UK Energy Costs

[Hirst]

I’ve worked in council Finance for years and can confidently say that overspending on vanity projects is nothing to do with any particular party. It’s more a situation that tends to arise with a combination of a delusional leader and the other councillors being too weak/indifferent to object to anything. Most MPs barely have any local connection and tend to ignore whatever the local councillors decide to do, unless there’s a good photo opportunity and then they’re straight back on the London train. Frankly I think it’s stupid that local elections are tied to Westminster parties, it can and should be independent from that.

[Neon Ignition]

Ban allowing a Government from changing boundaries to influence voting share

[fallenangle]

......and make it mandatory, except in cases of expediency, to hold a General Election as soon as possible after a PM resigns, retires due to ill-health or is forced out of office for any reason.

It is bizarre that the ruling party can select a new PM who may have completely different views from the previous one and foist him or her on a public, many of whom may only have voted they way they did in the General Election because of the leader.

[Neon Ignition]

I imagine it's because if the reigning party knew that ditching their PM would result in a GE they would never do it. Bare minimum though is that a replacement PM should be bound to the manifesto of the previous PM, they should never be allowed to pull a Truss

[Asura]

......and make it mandatory, except in cases of expediency, to hold a General Election as soon as possible after a PM resigns, retires due to ill-health or is forced out of office for any reason.

It is bizarre that the ruling party can select a new PM who may have completely different views from the previous one and foist him or her on a public, many of whom may only have voted they way they did in the General Election because of the leader.

This.

I know that technically we don't vote for a PM, but here's the rub - we absolutely do.

We also don't vote for local MPs really due to the concept of the whip. MPs are frequently forced to vote along party lines.

I might soften it a touch and say it would be acceptable for the deputy-PM to step in without a full GE. But that's it.

[Protocol Penguin]

No, we have a parliamentary system, not an executive form of government. If we had a presidential republic and an election was mandatory if said president was replaced, fair enough. However we don’t, and triggering a general election if a prime minister steps down goes against the whole idea of the parliamentary form of representative democracy. We vote for representatives, not a single figurehead.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I think what we all want is a form of accountability and a form of filtering out BS policies.
The entire House of Lords needs stripping right back, only people who are experts in a field put in there and they have the say to reject policies. We also get a vote on who becames a lord. Maximum number of them 250.

[Asura]

No, we have a parliamentary system, not an executive form of government. If we had a presidential republic and an election was mandatory if said president was replaced, fair enough. However we don’t, and triggering a general election if a prime minister steps down goes against the whole idea of the parliamentary form of representative democracy. We vote for representatives, not a single figurehead.

On paper! Parties instruct their MPs to vote according to the whip!

Why do they get to have it both ways?

[Neon Ignition]

Labours still saying they're going to abolish the House of Lords aren't they? Christ, I hope so.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Labours still saying they're going to abolish the House of Lords aren't they? Christ, I hope so.

It definitely doesn't want abolishing. Without it there is absolutely zero checks done to legislation. It needs a complete ground up rework that is democratic.

[Lebowski]

It definitely doesn't want abolishing. Without it there is absolutely zero checks done to legislation. It needs a complete ground up rework that is democratic.

It's a broken system, New peers are put forward to the king to be given peerages by the current PM But this is just a formality now as the king doesn't turn down peerages and its why we currently have situation where people are buying their way in by giving big sums of money to the Tory party. Its why the lords is so skewed towards the Tory party at the moment why would any of the Tory pm's we've had in the last few years put people that appose them in the lords? they wouldn't and they have for the last ten+ years been stacking the deck in their favor.

I'm not sure if its any better than the old system where heredity peerages where a thing also, but the only way in now is via a sitting pm is beyond broken. The US system where you end up with deadlocks and the house flipping with governments not able to do anything isn't great either.

[Asura]

It's a broken system, New peers are put forward to the king to be given peerages by the current PM But this is just a formality now as the king doesn't turn down peerages and its why we currently have situation where people are buying their way in by giving big sums of money to the Tory party. Its why the lords is so skewed towards the Tory party at the moment why would any of the Tory pm's we've had in the last few years put people that appose them in the lords? they wouldn't and they have for the last ten+ years been stacking the deck in their favor.

True, but the idea of a "second house" which is stuffed with learned people is not, in itself, a bad idea. Just it should be more democratic, and handled like a job - i.e. you've got to actually turn up and contribute to get paid for it/keep the position, and not fall asleep.

[Golgo]

For all that the lords is full of snoozy old duffers and tory friend-n-family, etc. it's simply not true that they always vote for the government. They frequently throw legislation back down and catch the tories on the hop. The HoL is much more independent-minded that the US upper house, but still it could use radical pruning and overhaul.

[Lebowski]

True, but the idea of a "second house" which is stuffed with learned people is not, in itself, a bad idea. Just it should be more democratic, and handled like a job - i.e. you've got to actually turn up and contribute to get paid for it/keep the position, and not fall asleep.

I wouldnt say the current lords are learned though, a house of people held to a strict moral and ethical code would be a much better system.

Currently you can get very rich being a peer as Michelle Mone will tell you with the dodgy ppe she sold us. We also get people like Boris super fan Nadine Dorries, who was one of the 86 people put forward by Johnson in his honors list, a list that also included his brother and the boss of carphone warehouse who payed for his new year trip to the caribbean. you cant make it up.

[Cassius_Smoke]

My idea is thus:

A government website is setup for people to suggest anyone. If they get 250k votes then an official offer is sent to that person for them to accept or reject. After 5 years the position is given up and you can't return for 5 years.

So David Attenborough could be suggested, he might get the votes but turn it down.

Or someone who has worked hard for local causes might get the votes.

There are only 250 positions which keeps things fresh.