The UK: The evidence for radical electoral reform

A difficult poll

Even the mother of all parliaments and one of the world’s oldest democracies is fraught with problems, issues and irregularities.

Yesterday, the citizens of United Kingdom of Northern Ireland and Great Britain went to the polls to elect representatives for their parliament called the House of Commons, however, the people did not give a clear majority mandate to any one political party and with that comes what is know as a hung parliament.

Sadly, there are people who did not get to vote because of the poor logistics of not anticipating the possible turnout such that there were long queues and polls had to close at 22:00 hours leaving hundreds disenfranchised.

Certain councils catered for students quite differently from residents even though all were selecting representatives whose work would affect them locally and nationally – there is no doubt that the system is broken.

Change and reform required

Balloting has to move from papers but electronic ballots must have a paper trail for verification and confidence in the system and there should be more flexibility to extend times of the polls if voters have arrived at polling stations before the deadline.



The most disturbing part of this election is the discrepancy between votes cast and seats won – the leading party polled 36.1% of the votes and will take 47.2% of the seats whilst the third party which polled 23% of the votes 8.8% of the seats.

This is manifestly wrong and does not reflect the clear and express wishes of the electorate; it calls for a radical reform of how our votes are translated to representation with a proper correlation between votes and the acquisition of power.

An expired system

The first-past-the-post system might have worked for past but there is no way how this can be the system for the 21st Century.

Today the Liberal Democrats have the opportunity to demand a change that allows for the people have their wishes fully expressed when they form a coalition with whatever party can garner the support and will to run the country after this election.

Dividends of democracy

In the graphic that shows the rewards of proportional representation, the UK Independence Party and the British National Party weigh in with a possible 32 Members of Parliament between them.

Whilst they constitute a right-wing of almost unsavoury politics, the people who voted for them are part of our democracy and as I did say in comments I made on Facebook, having these parties with representation in the House of Commons is enough a price to pay to ensure that the voice of the majority is heard loud and clear.

All the dividends of a democracy cannot all be profitable but any other system that takes better account of the percentage of votes polled nationally must be better than what we have now – electoral reform is inevitable, the people must demand it and get it.

The UK: I endorse democratic reform

How does your vote count?

For the very first time in a very long time, the elections in the United Kingdom have been gripping, everyone has been offering a message of change but the real change required has not received the airing required.

The parliamentary system in the UK makes politics very local rather than national, you vote for a representative of your constituency who happens to be a member of one of the established political parties and the party with the most representatives has its leader crowned the Prime Minister.

There are ways in which the party leader is the charismatic face of your local representative who might not even be local but parachuted in to represent the party to the people – there, if any of the contestants has a track record in that locality, it is possible that a political upset might arise.

Change from ideology

However, it appears voting intentions might have moved on from political fastidiousness and ideology, personalities might matter and policies are interesting but the force of mandate sometimes allows for legislation that we would never have wanted if we had the choice.

The economy, immigration and public services have been given all sorts of glosses and opinions but no one party seems to have all the answers that would really work for the national as a whole – we need a system that allows for the best people to be called into the service in these tough times regardless of party affiliation.

You have to be a member of parliament (MP) to be a minister of the crown and thereby you are accountable to the House of Commons, however, if you are not an MP, you have to be bumped up to the House of Lords and in some ways, you are beyond accountability to the elected chamber.

The choices are not people

For the first time, there is a possibility that two men younger than I am will take the reins of government, the likelihood is that David Cameron of the Conservative Party will be Prime Minister – after 5 years as Leader of the Opposition, he is hardly representative of change – but he will be a change from 13 years of Labour government.

Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats the usually third party was an absolutely fresh face especially after the Leaders’ debates and I think he won 2 of those three debates – what was refreshing was he addressed the questions, engaged the people and spoke sensibly. He had not become a sloganeering beacon of clichéd sound bites that seemed to sound profound but had no substance.

Gordon Brown comes with baggage, much from the way Labour was swept to power in 1997 through the economic prosperity to the crisis and humongous deficit that the UK now has. He does have experience of leadership that others do not have, but one wonders if he holds the keys to a greater future for the UK.

