Comments on Obsolete: Disunited Kingdom.

You've put far too much emphasis on the remark...

2011-05-07T13:05:57.228+01:00

You've put far too much emphasis on the remark at the end of that paragraph: I wasn't even beginning to argue that the result was down to those that opposed any change whatsoever, especially as that would contradict the other reasons just above, rather it was always going to be an uphill struggle against the financial and political backers of the no campaign and the right-wing press. I admit it's wrong to associate the campaign wholly with the left though - that was one of the key mistakes.

I still think that if we cut into the vote to see just why everyone voted the way they did we'd get some fairly depressing answers and that short-sightedness on the part of some would play a key role, but as argued the case for a yes simply wasn't made. We've got no one to blame but ourselves for that.

Just to expand on that slightly, it won't real...

2011-05-07T12:27:35.807+01:00

Just to expand on that slightly, it won't really do to put the No victory down to "those opposed to any change whatsoever" - or, for that matter, to associate the Yes lobby with "the left". Many people on the Left voted No because we don't want AV - and, among those of us who support PR, we weren't prepared to gamble on AV being a stepping stone to PR (Australia has used AV since 1918).

If the No vote looked even slightly like the combined vote for the Tories, the BNP and David Blunkett, it might be valid to start looking for ways to discredit the No vote and carve it up into different sub-groups of ignorant and/or prejudiced people (a.k.a. the John Curtice approach). Given that the vote was 70% against, with very little regional variation, I think it's only fair to assume that lots of people voted no to AV because lots of people don't want AV.

and under a form of proportional representation no...

2011-05-07T12:17:48.444+01:00

and under a form of proportional representation no less, no campaigners

I didn't vote No to PR. I voted No to AV.

I can't agree more with this article. BTW I t...

2011-05-07T09:22:49.731+01:00

I can't agree more with this article.

BTW I think that "Untied Kingdom" would have worked better as a headline :-)