Seen in the News

[PanBiker]

There is just about time to do it properly and introduce electoral systems the whys and wherefores to the curriculum which should help.

Personally I think they should have moved to PR before this, having said that it could be that the younger voters may push for change as they should realise that the two party system is archaic and has had it's day, PR being more representative.

[Stanley]

And introduce something I know Ian advocates, compulsory voting like the Australian model. Instead, we demand voter ID which it is admitted has further reduced numbers who vote. Do politicians really want our scrutiny and oversight?

THIS is what caught my attention this morning....
MP Diane Abbott has been suspended by the Labour Party pending an investigation into comments she made about racism. The move also means that Abbott will sit as an independent MP, known as losing the whip. Labour said it would not be commenting "while this investigation is ongoing". It comes after a BBC interview where Abbott was asked about a 2023 controversy, when she was suspended as a Labour MP for a year after comments she made about racism in a letter to a newspaper. Asked by the BBC's James Naughtie if she looked back on the whole incident with regret, she said: "No, not at all." In that letter to the Observer newspaper, she wrote that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people "undoubtedly experience prejudice" that is "similar to racism". She wrote: "It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice. But they are not all their lives subject to racism." Abbott was quick to withdraw the remarks, which were heavily criticised by Jewish and Traveller groups, and apologised "for any anguish caused". But she was suspended from the party and only re-admitted just before last year's general election.
At first I thought the report was about the original case but now see that it is a repeat of the same action. It appears that it is verboten to hold an opinion that differs from the official party line. I hold no brief for Ms Abbott but she is entitled to her opinion and it is good to see an MP who thinks independently.....