The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


What you can do for your country

Posted on April 22, 2010 by

Hang on. Is this classic reverse psychology? Does the Daily Mail actually WANT a hung parliament, for doubtless sinister reasons of its own?

Because it's hard to imagine that a major British newspaper could be edited by anyone SO stupid as to think this absurd, hysterical rubbish (based on an out-of-context quote EIGHT years old) could do anything but strengthen the feelings of anyone who's sick of the old Labour-Tory carve-up of this country. So let's help them, eh?

HangBritain.org is the latest of many websites that have popped up in recent days enthusiastically supporting the notion of a hung (or "balanced") parliament as a means to achieve electoral reform in the UK, to the point where we have something we can describe without shame as a "democracy".

On its site you can enter your postcode and find out how you can cast your vote so as to best contribute to a hung parliament. The organisation's theory is that in "safe" seats you should vote for the incumbent, so as not to risk those seats being lost and unexpectedly contributing to a "back door" majority for the other party, and in seats where a smaller party has a chance you should vote for them.

Now, personally I have some reservations about this policy. The Lib Dems' mandate for electoral reform will rest as much on the number of votes they get as the number of seats – in fact, the bigger the discrepancy between the two, the stronger their case. So even in seats where they have no hope of winning, voting for them has a meaningful purpose.

Indeed, any vote which isn't for Labour or the Tories also adds to the effect. If your constituency has a 20,000 majority and no realistic hope of a change in MP, even a vote for the Monster Raving Loonies is a vote cast that isn't for the big two, and that's much more valuable in terms of making the argument for reform. The lower the percentage of votes the big two get – regardless of the number of seats – the weaker their justification for opposing PR.

(And let's be clear – Brown's proposed move to Alternative Vote isn't just a weak, half-hearted attempt at the minimum reform he can get away with. Astonishingly, the Prime Minister thinks he can get away with electoral "reform" that will actually lead to power becoming even MORE consolidated in the big parties, not less.)

But tactics are a matter of opinion. What's important is the very existence of sites like HangBritain.org, which are sprouting up in response to the huge opportunity that's about to be handed to the British people. It's a signifier of what seems to be a real and powerful trend, which is gathering pace with every passing day, in the face of an increasingly panicked response from the establishment parties and media.

The electorate has had it up to here with "strong government" (a loaded term which would be more accurately, if less elegantly, described as "quasi-elected dictatorship"), as shown by the astonishingly off-message response of Daily Mail readers to the paper's attempt at doom-laden scaremongering. We'd like to try representative government for a change.

WoSblog isn't here to tell you who to vote for. But I'm happy to tell you who NOT to vote for. Next Thursday, PLEASE go out and vote. No matter how safe your seat is – no matter how little chance you have of changing your MP, no matter how pointless it seems – PLEASE get out and vote, for someone who ISN'T the Labour or Tory candidate. If you're in a safe seat it really doesn't matter who you pick, so let your conscience be your sole guide. But for the whole country's sake, if you're EVER going to vote, do it this time.

A hung parliament is tantalisingly within reach, but it's not a done deal yet. The latest polls show that Cameron could still achieve a majority while bypassing both Labour and the Lib Dems, by buying off the minor parties as Labour did with the Ulster Unionists in 2008 (to further erode our civil liberties by letting the government lock you up for six weeks without charge).

This is our chance. Don't leave it to everyone else – too much is at stake. Get out there and Hang Britain.

3 to “What you can do for your country”

  1. Hang politicians and the parliament says:

    The newspapers seem to have gone bananas! Scaremongering and hysteria in overdrive. I was expecting them to try and attack him but this response is ridiculous.
     
    Can it be any more transparent and predictable that the Murdoch mud-slinging machine is in action? More proof that the newspapers cannot be trusted, if anyone needed it.
     
    link to img682.imageshack.us
     

    Reply
  2. Bill Hayes says:

    We talked over this blog and your comments made and decided that it probably is a good idea to recommend smaller parties in safe seats, so that's what we've done. I don't know if it'll stay that way, safe seats are tricky things to work with. We'll see what users say.
    Thanks for this post to promote our little site and thanks for taking the time to give us this valuable feedback. Very much appreciated.
    And I want to second what you said about voting. Everyone, whether you listen to this blog or Hang Britain or anyone else just make sure you actually do vote. In a hung parliament every vote counts for something.

    Reply
  3. Hang politicians and the parliament says:

    Mandelson, of all people, is condemning this: link to news.bbc.co.uk

    Reply


Comment - please read this page for comment rules. HTML tags like <i> and <b> are permitted. Use paragraph breaks in long comments. DO NOT SIGN YOUR COMMENTS, either with a name or a slogan. If your comment does not appear immediately, DO NOT REPOST IT. Ignore these rules and I WILL KILL YOU WITH HAMMERS.


