http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011 ... r-shake-up


You may never get to change government ever again with all the proposed changes. All of which will make it more likely that the Conservatives will end up with majorities permanently.

Any chance we can get some Libyans over to liberate us?

Given the level of turnout in the last election, will it really make any difference? Until the people of this country realize that voting matters then nothing will change. However, with the current choice of political parties, maybe it's better if nobody voted at all to let them know how p***** off we are with the whole lot of them.

So, the last two times the Tories have been in power, the boundaries have been (or will have been) redrawn; to the detriment of their opposition.

I know the electoral boundaries body (can't remember their name) is supposedly non-partisan, but my tinfoil hat is twitching.

Eventually these changes make a "British Spring" a higher possibility, it is just a matter of time, it could be years.

Oh please. We had a referendum that would have slightly decreased the number of safe seats all round - and nobody gave a fcuk. The current boundaries are skewed to Labour's advantage (they can win an electoral majority with a lower share of the national vote than the Tories can).

There is a mild risk that come the 2020 election, maybe a few dozen people who would have been nagged into voting will now have an excuse for their apathy. I don't see how democracy benefits from unwilling voters being dragged to the polls by their mums and told who to vote for on the way.

There is a fetish abroad that claims democracy only counts if everyone gets involved. This is bull poop. Democracy requires that the electorate cares about their votes and considers choosing to be some kind of duty. It is better served if those who cannot or will not put in effort are allowed to opt out (their democratic choice is to let others choose - respect it).

And if they are too fat and lazy to vote, how are they supposed to suddenly have the dynamism to revolt? If they have no idea which party is in government right now (talk to some of them and you will find this is very common) nor what laws are being enacted, what the fcuk are thy going to do after their revolution? Are these people capable of seizing the reins of power? That's the dumbest prediction I've ever seen.

Until there is full PR then many will find that their votes are a waste of time. I have no problems with the changes if PR is introduced at the same time.

Surely this is just redressing the balance to take away labour's unfair advantage?

fat lot of good it did them, frankly.

If the Tories wanted to fix elections, they'd just give Scotland independance. The loss of Labour seats in Westminster would work in their favour.

Add Wales to that strategy.

Qite frankly I dont think it will make one iota of difference between household and single person registration

Exactly right.

If having to register individually is a problem, then you weren't exactly likely to vote in the first place

Yes but this policy is about not saving money but reducing voting rolls.

So what? If they were being stripped of their right to vote that would be a travesty, but if they are merely being asked to add themselves to the register, your moral indignation is nonsense. And that 10m statistic presented is naked hyperbole by the way.

Learn to live with the fact that democracy requires informed consumers. If people aren't interested, they are quite entitled to not participate.

I'm still incidentally interested to know how this leads to revolution?