is this democracy
su | 12.06.2004 14:59
As well as all those people in the North who did not receive ballot papers in time,and those who did not get them at all it turns out that 500,000 votes were declared spoilt in the London Mayors election and in Walsall a whole box of votes were not counted at all.
regardless of who won the declared vote this is disgusting.they dont even make a pretence of democrocy.
'Candidates and other onlookers in Walsall watched in amazement last night as a ballot box crammed with votes was discovered under a table, almost an hour after the result had been announced.
The chief executive added to their dismay when she said the missed votes would not be added to the declared result.'
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/elections2004/story/0,14549,1237287,00.html
regardless of who won the declared vote this is disgusting.they dont even make a pretence of democrocy.
'Candidates and other onlookers in Walsall watched in amazement last night as a ballot box crammed with votes was discovered under a table, almost an hour after the result had been announced.
The chief executive added to their dismay when she said the missed votes would not be added to the declared result.'
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/elections2004/story/0,14549,1237287,00.html
su
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Democracy?
12.06.2004 16:06
My personal bitterness aside, whoever takes the reins has to an increasing extent got tyrannical power for those five years. That might seem a little melodramatic but it was quite evident that no amount of democracy was going to stop Blair taking us to war.
Now, it seems that even at a local level democracy is malfunctioning. The number of stories in the local media with photographs of councillors wearing gags is absurd. New laws set by precedent earlier this year have basically made it impossible for councillors who live within three miles to comment or even vote on an issue. The net result is that anybody who wishes to represent his/her local community might as well forget about it.
So, this is how it works locally. A planning application from a large corporation is made with a borough council, the local population overwhelmingly oppose the plans and the councillors reflect this by unanimously rejecting the application. The decision is then referred to the county council who also reject it. But then the office of John Prescott (he having been 'democratically elected') overrule the decision.
Oh! I forgot to mention that the Cheif Executive of the borough council, who facilitated the original application and organised a nice little junket to America for a number of councillors who during their stay managed a short visit to a similar facility, implimented a cost cutting programme in which he and several other executives were made redundant. The council which has always maintained a healthy balance of accounts found that the only way to cover the severance costs was to sell off three prime assets. And it won't be surprising to learn that the cheif executive is now in the employ of the company who made the planning application.
Zinfandel