PM DAVE'S VISIT

I wonder if sometime during PM Dave (or are we back to David now?) Cameron's visit to Wales  we will get told that the Liberal Democrat / Conservative Government is going to commit to completing the electrification of the main south coast rail line from Swansea to Severn Tunnel (and on to London). Or will it be one of the first big  infrastructure projects to bite the bullet under 'Slasher' Osbourne's programme of cuts? If this is so, then it will show a fundamental difference between Ireland and the UK, where, despite the austerity package to fix the financial crisis work continues on the West Coast Rail Corridor  project. 

MAKING OUR DEMOCRACY WORK FOR US

The bottom line is that all votes should be equal - the problem is that they are not. The corrupt nineteenth century voting system is a total anachronism, which is no longer fit for purpose. The number of votes accumulated to elect a representative to the Mother of Parliaments (for want of a better phrase) is as follows:

• Labour MP- 33,350 votes
• Tory MP- 34,989 votes
• Plaid MP- 55,131 votes
• SNP MP- 81,898 votes
• Lib Dem MP -119,788 votes

It gets worse, not only are votes not equal but the system favours the larger parties. In Wales:

• Labour got 36.2% of vote and 65% of seats
• Conservatives got 26.1% of vote and 20% of seats
• Lib Dems got 20.1% of vote and 7.5% of seats
• Plaid got 11.3% of vote and 7.5% of seats

While this questionable result might suit Peter Hain (a great defender of 'our democracy' as long as it serves the Labour Party's interests rather than the peoples interests), it should not suit the rest of us. If we are serious about having a working representative democracy where all votes have equal value then we need Single Transferable Vote (STV), with multi member constituencies.

I personally would add one extra refinement, by having open rather than closed lists so that the public can vote for the representatives of the party it prefers. This will retain the link with geographical constituencies and ensure that our representatives have to work to earn their re-election - no more safe seats and easy rides.  Additionally this would put more power in the hands of the electorate by giving then the opportunity to purge the system of the slackers and party hacks and still vote for the party of their choice. 

I would go a little further and make sure that Westminster parliament's to have fixed terms 4 years. This is the controversial bit, I would include a limit to the number of consecutive terms that elected members can serve, say no more than 3 terms ( or 12 years), if they want to serve a fourth, go away and get a real job for 4 years and try your luck again. If we are serious about our democracy then this should also apply to Local councils at county and community level as well.

Elective public service, for that's what is is should not be a job for life and neither should it be a path for personal enrichment, the same rules that apply to senior civil servants should be adapted to prevent former politicians from cashing acquire knowledge for tidy jobs immediately after their term in office ends. 

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT...

The three and a half year time lag between the National Assembly wanting to bring in a ban on smoking in public spaces and the eventual change in the law (especially if you think about how many people will have contracted health problems as a direct result of the delay), speaks volumes about the difference in priorities between Wales and London as well as providing an illustration of the need for real legislative powers in Cardiff Bay.

Despite the near incoherent mutterings from True Wales, the current proposals that have been discussed by the All Wales Convention would, should a referendum be called and subsequently won would result in the transfer of some 60% of the legislative areas that are currently administered by the Scottish parliament, even for the most sceptical anti-devolutionist this is hardly a slippery slope, but would at least go some way to enabling the National Assembly to begin to solve some of the serious problems that we face in Wales.

A hot day...

Another pipping hot day (with a street stall) by 'Red 'Square' in Abergavenny. A slow but systematic steady trickle of passing interest, we are still detecting that quiet anger from ordinary people at the behaviour of some of their elected members at Westminster. The complete absence of New (or Old) Labour, the Conservatives and the other lot should be noted - suspect they are keeping their heads down until after Thursday next.

A few people asked about the All Wales Convention meeting in Monmouth (with David Davies and Adam Price, putting the pros and the cons). Just in case you missed it those present voted 60% to 40% for more powers, obviously word of the result is spreading through Monmouth Constituency.

Met a few veterans who expressed their displeasure at the failure of New Labour to fully participate in the 65th Anniversary Commemoration of the D-Day Landings (next week) - all in all pretty typical for a rudderless and leaderless dying Government. What with this commemoration being the last organised gathering of veterans it is worth noting that the first UK Armed Forces Day (http://www.armedforcesday.org.uk) will take place on Saturday 27th June 2009.

This event will hopefully grow to become an annual day to celebrate the heroism, the achievements and ordinary on-going day to day work of our Armed Forces at home and abroad.
This is a real opportunity for our communities to show their support for our Service men and women, ex-service personnel, our veterans and service families. This day is a real opportunity to honour, support and celebrate the work our service personnel do in support of our country.”