Archaeology, heritage and the General election

[stuart.ladd]

If you're feeling slightly too lazy to get to know them:
http://www.writetothem.com

[Jack]

If your interested in connecting with local government and raising issues check out this site.

http://www.digitaldemocracy.org.uk/

[John Walford]

I understand that Ed Vaizey, the Conservative arts spokesman, is quite supportive of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. I have even seen him turn up at a metal detecting rally once, which shows at least a bit of interest on his part.

[kevin wooldridge]

This video is extremely funny. Not exactly pro anyone, but definitely anti-Tory.....

[video=youtube;EKFTtYx2OHc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKFTtYx2OHc[/video]

[monty]

Does anyone really think whoever gets elected will make any difference to archaeology (or anything else for that matter !) .............As the old saying goes: No matter who you vote for the Government will get in .........

[brazier]

...interesting how at just BEFORE 8 this morning on R4 there was a story on Blair Peach and just AFTER 8 there was a story on Lloyds making a profit...might be being cynical, but that strikes me as signalling where priorities lie. As for voting, since the results are never proportionally representative, no wonder everyone feels cheated.

[kevin wooldridge]

That old British cynicism has a long history... There is a poem by Hartley Coleridge dating back to the 1806 general election:

Shout Britain, raise a joyful shout,
The Tyrant Tories all are out --
Deluded Britains -- cease your din --
For lo -- the scoundrel Whigs are in.

Whigs in this case being modern day Liberals.....oh my god!!

But if you think about it governments can/do make differences. 1945-50 Labour government introduced nationalised industries, NHS, modern welfare state, modern education system etc etc. Tory government 1979-97 privatised industries, destroyed communities, sold off council houses, destroyed communities, introduced PPG16 etc etc. So governments can/do make differences. Labour government 1997-? - well perhaps the less said the better!!

However, I am not sure that abstention from the process has ever delivered great benefit to archaeology either....

[kevin wooldridge]

I too noted the Blair Peach story......stirred memories of Southall '79.

Regarding proportional representation....the UK system at present is PR... its just that the only votes which 'count' are those for the 'first past the post' winner. Even in what are considered the fairest PR systems (I have heard Norway and Australia quoted this week), there is still 'vote discard', it just happens slightly further down the line....The only truly 'representative' election system is one where everyone who stands for election is deemed elected!! (and there is a version of this in effect in Norway where political parties or alliances who gain a threshold number of votes, but not enough votes to gain a single seat in Stortinget can still claim state funding to pursue their political agenda...)

And a warning to anyone who thinks the Lb Dems have all the answers!! Do not forget that the Single Transferable Vote system in use for the London mayoral elections gave us Ken Livingstone and then Boris Johnson.....!!

[Jack]

I love the video...........spot on!

But then I've never been comfortable with the idea of democracy. But then again, our system isn't a real democracy anyway.

The fairest political system I've ever heard of was in a novel......the lot of Imbal. The King reigns for five years. After which he has his head cut off and thrown to a crowd of 'hopefuls' whoever gets the head reigns for the next five years then.......

Although to be completely fair it should include girls too. }

[kevin wooldridge]

..but no doubt in the fictional land of Imbal the executioner would (or maybe would not) be a member of the Institute of Free Axemen (IfA) and would be guided by a Code of Conduct regarding ethical standards pertinent to regicide!! (Remind me again you did say this was fictional didn't you....!!)