Well said Matt. Can you get this out in other formats, social media?. Precisely the points I hear wherever I go. We the general public can see behind the veil of deception. It’s the pulling back of the curtain in the Wizard of Oz scenario!. Enough FPTP and autocratic oligarchs and tech billionaires, big pharma,the global war machine pulling the strings!. We need a new system of delegates representing communities directly in a parliament built to serve the national interest. A cross party administration built by the people of the people for the country. Proportional representation is a necessity if we’re ever going to have a real democracy in UK.
Spot on, as usual. Personally I think that any elected MP, who accepts bribes in any form, should go to prison for a couple of years, and forfeit any benefit of said bribe.
Liked, restacked & shared to Bluesky. "A voice in the desert, shouting..." but who knows perhaps some day enough people will hear it.
This so true. But I fear the situation is not helped by so many sources of journalism. Much of the journalism panders to the worst views and policies and there is little challenge. This leads to the malaise you speak of. Real critique needs to be detailed, well researched and effectively communicated. There is too much 'lazy journalism' around.
Very well summed up; and watching the 'so-called' leaders vying for glory resulting from the so-called peace deal in Gaza, and not least Starmer, who said his recognising of a Palestinian State in September brought about the peace deal is sickening.
Depressingly accurate account of the current state of affairs our country - and others - are confronted with.
More of the same under the three main parties; a snake oil salesman from the same class and mindset that created the position we now find ourselves; and a corrupt unrepresentative FPTP voting system that props it all up...!!!!
How we extricate ourselves from this appalling state of affairs I just do not know.
We need a drastic change in leadership and a more representative voting system - and a political party led by people with the same ethos as the person Chris Mullins was an advisor to - one Tony Benn - who coined the simple but powerful phrase "Say what you mean and mean what you say"....!!!!
Cracking article, Matt. You said what half the country’s been muttering into its tea, so yeah, we felt the need to reply. Thanks for lighting the fuse with actual integrity. Hope you have a brilliant day.
Accurate assessment of the situation. We have to add the responsibility of the media to your analysis. The Greens and Reform have four and five MPs respectively, the LibDems 72 (I think) - yet who gets the lion's share of media time, day after day, week after week? The BBC have a lot to answer for here - they are funded by the taxpayer and the taxpayer should be able to expect political impartiality.
More commonsense and truth. Our political class do not appear fit for purpose. So few have any real lived experience and seem not to be interested in listening to the public in any meaningful way.
What a pity you have not read REINVENTING DEMOCRACY, it sets out a written constituition for the UK that would prevent capture by vested interests. See sparklingbooks.com/rd.html for the full contents
With successive governments seeking to have access to our bank accounts it's high time we knew exactly who was paying the politicians to see whose controlling the strings in Westminster. We know Starmer and Reeves are taking money from fossil fuel companies but who else is paying them for a return on their political investment? We need an entire rewrite of our political landscape from the way our votes count to stopping the lobbying and financing from big donors going unchecked. The Lords needs to be elected and a smaller house than it currently is.
Thanks for this useful description. More and more people seem to be aware of this broken system problem. What we really need now is a clear pathway to fixing the system issues. We need to see how to get FPTP changed to PR, clear thinking on what changes are needed to Lobbying rules and the Electoral Commission etc. Then it is easier to move ourselves in that direction.
As this is a system change needed - urgently- it would help to understand better who wields the levers of power/rule change in the various parts of this system. Systems thinking can make the next tasks much easier to see and affect more efficiently. Also what conditions do we need in order to help bring about this system change effectively?
This is it, exactly. Thank you. My brain is hardwired to finding a way. We are so much more than this right wing propaganda, we are the sum of many great minds and stubborn gritty British determination. I refuse to accept that we cannot organise and find a way through this
Sadly, I see PR as an unlikely fix to the problems that we have with political parties and our current democracy. There will still be an absence of open and honest debate that is supported by relevant and credible evidence and integrity.
