My response to the ‘ Thin as Ice’ document published by Compass

The ‘Thin as Ice’ document is an important contribution from Compass and a welcome response to Labour Together’s triumphalism about the success of their ‘Red Wall focussed’ election strategy. This may have won Labour a huge majority, but it was with a low proportion of the vote and of the electorate and at the expense of losing supporters on its left. 

 Disappointingly lacking in ‘Thin as Ice ‘ is sufficient recognition of the growing severity of the Global Climate Emergency, which threatens to consume us all and is likely to be a central issue in the next General Election. There is also a lack of a strategy for achieving the ‘progressive coalition’, committed to electoral reform, which Compass correctly advocates. 

In my opinion the climate crisis provides an opportunity to create such a coalition, possibly one which can last for two or three election cycles and certainly until proportional representation is implemented. The General Election of 2029 or late 2028 is only a year or so before Labour’s promised deadline for near total renewable electricity generation. It is a target which may well be some way short of being met although hopefully substantial progress will have been made. It is also likely to be a target which will be under severe attack from the right, a right possibly united in some sort of ‘regressive alliance’. 

 Faced with a single Tory/Reform opponent Labour, Lib Dem and Green Party activists, and even politicians, might be persuaded to make an electoral pact in an election fought under FPTP. It might be a pact whose central policy was ensuring the 95% renewable electricity target was met, if not by 2030 then soon after. It might also focus on what might be the government’s next climate target, involving the phasing out of petrol fuelled road travel by (say) 2035. These commitments should be combined with a commitment to legislate for electoral reform, based on proportional representation, something which Lib Dems and Greens would demand as a condition for not challenging Labour in most or all of their 400+ seats. 

 On the assumption that the ‘Progressive Alliance ‘beats the ‘Regressive Alliance ‘in 2028/29 it might be the last fought under FPTP. An election under PR in 2033 /34 would hopefully return a third ‘progressive’ government, perhaps focussing on what might be a third stage of decarbonising the UK involving a transformation of agriculture.

 The above scenario makes no reference to the situation in Wales and Scotland, whose nationalist parties are unlikely to agree any electoral pacts with ‘unionist’ Labour or Lib Dem’s. However, we can be confident that they won’t make a pact, or enter a coalition, with any ‘regressive alliance’. I won’t speculate about Northern Ireland. As you will probably have guessed the above is very much a ‘work in progress’, posted here to invite comment from other Compass members.

Comments

  1. Martin15 January 2025 at 11:08

    PR would provide a fairer voting system, and a more proportionate allocation of parliamentary seats. But the problems with our 'Democracy' are far deeper than just how votes are counted. I was able to compile a list of 10 problems with our political system with just a few minutes thought. There are many more I am sure we could come up with. If we want a government that is truly democratic, but also responsible, responsive, open, honest, deliberative and effective, we need to change how it operates in almost every way. Most importantly, I believe, we need to establish a set of agreed national objectives. One of them would be to minimise and mitigate climate change as far as possible. But if the rest of our economic system remains as it is now, that won't happen. We need a much bigger conversation about what really matters to people, and what the real constraints are to achieving a healthy, sustainable, fulfilling lifestyle for humanity within planetary boundaries.

    The list of ten problems with our politics I produced is here:
    1. A distorting and disporoportionate voting system
    2. Unrepresentative representatives
    3. Undemocratic Political parties
    4. Big money influence
    5. Policy ideology driven rather then evidence based
    6. Media controlled by a small number of wealthy individuals
    7. A restricted and distorted economic framework that favours the status quo
    8. No real deliberation on issues and solutions.
    9. No public participation in decision making.
    10. No agreed national objectives

    ReplyDelete

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