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> UK has a political crisis, based on an identity crisis, for which there is no foreseeable solution on the horizon. Getting rid of the first-past-the-post vot

> UK has a political crisis, based on an identity crisis, for which there is no foreseeable solution on the horizon. Getting rid of the first-past-the-post voting system would be a good start. > Needs a miracle breakthrough technology (graphene? quantum computing?) - a literal moonshot - to reverse this decline A figurative one surely? Actually going to the moon would make much more sense in cooperation with other countries in any case.

hunglee2 4y ago
FPTP - couldn't agree more. However, Labour are the only ones who can do it, and Starmer has not said a word about it so far, so in typical Labour fashion they will be so thankful of 'a turn' in power to lose the generational opportunity to truly improve the governance of the country
- gadders 4y ago
  There was a referendum on removing FPTP and it was rejected by the British people.
  - happymellon 4y ago
    Because both Tory and Labour campaigned against it.
    - ben_w 4y ago
      Do you expect that's going to change next time, or do you expect that a third party will get a chance to do it against the campaigns of those two?
      - happymellon 4y ago
        A 3rd party did try, Lib Dems Vs Labour and Tory, and the Lib Dems lost. Labour haven't shown that they would be for a change to the voting system, so I can't see why they would support it. They also sabotaged the remain vote by saying they were pro-remain whilst saying that leave is the only option. I don't know why anyone would trust Labour to do the right thing.
  - arp242 4y ago
    There was a referendum on Alternative Vote (which is actually not that different from FPTP). I don' want to be overly pedantic, but I think the difference does matter. The campaign was also filled with misinformation and emotional manipulation. I'm not saying this invalidates the result, but "we had a good long look at our electoral system and made a wise and informed decision" it was not.
- happymellon 4y ago
  Remember that Labour campaigned against an alternative voting system when we had a referendum on the matter.
ben_w 4y ago
> Getting rid of the first-past-the-post voting system would be a good start. Yes but there was a referendum on that and people said "keep FPTP". IMO large chunks of UK constitution needs replacement. Working out which parts are causing trouble will require putting the whole current ad-hoc mess into a single document, even if only so that people can work out if Eton really is the nexus of aristocratic nepotism and cronyism that is it's reputation. > A figurative one surely? Actually going to the moon would make much more sense in cooperation with other countries in any case. If we can convince the British establishment that it's Space Australia, and assuming this doesn't kill everyone involved (big if), it might work. Possibly.
- ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  > Yes but there was a referendum on that and people said "keep FPTP". The campaign against was run by the same guy that ran the Brexit campaign, and featured posters of premature babies suggesting they didn't need a new voting system, they needed more NHS funding. And as with Brexit, they got neither. Adds further irony to the "will of the people" catchphrase popular after Brexit though.
  - ben_w 4y ago
    Sure; nevertheless, I don't think that's likely to influence the result if there was a rerun.
    - sph 4y ago
      I don't know, at a certain point the pro-Brexit pro-FPTP protest voters will be fed up by the state of things, and decide to protest vote for the Euro, rejoining EU, and eliminating FPTP. Don't forget that apart from the Tory cronies, there is practically no one left in Britain that is happy with how things are going. Times might be ripe for a counter protest vote.
  - fidgewidge 4y ago
    They did in fact get more NHS funding. Why does every single thread about the UK or NHS contain this lie? NHS funding has only ever gone up. https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-in-a-nutshell/nhs-budget https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-in-a-nutshell/nhs-...

hunglee2 4y ago

FPTP - couldn't agree more. However, Labour are the only ones who can do it, and Starmer has not said a word about it so far, so in typical Labour fashion they will be so thankful of 'a turn' in power to lose the generational opportunity to truly improve the governance of the country

gadders 4y ago
There was a referendum on removing FPTP and it was rejected by the British people.
- happymellon 4y ago
  Because both Tory and Labour campaigned against it.
  - ben_w 4y ago
    Do you expect that's going to change next time, or do you expect that a third party will get a chance to do it against the campaigns of those two?
    - happymellon 4y ago
      A 3rd party did try, Lib Dems Vs Labour and Tory, and the Lib Dems lost. Labour haven't shown that they would be for a change to the voting system, so I can't see why they would support it. They also sabotaged the remain vote by saying they were pro-remain whilst saying that leave is the only option. I don't know why anyone would trust Labour to do the right thing.
- arp242 4y ago
  There was a referendum on Alternative Vote (which is actually not that different from FPTP). I don' want to be overly pedantic, but I think the difference does matter. The campaign was also filled with misinformation and emotional manipulation. I'm not saying this invalidates the result, but "we had a good long look at our electoral system and made a wise and informed decision" it was not.
happymellon 4y ago
Remember that Labour campaigned against an alternative voting system when we had a referendum on the matter.

ben_w 4y ago

> Getting rid of the first-past-the-post voting system would be a good start. Yes but there was a referendum on that and people said "keep FPTP". IMO large chunks of UK constitution needs replacement. Working out which parts are causing trouble will require putting the whole current ad-hoc mess into a single document, even if only so that people can work out if Eton really is the nexus of aristocratic nepotism and cronyism that is it's reputation. > A figurative one surely? Actually going to the moon would make much more sense in cooperation with other countries in any case. If we can convince the British establishment that it's Space Australia, and assuming this doesn't kill everyone involved (big if), it might work. Possibly.

ZeroGravitas 4y ago
> Yes but there was a referendum on that and people said "keep FPTP". The campaign against was run by the same guy that ran the Brexit campaign, and featured posters of premature babies suggesting they didn't need a new voting system, they needed more NHS funding. And as with Brexit, they got neither. Adds further irony to the "will of the people" catchphrase popular after Brexit though.
- ben_w 4y ago
  Sure; nevertheless, I don't think that's likely to influence the result if there was a rerun.
  - sph 4y ago
    I don't know, at a certain point the pro-Brexit pro-FPTP protest voters will be fed up by the state of things, and decide to protest vote for the Euro, rejoining EU, and eliminating FPTP. Don't forget that apart from the Tory cronies, there is practically no one left in Britain that is happy with how things are going. Times might be ripe for a counter protest vote.
- fidgewidge 4y ago
  They did in fact get more NHS funding. Why does every single thread about the UK or NHS contain this lie? NHS funding has only ever gone up. https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-in-a-nutshell/nhs-budget https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-in-a-nutshell/nhs-...