Something must change, so who to vote for? Or is voting for change an oxymoron in itself? I've been going around telling everyone not to vote for Labour just to keep out the Tories as they both subscribe to an agenda that puts profit before people making one as bad as the other. In this way we have been constantly screwed, just in different ways, for far to long now. However, the recent success of the Lib Dems has forced me to reevaluate this position, although fundamentally I expect little more from them than business as usual, they could (just) be the change we so desperately need.
There are many Lib Dem policies that are certainly progressive, the scrapping of trident, anti ID cards and their immigration policy to name but a few. Check out www.voteforpolicies.org.uk for a good idea of party policies. Interestingly (like me) most people prefer Green party policies, more so than those of the Lib Dems or any other party. So, would voting for the Lib Dems just to replace the Tories and Labour be exactly the same, in principle, as voting Labour just to keep the Tories out? Their policies are alright... so let's get them in instead of the Con-Labour nexus that is even worse. NO! We live in democracy and we deserve better, we deserve to be lead according to the principles we believe in, not some watered down compromise!
According to this logic we should all vote green but this may be a little to idealistic. A long term, realistic path to change could start with the Lib Dems for one reason; their support for electoral reform and proportional representation. The very idea of this style of government has whipped up a storm, the media and politicians point to the 'highly relevant' examples of the Wiemar Republic and interwar Italy, associating proportional representation with corruption, endless discussion and nothing 'getting done'. However they fail to mention that 10 of the top 16 countries worldwide who have the Triple-A Financial Stability Rating are run by coalition governments. Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden & Switzerland are just a few examples. Furthermore, top economists have publicly stated that our precious AAA rating will not be damaged by a hung parliament or, by that logic, proportional representation.
Yes, historically proportional representation had been shit in some cases but this was due to the context to which it was applied; fragmented, unequal, divided and corrupt countries with a distinct lack of civil societies. We should, and rightly so, have faith in our relatively stable society. We should have a little more faith in ourselves to rule ourselves democratically under proportional representation. To sum up, in some countries proportional representation may well lead to chaos and intensify corruption and division but in our relatively uncorrupt and stable society an attack against proportional representation almost represents an attack against democracy itself. We are expected to get on with, live with, work with people of differing opinions and values to us every day, all our lives so why should we expect any less of our leaders. If they aren't able to work together under proportional representation/ hung parliament they don't deserve their jobs.
Now, the Lib Dems certainly don't represent a long term solution. As it has been said, it is very easy for them to make big promises when there is little chance of them getting into power. Furthermore, as they also subscribe to (although to a lesser extent)a growth over people paradigm there is nothing to say that power will not corrupt them and turn them into a yellow version of Labour / Conservative. Their patchy record in local government stands testament to this. However, we may get a few untainted, truly progressive months / years out of them which should be enough to push through some meaningful electoral reform as well as to make some progress on other issues such as trident.
With proportional representation, support for the Labour - Conservative Nexus may continue to be undermined as their main source of power is the feeling amongst the electorate that they have no other choice. This was exemplified when both parties support was seriously undermined simply by the presentation of Nick Clegg as a viable alternative to two parties neither of whom deserve to be in power.
In sum, proportional representation may be just the grease the gears of change need to start moving and that's why, with my most sincere apologies to the Green Party, I'll be voting Lib Dem... for now anyway. Even if you live in a constituency which is a safe seat, a vote for the Lib Dems will bolster their legitimacy and power in a hung parliament, and anyway, what are your alternatives? Labour, Conservative or Apathy, all the same things in essence.
