appalling spectacle of "Quiet Man" IDS turning up the volume and outlining his reforms to welfare benefit. Punitive beyond belief, and front page fodder for the Mail, where news editors will be beside themselves with glee, it is time we reminded ourselves of a very salient fact.
Around £10billion a year goes UNCLAIMED in welfare benefits
Benefit fraud costs an estimated £1Billion
Tax dodging and evasion by the filthy rich earns them at least £120 billion a year.
As the new labour ultras commend IDS on his "courage" I am reminded of that old song which says "It's the rich wot gets the pleasure.. and the poor wot gets the blame."
And, when Ed Miliband comes back from paternity leave, it's time he started cracking down on the pronouncements from Douglas Alexander and the shameful way some in the PLP have treated Harriet Harman for standing firm on Woolas.
Blackley MP Graham Stringer, a man who used to tirelessly fight -racism as leader of Manchester City Coumncil, should be ashamed of himself for supporting the xenophobic ex-MP for Oldham East.

NOT OXBRIDGE MATERIAL.....

I was amused earlier today when a local Lib Dem tried to have a go at me on Twitter by asking where I went to University.
Amused is probably not the word. Sickened, definitely, by the attempted, ill-judged sneer and the total quiescence with which the Liberal Democrats have colluded in the most disgusting destruction ever of the life chances of thousands of young people.
A tiny cohort of working-class kids get to Oxbridge. As I pointed out, in so much as I could in 140 words, I was one of them at a time when higher education was free.
Even so, I remember my mother worrying whether we could afford the cost of food and accommodation - how we would manage and hiw I would manage surrounded by students from vastly more privileged backgrounds. . But as someone forced to leave school at 14 in the 1930's she was determined I would get to Cambridge - the first in my family EVER to go to university
There would be no question of that now. None at all. Nor, probably, of a university place anywhere else for children like me. But let's forget Oxbridge for a minute.
The very idea that fees of £6000 a year - for starters - everywhere - are "fair" is obscene, Orwellian doublespeak and utterly disgusting.
The £9000 which Oxbridge and other elite universities will charge closes the door for thousands of kids but is chickenfeed to those who pay £20,000 plus per year for public school education.
I am listening on PM to Vince Cable defend this indefensible policy with a breathtaking pomposity and pusillanimity which I hope will motivate Lib dems across the country to tear up their Party cards and join next week's demo in London against a rise in tuition fees which all Lib dem MPs publicly pledged they would fight.
Yes, New Labour opened the door to this wholesale betrayal by allowing tuition fees in the first place, That was six years ago.
At the time, dozens of Labour MPs rebelled against the Govt line and did their best to stop it. Aided, one recalls, by the Conservatives . How times change.
Cable talks of the "national interest." The only "interest" the Lib Dems are supporting is self-interest. They will righlty be punished soundly at the next election.
Tragically, a generation is going to be punished because of their wilful abandonment of every principle of fairness and decency.
Ed Miliband is right. This Government is one of "broken promises." Labour must now promise a fair policy on education and fight on behalf of those who will protest next week.
And those who now fear they will never get the chance to get to university in the first place.

NO HOMES TO GO TO

IF I am a little tetchy these days it is because every day brings another vile bit of policy making from the Coalition Con-Dem cabal now running the country.
Not only do they cheer on £83 billion worth of cuts which will profoundly hurt the most vulnerable, they tell lies about housing benefit.
This latest twist in the tale of total betrayal by the Liberal Democrats may well return to bite them.
Previously spineless MPs like Simon Hughes and George Russell are reeling in disbelief at the fact their True Blue leader Nick " Marlboro Man" Clegg supports chucking people out of their homes and punishing millions of people for the fact of being ill or disabled
The lies which have been told on this issue are admirably highlighted by Don Paskini and I refer you to his blog for some salient points which may come in handy as Labour gets set to fight the changes.

DISGUSTING VOYEURISM

THE ghoulish nature of the Fourth Estate is nothing new. But the worldwide syndication of pictures of a gravely ill Michael Douglas represents a new low in the dark arts of the paparazzi.
I was so incensed at this gross intrusion on the man's privacy that , along with hundreds of others, I posted a response late last night on the Mail's website. Oddly enough , all those remarks which castigated the paper for publishing them were this morning removed. Perhaps they shamed the powers that be . But not enough to stop publication
I think anyone who has witnessed first-hand the obscene ravages which cancer inflicts on their loved ones would agree it's time to call a halt to this ghoulish and distasteful way of selling papers. As I said in my comment, the man is clearly dying. Leave him and his family alone.

