I was very disappointed when I read this article

[pennylane100]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/dec/07/secret-memo-blairites-labour-election-alastair-campbell-alan-milburn-ed-miliband

However I am not as up to date on UK politics as many other members of DU and would be interested in any comments.

[Laelth]

1. Very similar to politics in the U.S. from what I can tell.

If Blair = Clinton and New Labour = New Democrats, the parallels are eerie. As with Labour now, there's a struggle going on for the soul of the Democratic Party ... has been for a while. Neither side wants to lose.

-Laelth

[Laelth]

2. This sounds familiar.

From a comment following the article:

War on Iraq was Conservative policy that had split the Labour Party from the time of the first Gulf War. Blair had to whip his Parliamentary party into the chambers but still many rebelled. Meanwhile the Tories went into that chamber and voted for the war they had always wanted.

Just as the Tories demanded yet more de-regulation of finance and now point the finger at New Labour for the failure of Rightist policies in relation to the financial sector, so they now do the same on Iraq. The truth is there for the reader to find.

-Laelth

[Laelth]

3. Some in the US feel this way:

I'm ashamed to be from these islands. That is where all that rancid shit has left me. I'm not alone. You are seeing the break-up of the UK take place because of this mad march to the Right since 1973. You are seeing people's incomes decline. You are seeing homelessness of a kind we have not seen for an age. You are seeing people suffer illness we thought we had left behind. You are seeing people pay the price for all that people like you desired.

-Laelth

[Laelth]

4. Some Democrats feel like this about the party:

the Labour Party still has a left?

it doesn't show

presumably the usual suspects will ensure that any remaining non-thatcherites are kept well out of the way

Very interesting comments following the article cited in the OP.

-Laelth

[Laelth]

5. Very much like the US:

Ahh, but Ireland has had the good sense to have proportional representation which makes these things possible.

The UK is mired in antiquated electoral laws that make us all vote for people we don't want to make sure people we hate don't get elected.

-Laelth

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

6. Proportional representation is not necessarily great

For example, Israel has proportional representation, and in its 65 years of existence, there has never been a majority government.
This has led to tiny parties having power out of all proportion to their size -- some years ago, there was a party which had gained three seats in the Knesset; and every single member had either a cabinet or subcabinet post.

[Laelth]

7. Thanks for the word of warning.

Not like there's much chance the U.S. can change its system absent a revolution. Our system of elections is built into our Constitution.

That said, the second sentence I quoted definitely describes the way most Americans feel about elections.

The UK is mired in antiquated electoral laws that make us all vote for people we don't want to make sure people we hate don't get elected.

I do a lot of "nose-holding" voting for the lesser of two evils. I don't like it, but I see no way to fix it.



-Laelth

[LeftishBrit]

8. Yes; and right now they have that walking disaster Avigdor Lieberman as Foreign Secretary...

because his hardline far-RW party has undue influence on the government in their system.

Complete lack of PR in a multi-party country (as in the UK) and extreme forms of PR (as in Israel or Italy) can both distort democracy badly.