wow that's really democratic. Way to take the masses with you comrade.

postering is totally fair enough. picketing polling booths, fair.

but to deny the point of voting at all? would you rather have a labour or tory government? i think if you said it doesn't make a differnce that would be buying your head in the sand. as long as we are living in this, imperfect system, issues like public spending, benefits and welfare are going to make a real difference to people on the street.

denying people a vote seems like a very negative action, with no viable alternative suggested. do you not think a much better mantra is don't *just* vote? assuming we're not going to have a revolution tomorrow, we're stuck with the system we've got. much better to make people aware of the ways they can make a difference in other ways than stop something that can make a small change. i can't see how 10,000 going on a protest (for example) will make any more or less difference than 10,000 people casting their vote, and casting a vote takes 5 minutes to walk to the polling station.

you're right though, in that people believing their vote makes them a aprt of a democratic society is a dangerous mindset. but there's other wyas to deal with that.

Dear A,
thankyou for posting a comment on this report. Could you please explain to me who the masses are though, because i am a bit confused as to who precisely constitutes them.
I also would like some light shed on who "the public" are, as this seems to be used by all parties and all people to mean something completely different. I have looked it up in the Oxford English Dictionary but it does not offer the answers I am looking for.
Yours sincerely,
P E Dant.

did you ever put drawing pins on teacher's chair?

Are you really stupid enough to believe that you're doing any good? Yes you could make the case that elections are currently largely pointless but what RIGHT have you to physically try, albeit pitifully, to deny people their right to vote? Your arrogance outweighs even your foolishness...

We should be working to reform and IMPROVE the democratic system (eg. proportional representation) not sabotage it

What is wrong with our democracy?

There is no democratic mandate to govern.

Over many years successive UK governments have lacked a democratic mandate to govern from a majority of the people. Indeed, the present government only has 35% support from voters and 21% support from the electorate as a whole. More people don’t vote than actually support the government. Spoiled ballot papers are counted as part of the turnout, giving an additional illusion of support for the system. UK government has been described as ‘an elected dictatorship’ or a political system suffering from a ‘democratic deficit’, where MPs can’t speak their mind for fear of deselection. Under the Royal Prerogative the Prime Minister can take the country to war without parliamentary approval. It is said that Governments listen to big business and the financial markets more than their own citizens.

First Past the Post

Under our FPTP system minor parties are unfairly discriminated against. It is perfectly possible for a party to get 25% of the votes but only 3% of the seats in Parliament, as did the Liberal/SDP Alliance in the 1983 election. Also, the funding and media exposure of political parties is unequal and unfair.

Vote rigging.

Postal voting has been shown to be prone to fraud. It is also the custom among major parties not to run a candidate in the Speaker's constituency thus disenfranchising its voters. If they can do it in one constituency they can do it in others. Tactical voting and vote trading by voters further skews the result.
Conspiring political parties.

Under certain circumstances, such as perceived threats to national security, the two major parties will unite, effectively transforming us into a One Party State, regardless of the will of the people.

What you can’t vote on.

We can’t choose our leaders, they are chosen for us by political parties. You can’t vote on foreign policy such as defence or on the arms trade. As the world's fourth largest economy UK is its second biggest arms producer.

Lack of accountability.

There are American bases, with nuclear weapons on our soil which are unaccountable both to Parliament and the people. Menwith Hill spy base also carries out unlawful telephone and internet surveillance on UK citizens.

Political globalisation.

There is erosion of nation states due to globalisation. Decisions which profoundly affect UK citizens are made abroad by unelected people and organisations. NATO, WTO, UN, WB, G8, NGOs, Multinationals, etc.

I would rather glue locks then wait for the dawning of democracy through PR. You muppet, do you go to sleep with a picture of charles kennedy.

Democracy not Demockery

Because I've totally missed the point of anarchism I don't feel the need to take on board other people's opinions or indeed allow them to make their own decisions.

As a result I will never break out of my self-imposed little ultra-left ghetto but that's OK 'cos I prefer it that way.

It is well known that the British electoral system is the finest in the world! Not only do the electorate get an accountable government, but in certain circumstances they have recourse to the Queen who can intervene in special circumstances to stop a government acting like an elected dictatorship!

Great action, keep at it and ignore all the haters.

Funny how you try and make out Proportional Representation to be a distant, naive dream...and yet think gluing a few locks together is going to bring down the system. Grow up. It's probably been dismissed as the work of a few kids who had some glue left over from a sniffing session.

The idea of Proportional Representation on the other hand is in the news again with the Independent openly campaigning for it on the front page today.

Everyone who dares criticise this pathetic and juvenile excuse for "direct action" is in fact a "hater".

What the fuck do you actually mean? There was very little "hate" around; just people surprised, irritated and in disagreement with the action, for a variety of reasons (my favourite is that its a crappy schoolboy prank which is bound to be counterproductive)

Grow up schoolboy "anarcho" and actually find out about anarchism - its a libertarian socialist philosophy which encourages people to make their own decisions without having to worry about being smeared as "haters" by fuckwits like you who find anything more taxing and thought-intensive than knee-jerk sloganising and masturbatory phony "direct action" too much effort.

Sheesh. If Kropotkin could see you now!

I would rather sniff glue than read that liberal arse rag, at least you get a buzz off the glue you middle calss prick!

Yes blackflag, because we should only ever read things that we totally agree with, exposure to different opinions might have all sorts of terrifying consequences...

I think people lose sight of the reality of the society which we live in. Indeed, democracy isn't perfect, as in the us, Britain has a government that a less than majority percentage has opted for. A system of concensus decision making clearly allows voices to be heard, but in a context of such fast transactions of discourse and life, what chance does that stand? I was torn with who to vote for in the election, as nobody truely expressed my views, but I remain thankfull that I have a ballot paper to mark. Please, embrace, adapt and utilise the system we have, make it work for the people of this country and the world. Love will come through...were a priviledged bunch!

Well thank God for the enlightened people holding out for proportional representation to save us all. We dont need democracy all we need is well read broad minded people who can justify murder, war, oppression all in the name of capatalism, because after all 'we do live in a democracy'

Think outside this box and try to rage against this sick society and we will brand you glue sniffers and childish. Sometimes resistance may seem petty and small scale but it is better than reading a paper and posting twoddle on indymedia.

Get a grip Andrew before your life slips into middle age and you end up been another ex liberal tory scum bag!

Where exactly have I 'justified' murder, war and oppression? I presume you're accusing me of this though your incoherent ramblings are rather difficult to decipher.

And are you seriously saying a move towards PR isn't a good thing? that gluing up locks is a worthier political campaign...?

I didn't mention the Independent to discuss the newspaper's faults or merits, I mentioned it to demonstrate the way in which the PR campaign is becoming increasingly mainstream - not the distant naive dream you implied it was earlier.

And I didn't dismiss the 'resistance' because it was small scale rather because it was meaningless, counter-productive and generally silly. Actions without thought are indeed worse than no action at all.

I suspect though that you're more concerned with the means - 'rebellion' - than the end; actually achieving anything. And yes that is childish.

Andrew i could not give a fuck about PR, im an Anarchist!

I would not agrree with any political system as long as we are confined to a capatalist system of government.

Doing some thing is better than doing nothing, you learn through mistakes!

If you support our current "democaratic process" then you condone war, if you voted Lab, Lib or tories then you support murder for oil. All of them backed the war in the end and all of them support the system of government and the pursuit of profit over people.

We should end this as im not suddenly going to come over to your views and i hope you never grace my political circles as im likely to ram the independent down your throat.