Democratic reform is what I want

I have no man to endorse of the ones we have to choose from but I endorse radical electoral reform – one that allows for votes to count both locally and nationally, one that moves us from the silos of political ideology to better considerations for all options that might be presented for the good of the people and one that is centred on progress that allows the unity of all talents as war cabinet with representatives of all major parties.

This electoral reform can only come from forcing cooperation between the parties by the strength of the numbers that they poll, their popular support rather than their number of MPs, for instance the Labour Party took a parliamentary majority with just about 35% of the vote in the last election.

That was hardly representative of the 65% that did not vote for the Labour Party but they have held power with an assumedly strong mandate for 5 full years.

Change comes with the Liberal Democrats

Honestly, a strong turnout for the Liberal Democrats holds the key to better electoral representation because it would force reform where we need it in representation, in purpose and in accountability; it is that once in a lifetime for the people to demand and get change in democratic reform.

The Conservatives and the Labour Party benefit disproportionately from the status quo without carrying the full resolve of the majority and the real intentions of the people, for once, a hung parliament might well force the agenda in the direction of what is good for the people at home and abroad and this is why I endorse democratic reform – by consequence it comes by giving the Liberal Democrats your vote.

Olympics: I have a facial on the 8th of August

Scheduling appointments

I must have words with my calendar secretary, he has been scheduling all sorts of appointments that I am not sure I would be able to honour because of other eventualities that might arise.

I have found that I have a facial schedule; in fact, it is a full body treatment as a metrosexual aside; on the 8^th of August 2008 in the afternoon. That is not to say I have no other indulgences before then but that seems to clash with another important event that I had previously considered attending.

Regrets, regrets

My regrets to the Chinese government for not being able to attend in person the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing would be duly expressed, but the greater regret would be, if I have cucumbers over my dainty eyelids, I would not watching the opening ceremony on television either.

I would not give up a floatation tank treatment and the reflexology manipulations not to talk of the beauty treatments that would make a me surer man than me to while away precious pampering time in front of a tube – I do not have a flat-screen television yet – the one I have still works.

We are busy

Before I begin the self-flagellation of utter regret, Gordon Brown might also be down at the spa, Ban Ki-Moon seems to have booked his pedicure for the same time and George Bush is thinking maybe his pheasant shooting date might just change the course of history to make him the best President of the United States ever.

Suddenly, at the eighth second, of the eighth minute of the eighth hour in the night of the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth (It is really the ninth) year of the millennium we might all be busy doing something else but what the Chinese want us to do – watch their grand show of pretending to be a nation that has arrived on the world stage.

Learning from 1936

This time we would not be spectators of a new kind foreboding once experienced in Berlin in 1936, all is not well in China today just was all was not well in German then, one has to be discreet enough not to mention Tibet, Myanmar, Darfur or human rights within China itself, that would not be the done thing.

Ah! I have an offer at the Spa, I can visit twice in a month, and I would be back there on the 24^th of August.

John Sentamu - A true African Leader

Dramatic gesture

When the news came on air that the Archbishop of York – John Sentamu – had cut up his dog-collar, what went through my mind was the break away of the San Joaquin diocese from the US Episcopal Church yesterday because of the consecration of one homosexual bishop – Gene Robinson – in 2003.

Homosexuals split the church

Whilst I have my views about churches engaging in social activism there are worthwhile causes where the church should be at the forefront – a split over homosexuality where a majority of selfsame homosexuals have been alienated from the church and find no spiritual succour or guidance from where the expression the love of Christ could have made the church a sanctuary for healing broken people is sad indeed.

Beyond this, there are more problems that should have gained greater priority in the vision and mission of the church like reaching the unreached (with might include homosexuals), poverty alleviation, community regeneration in areas of combating disease, rural development and education – there is almost too much work to be done and never enough hands, minds, people and funds to tackle these “Great Commission” issues.

But these are too difficult as energy is being expended in their obsession with homosexuality – Archbishop Desmond Tutu – and it would appear amongst all the critical issues facing the Church and Christianity today that finds the most activity.

