PowerSwitch

I’m interested in the hypothesis that PR would free parties to develop policies that reflect their membership and supporters values, rather than devising lukewarm policies that are designed to be inoffensive to a larger number of voters, in a desperate attempt to get just a few seats. This is defini...

Have any of you been to a hustings event in your constituency yet or intend to go to one? What Powerswitchesque questions will you be asking? It’s tempting to go for something around degrowth but suspect it would be greeted by groans from the audience and quickly fobbed off by every candidate..

There are pros and cons. FPTP requires politicians to make coalitions before the vote, and the public votes for the coalition. PR forces politicians to make coalitions after the vote, and the public has no say. Personally I wouldn't vote green even if we had PR, for reasons already mentioned. That’...

I'll give my vote to a party that wants to enact PR - either Libdems or Green depending which candidate I prefer, but I know very little about either at the moment. We really need proper PR to get some meaningful political debate going. The sense I've got is that all the parties now just try to be a...

I’m quite warming to Ed Davey..

It was a visit to CAT as a young child that helped steer me towards a life of environmentalism. I go back every few years, for courses, events or just a visit while on holiday. It is always a great place to ‘be’ but it has struck me a few times that the exhibits have become rather dated and less use...

It was reported some years ago that many valuable wildlife sites and ancient woodlands would be lost to HS2. Do we know if any of these have already been trashed along the route that has now been axed? Or has work only begun on the Birmingham London stretch?

If they want to greenwash more effectively, they should change the name. Drax sounds like the lair of an evil genius.

I’d welcome your views on taking my child (9) out of school before any UK wide school closures. I’d like to do so, and provide childcare as part of an informal group of carers within my workplace. I don’t agree with the reasoning given at national level for keeping schools open any longer. Th...

I’d welcome your views on taking my child (9) out of school before any UK wide school closures. I’d like to do so, and provide childcare as part of an informal group of carers within my workplace. I don’t agree with the reasoning given at national level for keeping schools open any longer. The...

No way will the EU refuse an extension if the UK asks for one. No way. Saying there is no need is not the same as ruling it out. It's possible though that a pact was made - Johnson to EU "We'll give more concessions on UK side if you agree to not give an extension" on the basis that no ex...

Your wrong again UE. Breaking news... The President of the European Commission rules out granting an extension to the Brexit deadline of 31 October. Jean-Claude Juncker tells reporters there is no need for an extension now there is a deal on the table. No way will the EU refuse an extension if the ...

Thomas cook now bust, HMG having declined to bail them out. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49791249 I helped tidy up his grave in Welford Road Cemetery once. Now the business is dead and buried. The first tour he ran was to a temperance rally. I expect the last one was a boozy stag do. https:/...

I think we should now have a second referendum. I’d like the options to be: A) Would you like to leave the EU? B) Would you like to remain in the EU? If A), would you like to 1) leave with the deal as currently offered by the EU?or 2) leave with no deal? So, it would be a 2 part question, to avoid...

I’d sanction another referendum if ‘No Deal’ and ‘Remain’ were the options. I don’t remember any talk of a deal in the referendum campaign. I thought Leave meant Leave. Can anyone point to campaign literature or interviews where a deal was ever discussed?