TIME TO CALL MPs TO ACCOUNT

As a recent convert to Twitter I was interested to note that Ben Bradshaw MP today enjoyed a chat with the Federation of Small Businesses. I know their concens are valid and I wish them well in these difficult times but Ben Bradshaw clearly preferred talking to small businesses than backing the Lawful Industrial Action Bill which today fell in the House of Commons.
Given the Conservative majority and the conduct of lickspittle, anti trade union Lib Dems the Bill's chances of succeeding were always slight.
However the least one could have expected was solidarity from the PLP for tihis very modest piece of legislation which would have stopped companies like the one I work for vetoing LAWFUL srike action.
Ed Miliband was not there - anxious obviously to ditch association with the unions. And only Diane Abbott of the Shadow Cabinet showed support.
In all, 87 MPs supported the Bill. Not Labour's "new generation." But such redoubtable lefties as David Blunkett, Gerald Kaufman, Jack Dromey and Stephen Twigg.
Tony Lloyd, PLP chairman. was also there . The reach extended far beyond the Campaign Group and thanks for that.
But where was Chuka Umuna, Jon Trickett, and other so-called champions of trade unionism.
I suggest that anyone who has a union-sponsored MP holds them accountable for their disgraceful actions today and asks themselves why they should support an MP who cannot even muster support for the most basic of trade union rights.
Labour had a chance today to come out fighting. They blew it. The only thing one can say is that no other Party , apart from the Green MP Carolne Lucas, even considered support.
Honourable mentions though for new MPs Teresa Pearce, Luciana Berger, Ian Lavery, and Graeme Morrice.

LABOUR MPS WHO BACKED RIGHT TO STRIKE

........And the others should hang their heads in shame.
Abbott, Ms Diane
Alexander, Heidi
Barron, rh Mr Kevin
Berger, Luciana
Blenkinsop, Tom
Blunkett, rh Mr David
Bone, Mr Peter
Brown, Lyn
Brown, rh Mr Nicholas
Campbell, Mr Ronnie
Clark, Katy
Connarty, Michael
Crausby, Mr David
Creasy, Stella
Cruddas, Jon
Cryer, John
Dobbin, Jim
Doran, Mr Frank
Dowd, Jim
Dromey, Jack
Dugher, Michael
Elliott, Julie
Farrelly, Paul
Fitzpatrick, Jim
Flello, Robert
Flynn, Paul
Fovargue, Yvonne
Gapes, Mike
Gilmore, Sheila
Glass, Pat
Glindon, Mrs Mary
Godsiff, Mr Roger
Greenwood, Lilian
Griffith, Nia
Gwynne, Andrew
Havard, Mr Dai
Hilling, Julie
Hodgson, Mrs Sharon
Hoey, Kate
Hollobone, Mr Philip
Irranca-Davies, Huw
Jackson, Glenda
Jamieson, Cathy
Jones, Susan Elan
Kaufman, rh Sir Gerald
Keen, Alan
Lammy, rh Mr David
Lavery, Ian
Lazarowicz, Mark
Lloyd, Tony
Love, Mr Andrew
Lucas, Caroline
MacNeil, Mr Angus Brendan
Mactaggart, Fiona
McCarthy, Kerry
McDonnell, John
McGovern, Alison
McGovern, Jim
Meacher, rh Mr Michael
Mearns, Ian
Michael, rh Alun
Miller, Andrew
Mitchell, Austin
Morrice, Graeme (Livingston)
Morris, Grahame M. (Easington)
Mudie, Mr George
Pearce, Teresa
Pound, Stephen
Riordan, Mrs Linda
Rotheram, Steve
Sharma, Mr Virendra
Sheridan, Jim
Skinner, Mr Dennis
Slaughter, Mr Andy
Smith, rh Mr Andrew
Spellar, rh Mr John
Sutcliffe, Mr Gerry
Thornberry, Emily
Timms, rh Stephen
Turner, Karl
Twigg, Stephen
Walley, Joan
Wicks, rh Malcolm
Williams, Hywel
Wilson, Phil
Winnick, Mr David
Wood, Mike
Tellers for the Ayes:
Jeremy Corbyn and
Kelvin Hopkins

LABOUR'S CHANCE TO COME OUT FIGHTING

LABOUR'S high command in the Shadow Cabinet has ordained that tomorrow there will be a free vote on John McDonnell's Lawful Industrial Action Bill. It is progress of a sort as my guess is previous regimes would have hauled in the Whips.
That there should be any equivocation at all is both extraordinary and pretty depressing.
100 Labour MPs need to be there voting tomorrow to get this Bill through to its second reading. Plain sailing, no?
In fact some at the top who should know better are already running scared of being branded as trade union fodder and using Shadow Cabinet collectivity to excuse not being there to support this modest , reasonable piece of legislation which would stop companies vetoining strikes for spurious arcane reasons.
It's not militant, it's not extreme, it is basic trade union ABC and backed a by all the general secrtearies. If Labour MPs can't rustle up the numbers tomorrow it's not only a missed opportunity, it is a disgrace which many howling in anguish after yesterday's CSR will not forgive them for.