  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,789 Posts, 1,222,317 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • stuckdoonhame on The Pillars Of Sanity: “Massive kudos to you, Lorn, not only for your ever sensible analysis of this nonsense but for your correct use…Jul 20, 02:20
    • stuckdoonhame on The Pillars Of Sanity: “Massive kudos to you, Lorn, not only for your ever sensible analysis of this nonsense but for your correct use…Jul 20, 02:13
    • Rob on The Pillars Of Sanity: “Its perfectly obvious that NHS Fife are trying to find something, anything, to blacken Peggies character t try and salvage…Jul 20, 00:26
    • Lorn on The Pillars Of Sanity: “The National is a disgrace as a national newspaper. Its pages are in vested with ‘trans’ dogma and its support…Jul 19, 23:23
    • dearieme on The Pillars Of Sanity: “James VI decided, later in life, that he’d been wrong about witches. They weren’t bad, they were mad. He supported…Jul 19, 22:43
    • Alf Baird on The Pillars Of Sanity: “UKSC, Court of Session and ScotGov and other state institutions all serve the English (as British) Crown, i.e. they do…Jul 19, 20:25
    • agent x on The Pillars Of Sanity: “@ Kelpie If they withdraw their defence then it becomes a default judgment and every point raised by the clamant…Jul 19, 20:03
    • agent x on The Pillars Of Sanity: “Notice also that Upton is described as “she” despite having a cock and bollocks.Jul 19, 19:34
    • Aidan on The Pillars Of Sanity: “@Kelpie – you are exactly right, that is definitely what they are planning to doJul 19, 19:22
    • Aidan on The Pillars Of Sanity: “@Alf – how does that relate specifically to the comments raised?Jul 19, 19:20
    • Kelpie on The Pillars Of Sanity: “There are plenty of legal types on X saying that NHS Fife can totally end this right now by basically…Jul 19, 19:15
    • agent x on The Pillars Of Sanity: “The National barely mentions the Sandie Peggie case but yesterday published: “Sandie Peggie denies making racist comment as new allegation…Jul 19, 19:09
    • Alf Baird on The Pillars Of Sanity: “In the colonial situation there is only colonial governance: which implies “a government and a judicial system fed and renewed…Jul 19, 19:04
    • Dave Hansell on The Pillars Of Sanity: ““The days when police forces across the UK acted as pet goon squads for every misogynist incel with a grudge,…Jul 19, 18:39
    • Dave G on The Pillars Of Sanity: “As a matter of strict law the Northumbria Police judgement does not apply in Scotland since the jurisdiction of the…Jul 19, 18:30
    • James on Points Into Prongs: “Dave L; yep, they don’t call he/she/it the Site Prick for nothing….Jul 19, 18:19
    • agent x on The Pillars Of Sanity: “@ Alf “On 8 December 2023, the Outer House of the Court of Session, part of Scotland’s highest civil court,…Jul 19, 18:15
    • Confused on The Pillars Of Sanity: “balance is restored to the force www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAbIL8C2JJ0Jul 19, 18:12
    • agent x on The Pillars Of Sanity: “16 APRIL 2025 – VICTORY #1 Arguably (we’ll come to that later) the most crucial victory of them all was…Jul 19, 18:11
    • Andy Storrie on The Pillars Of Sanity: “Come on, Campbell. You just canny help yourself, son. Let it go. This bullshit is yesterdays propaganda, lad!Jul 19, 17:33
    • Aidan on The Pillars Of Sanity: “@Alf – but isn’t that exactly what has happened, look at who are the hero’s in this story. The U.K.…Jul 19, 17:27
    • William G Walker on The Pillars Of Sanity: “Dear Rev, I’m pleased that your “report of victories” got a first-class response from all your fans! It must take…Jul 19, 17:21
    • Lorn on The Pillars Of Sanity: “Great piece, Rev. I do hope that you, with all the other people who placed their heads above the parapet…Jul 19, 17:13
    • Alf Baird on The Pillars Of Sanity: “A widna haud ma breith on any UK state quango protecting the rights of Scots, though she may learn something…Jul 19, 17:06
    • Peter McAvoy on The Pillars Of Sanity: “Well done to everybody who refused to accept and challenged this woke fascism and to the deserved victories you have…Jul 19, 16:22
    • Ian le coup on The Pillars Of Sanity: “DEI Diversity Equality Inclusivity is an absolute and utter con, created by the woke by the woke. DEI must DIE!!!Jul 19, 15:57
    • sarah on The Pillars Of Sanity: “Somewhere, over the rainbow… there is a happy land of sanity where children and women, and their supporters, can live…Jul 19, 15:53
    • Marie Clark on The Pillars Of Sanity: “Well done Stuart, you’ve been in this fight for a long time and it’s nice to see the outcome now.…Jul 19, 15:49
    • panda paws on The Pillars Of Sanity: “However deranged this week has been, I have every faith that next week will be the gift that keeps on…Jul 19, 15:47
    • agent x on The Pillars Of Sanity: “Meanwhile I am really enjoying watching the beautiful talented women playing in the EURO’s 25 without seeing big bollocked men…Jul 19, 15:45
  • A tall tale



↑ Top