Well said Matt. Can you get this out in other formats, social media?. Precisely the points I hear wherever I go. We the general public can see behind the veil of deception. It’s the pulling back of the curtain in the Wizard of Oz scenario!. Enough FPTP and autocratic oligarchs and tech billionaires, big pharma,the global war machine pulling the strings!. We need a new system of delegates representing communities directly in a parliament built to serve the national interest. A cross party administration built by the people of the people for the country. Proportional representation is a necessity if we’re ever going to have a real democracy in UK.
Spot on, as usual. Personally I think that any elected MP, who accepts bribes in any form, should go to prison for a couple of years, and forfeit any benefit of said bribe.
Liked, restacked & shared to Bluesky. "A voice in the desert, shouting..." but who knows perhaps some day enough people will hear it.
This so true. But I fear the situation is not helped by so many sources of journalism. Much of the journalism panders to the worst views and policies and there is little challenge. This leads to the malaise you speak of. Real critique needs to be detailed, well researched and effectively communicated. There is too much 'lazy journalism' around.
Very well summed up; and watching the 'so-called' leaders vying for glory resulting from the so-called peace deal in Gaza, and not least Starmer, who said his recognising of a Palestinian State in September brought about the peace deal is sickening.
Depressingly accurate account of the current state of affairs our country - and others - are confronted with.
More of the same under the three main parties; a snake oil salesman from the same class and mindset that created the position we now find ourselves; and a corrupt unrepresentative FPTP voting system that props it all up...!!!!
How we extricate ourselves from this appalling state of affairs I just do not know.
We need a drastic change in leadership and a more representative voting system - and a political party led by people with the same ethos as the person Chris Mullins was an advisor to - one Tony Benn - who coined the simple but powerful phrase "Say what you mean and mean what you say"....!!!!
On the nail.
Cracking article, Matt. You said what half the country’s been muttering into its tea, so yeah, we felt the need to reply. Thanks for lighting the fuse with actual integrity. Hope you have a brilliant day.
https://satiricalplanet.substack.com/p/britain-now-available-in-trusthub
I've subscribed :)
Welcome aboard!
Nigel Mirage “The only politician who could sell dehydration as patriotism.”
Nigel Mirage < Let's make this stick.
Accurate assessment of the situation. We have to add the responsibility of the media to your analysis. The Greens and Reform have four and five MPs respectively, the LibDems 72 (I think) - yet who gets the lion's share of media time, day after day, week after week? The BBC have a lot to answer for here - they are funded by the taxpayer and the taxpayer should be able to expect political impartiality.
This is one of the best constructed, cogent, and above all TRUE articles I've read amongst a plethora of noteworthy articles in some time. Thank you.
Very kind words, Graham
Finally, someone who also sees what I’m seeing.!
More commonsense and truth. Our political class do not appear fit for purpose. So few have any real lived experience and seem not to be interested in listening to the public in any meaningful way.
What a pity you have not read REINVENTING DEMOCRACY, it sets out a written constituition for the UK that would prevent capture by vested interests. See sparklingbooks.com/rd.html for the full contents
Looks interesting. Will check it out
With successive governments seeking to have access to our bank accounts it's high time we knew exactly who was paying the politicians to see whose controlling the strings in Westminster. We know Starmer and Reeves are taking money from fossil fuel companies but who else is paying them for a return on their political investment? We need an entire rewrite of our political landscape from the way our votes count to stopping the lobbying and financing from big donors going unchecked. The Lords needs to be elected and a smaller house than it currently is.
Thanks for this useful description. More and more people seem to be aware of this broken system problem. What we really need now is a clear pathway to fixing the system issues. We need to see how to get FPTP changed to PR, clear thinking on what changes are needed to Lobbying rules and the Electoral Commission etc. Then it is easier to move ourselves in that direction.
As this is a system change needed - urgently- it would help to understand better who wields the levers of power/rule change in the various parts of this system. Systems thinking can make the next tasks much easier to see and affect more efficiently. Also what conditions do we need in order to help bring about this system change effectively?
This is it, exactly. Thank you. My brain is hardwired to finding a way. We are so much more than this right wing propaganda, we are the sum of many great minds and stubborn gritty British determination. I refuse to accept that we cannot organise and find a way through this
Sadly, I see PR as an unlikely fix to the problems that we have with political parties and our current democracy. There will still be an absence of open and honest debate that is supported by relevant and credible evidence and integrity.