A LONG TIME IN POLITICS..........

This time a vote for the Liberal Democrats can really change Britain
I want a Britain that's different. A Britain where we have more police on our streets to keep us safe. A ...Britain where ordinary people aren't taxed to the hilt while millionaires can dodge taxes altogether.In many parts of Britain, Labour are out of the race.We've seen what the Conservatives are like-they won't stand up for ordinary people.Only a vote in the ballot box for the Liberal Democrats can beat the Conservatives this time.
I believe that it's time to do things differently in Britain. Please put your trust in us and we can put decades of failed politics behind us and deliver real change.
Thanks and best wishesNick Clegg
PS - Don't forget, in many parts of Britain Labour can't win. Only a vote for the Liberal Democrats can stop the Conservatives.
Nick Clegg- May 2010

11 PER CENT....AND FALLING

An opinion poll out tomorrow will reveal that support for the Liberal Democrats is now at 11 per cent. My guess is it wil be single figures before the year is out.
Yesterday I attended a full house TUC rally in London and heard speaker after speaker outline how they would suffer as a result of the obscene cuts announced today by this wretched government.
It's not surprising the Tories have inflicted the worst cuts in living memory on the poor and vulnerable n our society. They have always done that. What is unspeakable is the way they try to label it "fair." What is even more unspeakable is to see, as we did tonight, Danny Alexander and "left" Lib Dem Simon Hughes defend the indefensible. That they will be annihilated at the next elections is small comfort to those of us now forced to work till we are 66, see welfare benefits cut by £18billion , and live with the awful reality of job cuts on a massive scale.
They now how to protest in France. The Govt is currently harbouring the illusion that their destruction of the welfare state will go unopposed. It will not.
It is the job of every person involved in the labour movement to fight with every sinew to expose these cuts for what they are - ideologically driven, grossly unfair, and totally unnecessary.
One of the most angry speakers yesterday was not a usual suspect an expert from the Institute of Chartered Accountants who pointed out some £42billion a year is lost in tax avoidance.
That job cuts will lead to more job cuts. And that we face the biggest attack ever on basic principles of social justice we have taken for granted.
No more new schools. No more social housing. No more secure tenancies for those lucky enough to have a council house. Sky-high rents, disability benefits slashed, The list is endless.
Shame on the Liberal Democrats for colluding in this .And time to nail the lie it is inevitable

LOWER THAN VERMIN......

Tomorrow I am heading out on the early train from Halifax so I can join in the TUC rally against the cuts coming up on Wednesday. Around £84 billion of them so I believe.
While millions of workers face the prospect of pay cuts and redundancy, our local Liberal Democrats are fighting another battle.
On Friday, they held a public debate on the issue of AV. AV - Alternative Vote - was only months ago described as a "miserable little conpromise" by the despicable Nick Clegg. Now it is touted as the first importnat step towards a "fairer" democracy.
I was asked to fight Labour's corner at the debate and - to be honest - AV is not an issue I wouls lay m y life down for. It's not PR. It gives no greater voice to the smaller parties. It means even more gound is likelyt o be ceded to the centre. But my word the local Lib dems were burning with righteous zeal. Extraordinary, really.
Extraordinary that a Party which has reneged on almost every election pledge, which has sold its soul to get in bed with Cameron, has backed marketisation of our universities and NHS, has sold millions of voters down the river, has the brass neck to bleat about "fairness."
At the last election AV would have delivered 20-odd more Lib dems and 20-odd less Tories. Safe Labour seats would stay Labour and most constiteuncy MPs are elected on an average 47 per cent of the vote. In short it makes naff all difference and no way Jose are the Tories going to allow a vote on PR.
Strangely, NOT ONE Liberal Democrat backed an amendment by Green MP Caroline Lucas to allow PR as an option in the forthcoming referendum. So how dare they lecture the rest of us.
Like most people on the left of centre, I am incandescent with rage at the conduct of the Lib Dems. They deserve annihilation at the next local elections. Judging at the rate at which people are coming back to Labour, they are going to get it. Deservedly so.