To ballot, or not to ballot?
INTERESTING that supporters of the Alternative Vote (AV) among Tory members are outnumbered nine-to-one by those opposed. And that raises the question, once more, of when governments should hold referendums.
Now, I might consider it a tad undemocratic for a Tory government to be forced to have a referendum it never wanted on a policy it opposes. And no doubt, supporters of this coalition, and of coalitions in general, will respond that compromise is the reality of coalition government, blah, blah, etc.
It’s perfectly valid to challenge me – and others who share my view – on how democratic it is to oppose referendums.
And then we enter the well-worn territory of parliamentary democracy versus direct democracy and before you know it, Old Holborn is leaving comments reminding us that the Swiss are the happiest people on earth because they all own guns, or something…
My view has, for a long time, been that governments in general should only hold referendums when they’re seeking the support of the public for a particular proposal. It’s why I was in favour of a referendum on Scottish devolution – a policy the party supported – and oppose a referendum on Scottish independence – a policy my party opposes. If people want referendums on issues which are opposed by the incumbent government, they should try to get an alternative party – one which will oblige in their preferred choice of referendum – elected.
And it’s why I think it’s a mistake for this government to be holding a referendum on more powers for the Welsh Assembly without taking a view on any particular outcome. Despite a “slip of the tongue” by the Deputy Prime Minister a couple of months ago, the government will be campaigning on neither side of the referendum. Which, not to put too fine a point on it, is a cop-out.
Similarly, the decision by Harold Wilson to hold a referendum on Britain’s continued membership of the then EEC in 1975 was a cop-out, engineered to help contain Labour’s divisions rather than to ascertain the views of the general public (who should have been asked if they wanted to go in in the first place).
So, I can understand the disquiet in the ranks of the blue-rinsed. Referendums should be reserved for those rare occasions when the government wants to take the public along with it in the adoption of a new, significantly constitutional, enterprise – not for the short-term convenience of two parties forced into an unhappy marriage of convenience.