Clergy activism for the good

This morning Archbishop John Sentamu’s actions are better placed as what the church should be involved in, born in Uganda, first appointed a High Court judge by Idi Amin and the persecuted by the despot for being judicially independent – the Archbishop was well acquainted with the tyranny of rotten African leadership and is well aware of his history and roots even though he has settled into the comfort of the English establishment his preaches a gospel that has meaning and relevance to our times.

Zimbabwe once had an Archbishop in Pius Ncube who was one of the few who were untouchable by the grubby hands and machinations of Robert Mugabe’s henchmen; the learned clergyman however lost his vision and vocation by engaging in activities that diminished his integrity, authority and credibility – the state security apparatus produced evidence of the Archbishop engaging in adultery.

This meant the voice in support of the people from the body of the clergy had to come from elsewhere, so this morning on the Andrew Marr Show (the transcript) in answering questions about Robert Mugabe, the Archbishop demonstrated that he wears a dog-collar to identify himself; taking it off, he cut it to bits saying these words.

“You know ... you see as an Anglican, this is what I wear to identify myself that I'm a clergyman. Do you know what Mugabe has done? He's taken people's identity and literally if you don't mind, cut it to pieces. This is what he's actually done, to a lot of - and in the end there's nothing. So as far as I'm concerned from now on I'm not going to wear a dog collar until Mugabe's gone.”

The new image of Africa

The sooner Mugabe is gone either by geriatric expiration or by a putsch that would allow us bring him to The Hague to face human rights abuse charges, the better.

He was hosted at the Africa-EU Summit in Lisbon, Portugal that Gordon Brown has boycotted and other African leaders had threatened not to attend if Robert Mugabe was not invited – It was nice to hear that Angela Merkel laid into him and stated “The situation of Zimbabwe is damaging the image of the new Africa”.

Dishonest African Leadership

Some African leaders would have us believe that Zimbabwe is not near collapse and Mugabe is not on his way out, they seek to patch a completely broken situation where even the country’s chief statistician cannot determine that rate of inflation in the country anymore because there aren’t enough goods on the shelves to create a viable dataset.

If the reality of the situation in Zimbabwe is being distorted by the media, according to the aspiring mediator in the person of the Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade as he visited Zimbabwe recently; I would suspect part of that is because of the lack of the freedom of the press in Zimbabwe, but more truthfully it is because we are not being seriously honest with each other; the destroyed townships are no mirage; the illegal immigrants and refugees flocking to South Africa are not animals in seasonal migration; the inflation figures that read 4,000% at one time are not plucked out of the air; the battered faces of the opposition leaders were not make-up – see the Q&A. Those, if I may be allowed the use of the word "coincidences" add up to a country with serious, serious problems.

However, this stance represents the great problem with Africa; the fear of seeing true democracy unseat unpopular leaders, the excitement or perverse black-man thing about seeing countries wrestle with their old colonial masters without any particular gain but notoriety leading to ruin and the inability to decisively tackle the matter of transparency, corruption and poor governance because it would mean everyone has to straighten up. It is no wonder that Africa that was well ahead of Asia in the 60s is now a basket-case in the 21^st Century.

In the end, the Africa-EU Summit, the first in 7 years was just another reactionary move by Europe very much like the Scramble for Africa, only this time, it is not for the partition of land but access to Africa’s resources. A meeting of equals in word for the economic colonisation of Africa – a success.

So far, it has been the clergymen who have gauged the situation well and not the disgraceful and shameful politicians; we have Archbishop Pius Ncube, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and now Archbishop John Sentamu to thank for being true, truthful and honest about Mugabe and the problems in Zimbabwe and Africa at large.

Child Benefit repercussions are decades away

A careless discus

In my third year in secondary school, I believe it was; there were frantic competition heats to determine the athletes who would carry the banners for the houses, in one situation we had one hot-headed, determined and stubborn senior who could not stand the thought of being beaten.

Someone had just thrown a school record with the discus when he took his turn, fuming, fulminating and furious to beat that thrown, the discus left his grip and impacted on a colleague’s forehead; he did not die, but he spent the best part of three weeks in hospital.

The greatest lamentation that came from the senior was when he thought he had killed the chap and probably one visit to the hospital and he moved on with his life, the young chap however, struggled with his schoolwork and it probably affected him rather very negatively.

