It was, sadly, inevitable. In fact, the general picture from today was inevitable (aside perhaps from the Conservatives emerging unscathed - although on further thought maybe that’s not so much of a shock either).
AV lost. The No campaign was based upon lies and scare tactics which, frustratingly neither the ASA nor the Electoral Commission had the authority to do anything about. There’s no comfort that can be taken from this referendum by the Yes supporters: it wasn’t close, it wasn’t the fault of a single person and I don’t believe it was purely a “Let’s kick the Lib Dems” moment.
On the subject of the Lib Dems – as I think I’ve explained before, I’m a former party member. Prior to the election campaign last year, I was proud to be a Liberal Democrat. The preamble to the Federal Constitution (I still believe) encapsulates a modern and progressive view of society. I was a strong proponent of Nick Clegg in the run-up to the election and indeed when he took the right decision to seek a coalition with the party that had the strongest mandate. Tuition Fees, however, is an entirely different matter.
I do still think that the Lib Dems have done some good while in power. They’ve managed (for now at least) to stave off the utterly ridiculous NHS reforms that Cameron and Lansley have tried to thrust upon Medical Professionals. The about turn on student fees however is completely unforgivable.
I know that this does not apply to all Liberal Democrats. Our MP here in Cambridge, Julian Huppert, proudly resigned the pledge to cut fees. With this in mind he, personally, has not lost my support. It is the Liberal Democrat leadership who have betrayed an entire generation.
I’ve spoken before about my reservations about the Labour Party. I’m definitely not a Union man, I believe that they still hold too much power within the Party - as was shown by the election of Ed over his brother. I’m unable to discover any actual policy lines other than “oppose everything the coalition does” and so, I’m going to still be stuck in this political void for the foreseeable future.
For now, I need to try and move on from electoral reform. The Conservatives and BNP have got their way and conserved the status-quo. Change is not forthcoming and, once more, I’m back in the wilderness.
Continuing on the AV theme, here’s a really good video explaining the difference between AV and FPTP and why it’s an improvement.
Ok, let’s face it, AV is a “miserable little compromise”. It really isn’t a perfect system, neither is it as proportionate (and therefore “democratic”) as I think our voting system should be. However, when choosing whether to vote Yes or No, the question should not be “is AV the answer to all our problems?” but rather “is AV a better system than FPTP?” - to which the answer is fairly clear.
“No” supporters argue that on this basis, we shouldn’t make the move at all. That argument is misguided. Electoral reform is a process that needs to be carried out in stages. In the same way that gay legal equality wasn’t achieved in one year and in one step, changing the nature of the elections Houses of Commons and Lords cannot be achieved through one referendum, in one year or indeed by one party.
I’m a former member of the Liberal Democrats. I was a member well before the election (indeed, I first joined a good 3 years ago). I supported, and indeed still do support, going into coalition with the Conservative party as the most democratic (and therefore the most Lib Dem) thing to do. What I don’t support (which has ultimately led to me letting my membership expire) is the Lib Dem leadership sacrificing their principles without a shred of regret.
This is all relevant as the AV referendum is one of the reasons why I haven’t joined the Labour party (the other one is to do with the two Eds but that’s another post entirely!). Labour MPs are split on this issue despite a) their leader backing it and b) it having been party policy at the last election. This smells of a party that doesn’t know where it’s going or where it has come from. What’s even more damning is that the “No” supporters from Labour have been as misleading and narrow-minded in their comments as those from the Tory party – here they most certainly are not the “alternative”.
I hope we win this referendum, not because it’ll be the end of the issue (while AV is an improvement, it isn’t the best system out there and over the next generation we can make further changes) but because it will show that we accept that the current system isn’t working as well as it should. Once that has been realised and acknowledged, then it will be easier to take a look at other areas of the parliamentary system that need rethinking. That has, after all, got to be our ultimate goal.
My contract on my Palm Pre ends next month, so it’s now time to look for a new phone. I have the luxury of having already been upgraded (to a Palm Pre Plus), although that’s another story!
I’m holding off upgrading until the Summer (July time) for two reasons - 1. I have confidence that some major phones will be released in the next few weeks and 2. saving £10 a month for the next few months will do my bank balance some good.
From what I can foresee, there will be two phones that are likely to be contenders and to decide between the two, I’m going to use an objective scoring system, published in advance of either phone formally being announced.
The two phones that are likely to be contenders are the HTC Pyramid and the iPhone 5.
It obviously has to be an upgrade from the Palm Pre Plus so here are the base criteria:
- Dual-Core Processor, >1GHz.
- >1GB RAM
- >16GB Storage
- High-res screen, approx equivalent of retina display
- Realistic battery life of >30 hours.
Any phone that doesn’t meet these is immediately excluded.
From there, points are scored for:
- Having a hardware keyboard (+50)
- Having NFC (+25)
- Having a front-facing camera (+25)
- Being able to run skype with video calling (+10)
- Having a 5MP rear camera (+15)
- Having an 8MP rear camera (+30)
- Being able to run Spotify (+10)
- Having a notification system that allows the following: (+10 each)
- Notifications appear unobtrusively
- Notifications can be dismissed individually
- Notifications can be retrieved
- Having turn-by-turn GPS navigation (+10)
- Having a unified, coherent UI (+25)
- Having an established and varied Application Store (+10)
- Has an Amazon Kindle application (+10)
- Allowing for customisation of the lock screen (+10)
- Allowing for UI customisation (+10)
- Allowing for changing of the software (i.e. can be jailbroken / custom ROMs can be installed) (+15)
- Supporting induction charging (+20)
- Synchronising contacts, calendar etc. to the cloud - Google & Facebook (+35)
I think that’s it for now. So it’s out of 340. I’m aware that certain things are biased towards certain platforms but I think it’s fair overall.
I have a few reservations about both the iOS and Android platforms & ecosystems - mostly to do with transparency and fragmentation. To be honest, I still think that webOS is superior. It’s just not supported by applications and hardware. Still. Part of me really hopes that the webOS CONNECT event in London next week is great, I’m likely to keep developing for the Palm Pre. Their Pre3 and Veer are entirely underwhelming though.
We’ll see what happens. I have a few additional criteria for mobile network too but that’s yet another story in itself.
It’s time for the 2011 Formula 1 season to kick off! I’m really excited about this year - this photo was from the British GP 2010 but in August I’ll be off to Spa to see the Belgian Grand Prix. Can’t wait!
HIV visualised.
Absolutely crazy! I’m so glad the the UK voted for the resolution. My respect for Obama has reached rock bottom now.
