IT’S that time of year when we again see the British political class indulge the worst excesses of cronyism and reward people who are institutionalised in the political system with lifetime seats on the gravy train that is the House of Lords.
I have no doubt that there will be a chorus of disapproval from many within the senior ranks of the SNP at the British establishments use of such an anti democratic system of government. Previously I would have taken them at their word. Earlier this year however I petitioned the Scottish Parliament to end manipulation of the party list system which operates at Holyrood and to make our electoral system a fair and democratic one. This was inspired by looking at the electoral antics which took place in North Lanarkshire which saw sitting constituency MSPs of both Labour and SNP placed so highly on the list that even if the people voted them out, as happened to Elaine Smith MSP, the party list brought them straight back in! The Scottish Government don’t see these individuals as the rejected elected that they are, and more so just a different kind of winners.
Recently I received the Scottish Government’s response to my petition and it was, as I had long expected, a confirmation that the Scottish Government has no plans to act in this area in any meaningful fashion. In their response they cited various reports from countries around the world which operate on a list system or variants thereof. One quote from a report produced in New Zealand regarding their dual candidacy system encapsulated the reason why the SNP, nor to be fair, the other parties, do not wish to change the system. It said that there is “considerable advantage in allowing parties to both protect a limited number of their more valuable MPs in marginal seats and reward superior candidates in unwinnable seats”. That’s right. The evidence the Scottish Government cites in defence of the status quo basically says that the political establishment has the right to protect itself from the judgement of the electorate! In the recent UK election there was at least the slightest of chances that Prime Minister Theresa May could have lost her seat. From the lowliest backbencher to the occupier of No 10 Downing Street, every seat was up for grabs and the people had the right to decide who gets to stay and who is to be shown the door. That’s the essence of democratic government. Yet the same party who in Scotland rail against the undemocratic House of Lords are quite comfortable with a system here which sees the political parties manipulate pre-determined lists to ensure that some of them are immune to the judgement of the electorate.
I’ve become convinced that the party list system must be consigned to the bin and that the Single Transferable Vote system should be adopted, putting the decision as to who makes it into government into the hands of the people, not the cliques who run a tight circle of control within political parties. Surely as a party which supports a democratic and accountable Scotland the SNP should too?
James Cassidy
JIM Taylor raises the great dilemma for those of us who support Scottish Independence but don’t agree with the SNP’s inconsistent stance on the EU (Letters, December 27). He presents a fantasy view of the EU. Rather than being “ a union of nations where an independent Scotland would have a voice at the top table when decisions are taken,” the EU is a supranational body which independent nations have to obey.
I find it somewhat puzzling and depressing that the SNP are so fanatically committed to the single market which Mrs Thatcher rightly described as “Thatcherism in Europe”. Even as I write I am listening to Ian Blackford on BBC Radio Scotland lamenting the potential loss of 75,000 jobs in the City of London and stating that in so doing he is “representing his constituents”!
Since when did the SNP ally itself with the City of London and the likes of Blair, Heseltine, Osbourne in seeking to defend the City and continue to ensure that Scottish workers, firms, farmers and fishermen are subject to the whims of Brussels? It seems to me that instead of being the SNP, challenging the establishment, the SNP has become the EU nationalist party, supporting it.
David Robertson
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