The people of Switzerland have voted, democratically, to ban the building of minarets. More than 57% of voters and 22 of the 26 Swiss cantons voted in favour of the ban, in defiance of the government (although in support of the largest party in parliament) as “a vote against minarets as symbols of Islamic power.”
Democratically, this is a decision made by the people of Switzerland. The Swiss people can hold a referendum on any law passed by its government if they can get enough signatures – they are the only …

Unlike a lot of Tory bloggers – and apparently Tory members – I think that it is a bad thing that Nigel Farage has chosen to challenge Speaker John Bercow at the general election. If he wanted an election fight, he should have picked a constituency where all the parties could campaign and try and win a real victory, rather than a fight where there is only one other contender, who doesn’t have the campaigning support of a party.
This is a bad move for Farage, especially since he has also …

Jack Straw’s new proposals for continuing to reform of the House of Lords (just a decade after starting it!) bear an extremely marked similarity to those I have made on this very blog – as far back as 2006!
The difference is that I am far more certain of what we actually need to do. We must rescue British democracy, and the best way to do that is to reform the Lords to make it democratic and effective – rather than neither, as it is now.
 
Elected Lords
We should, as Straw says, …

The Telegraph continues to publish more and more details of MPs expense claims and, alongside public anger, forcing MPs into humiliating apologies and resignations. But Rowan WIlliams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is saying “enough’s enough” and that it is “damaging democracy” – oh, and giving the BNP support (like people become racist when their MPs exploit their expenses!).
Sorry, but it isn’t. Democracy was damaged by these MPs claiming excessive amounts, on inappropriate items, or by otherwise pretty much committing fraud by flipping their second home around or cliaming for an …

The Conservatives need to be careful about seeming too congratulatory about themselves and their electoral prospects at the next general election. William Hague was pushing it even when he said

It is likely that we are going to be able to win the next election

That sounds dangerously like “we expect to win”, which isn’t a good impression to give to the general electorate at this stage.
The news that David Cameron and the rest of the Shadow Cabinet are meeting with permanent secretaries to prepare for government is welcoming – they must …

In prison. Jail. The Big House. At Her Majesty’s Pleasure. Prison is the place where convicted criminals are locked up for breaking the law. It is where they lose their freedoms. So why should they be able to vote?
Apparently, under European “Human Rights” laws, it is unlawful to take away a prisoner’s right to vote – but it’s fine to take away their freedom of movement, association, and the rest. It doesn’t make any sense.
Criminals are locked up because they have broken the social nexus, they have broken the rules …

Polly Toynbee has declared, with a straight face, that

Britain without the Mail or the Sun would be a happier place, less biliously nihilist, less miserable, angry and afraid. But democracy without the scrutiny of good journalism is unthinkable. In the end, it’s up to you. If you always read this on the web, go out and buy a copy, skinflint. Use it or lose it.

Does Polly even understand democracy?
The first criticism to level at her here is: does she even understand democracy? The Mail and the Sun, no matter what …

The House of Lords has been getting a bit of a battering in the press recently, after the “cash for laws” scandal erupted, over four Labour life peers who appearing willing to take money in order to put forward amendments to Bills before the House. And since then, allegations have continued to come.
What’s the problem?
Corruption. Sleaze. Whatever you want to call it, it’s wrong – even if it could be argued to be within the rules. But as Garbo has said “if they were acting within the rules, then it …

Yesterday I wrote a post on the proposal from the Conservatives to reduce the number of MPs who sit in the House of Commons by 10%, a reduction of about 60 seats – taking the number of MPs from 650 to around 590.
Another – very siginicant – part of this proposal is that a boundary review would be carried out in order to ensure that all constituencies are all the same size, rather than the current disparity whereby MPs in Scotland and Wales have quite significantly smaller seats than English …

Last week, Gordon Brown invited Peter Mandelson back from the EU and into his Cabinet. But – hang on! – don’t you have to be a member of Parliament to be a Cabinet minister? Yes, you do. So Mandy is being given a peerage.
Yet why do they need to be in parliament? So that they are answerable to parliament and us. However, when they are sitting in the Lords they’re not directly accountable. We can’t vote them out.
The tendency to appoint Lords to Cabinet positions other than the necessary ones …