The intention was to throw the discus to a particular target area, but this now not just a foul, it included an accident that had ramifications well beyond those contemporary events – the import of this recollection would be evident later in this blog.

Identity theft and usage

Over 20 years ago, I harboured the idea of joining the 18-month waiting list for an interview to get a British passport in Lagos but I had one missing piece of information, my long birth certificate.

I wrote a letter to my cousin in London with all the details she would require to get the long birth certificate and send it to me, unfortunately, that letter was intercepted by their lodger who for 3 years before I arrived in the UK was going about as me with my National Insurance number.

So, my NI number was already available for me to use by the time I had arrived, but the danger was if he was claiming unemployment benefit whilst I was working, I could have ended up in really deep shit.

In another case, someone in our close-knit extended family thought another cousin of mine who had academic problems would never escape Nigeria, so he took all his details and stealthily acquired my cousin’s passport.

The truth was exposed almost 10 years later when a visit to the consulate in Nigeria revealed documents that also stated his father had long been deceased when even today this esteemed mentor is a spritely septuagenarian. It got resolved but not without the schism and agonies that encompass such situations of the misuse of data and identity theft.

Not working together at all

However, back to the developing scandal of the Child Benefit data loss that affects 25 million individuals. It is mind-boggling that all that information can be so easily gathered and put on 2 CDs then sent by courier where the insurance value of the loss has not been properly assessed apart from the cost of the CDs.

The embarrassment that has already taken the scalp of the head of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and it appears this is not the first time discs have been lost in transit between critical government agencies.

The fact that they had all gotten comfortable with this abuse of the Data Protection Act belies the fact that individuals would have been roasted if they had been fast and loose with this kind of information.

In so-called broadband Britain, it beggars belief that there is no secure high-speed connection between critical government agencies as the HMRC and the National Audit Office (NAO) to transfer what is essentially 1.4 billion characters or 1.4 Gigabytes, the maximum data content of 2 regularly available CDs.

This puts the agencies almost 15 years behind the times and one cannot count the number of failed IT contracts and white elephant IT projects that have not addressed this fundamental IT issue and laws could have been enacted to ensure a number of procedures were in place to use those lines.

This episode is no doubt systemic in its nature and failure to safeguard data, the ramifications of which we have not begun to appreciate.

The possibilities are amazing

A few months ago, when I chatted to my credit-card company, a few personal questions were asked and I know that there are some answers that would never change like where I was born, my mother’s maiden name, my date of birth and they added a few other questions – these data sets are immutable for as long as the person is still living or is not registered dead.

So, this rush to safeguard bank accounts is really a red-herring, the data thieves do not have to pilfer from these accounts, rather they can establish accounts and business transactions with the data and get you into serious trouble and they can do that with the children’s data 5, 15, 25 or 35 years down the line because the information on birth certificates would not change – they become clones of you using your data.

Some people would say biometric data should become the gold standard for identity, but that works for pennies; if your finger-print can open access to billions, your life begins to bear an unquantifiable risk depending on who wants access to that bullion.

Then what were these data-sets doing in the hands of an accountancy firm that says the data was erased from their systems? Because if they were auditing the data, a lot can be done with the derived information giving then a window on British society that many organisations might just kill for.

Precautions

I shred every piece of paper bearing my name and address and more so anything containing more personal information, but as I walked down the corridor of my office last week I saw a lady trying to piece together shreds from a strip-shredder and I have begun to think of getting a confetti shredder – I do worry.

Online information should be safeguarded with usernames and passwords; they should be different for each function just in case the revelation of one leads to a flood-gate of untrammelled access to other information.

Avoid storing those passwords on your computer by using intelligible sentences not clichés; interspersing the words with numbers or currency characters and periodically change those passwords.

Use different email addresses separating them into personal which you give friends and family, business for professional purposes and general for all other registration, loyalty or activities that do not fall into the first two categories – I have seven.

In the end, if someone is careless with your data where you do not have control over how it is used, just like the discus thrown some 30 years ago, there is not much you can do about getting hit in the head.

I think we have not heard the last of this – Brown and Darling are not having a romancing time with the British public lately.