[I have sent this Open Letter to those LibDem MPs who I know personally. Why not do the same?]
I know that you will be very busy right now. Indeed, it is because of the cause of that busy-ness that I am writing today.
I'm writing to ask that you use your influence to try to help ensure that this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for real electoral reform is not lost. From my teenage years, as part of the Fair Votes campaign and petition, through all my years in the LibDems, and (then) in the Green Party, I, like you, have been a consistent and passionate advocate of PR surrounded by other such advocates. Whether you make a deal with the Tories, or (as I would hope and prefer) a 'progressive majority' deal with Labour and the other Parties of the centre-Left at Westminster (including the Greens), I would urge you to insist upon proportional representation - on AMS, STV, or a proportional form of AV-plus - as part of that deal. The number of votes that it took to elect a LibDem at this election (letalone the number it took to elect the first Green MP) is entirely and quite grotesquely disproportionate to the number needed to elect a Labour or Tory MP. So, now is not the time to ease off what we have collectively been insisting upon for so long. Britain's political system is broken - PR is part of what is needed to heal it. Crises are there for a reason - so that real change can be made, to heal what is in crisis, what is broken.
Faithfully,
Rupert Read.
I'm writing to ask that you use your influence to try to help ensure that this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for real electoral reform is not lost. From my teenage years, as part of the Fair Votes campaign and petition, through all my years in the LibDems, and (then) in the Green Party, I, like you, have been a consistent and passionate advocate of PR surrounded by other such advocates. Whether you make a deal with the Tories, or (as I would hope and prefer) a 'progressive majority' deal with Labour and the other Parties of the centre-Left at Westminster (including the Greens), I would urge you to insist upon proportional representation - on AMS, STV, or a proportional form of AV-plus - as part of that deal. The number of votes that it took to elect a LibDem at this election (letalone the number it took to elect the first Green MP) is entirely and quite grotesquely disproportionate to the number needed to elect a Labour or Tory MP. So, now is not the time to ease off what we have collectively been insisting upon for so long. Britain's political system is broken - PR is part of what is needed to heal it. Crises are there for a reason - so that real change can be made, to heal what is in crisis, what is broken.
Faithfully,
Rupert Read.
[Former LibDem activist and now a Green Party Councillor]
Norwich.
Norwich.
Comments
Votes per seat were: CON 34,989; Lab 33,350; LibDem 119,788; Green 285,616. Time to demand proportional representation http://bit.ly/electoral_reform
38 Degrees are running a campaign which people can participate in.
Not quite true - when I was a LibDem cllr in Norwich, whilst I never met Rupert then, I was aware that we had a new deliverer called Rupert Read getting our Focus leaflets out.
Paul McAlenan
Get your facts right before trying to make any smart-arse comments
Sleeve Art - I will ignore your bizarre and somewhat hilarious comment.
Anonymous - for God's sake stop posting rubbish / lies. I was in the SDP / LibDems for EIGHTEEN YEARS!!! I was elected National Treasurer of the Young Social Democrats; I was elected and ran the SDP Club at Oxford (300 members); I was very active in campaigns to try to get Huhne and Adonis (!! - that dates me) elected to Parliament and Council, etc etc etc.
I knew you were an arse but you surpass yourself here. I'd keep quiet about that as too many people can't abide you already.
Good to see Clegg shafting us all with a tawdry deal with the Toffs. I hope you didn't take away votes from other parties and let in the Lib Dems so they could do this - oh yeah, Norwich!
Thanks.