Why 'NO' is so negative

With the referendum on introducing fairer votes now confirmed for May, you would have expected some debate to have started.  But surprisingly nothing has come from the No campaign.  Rather than find a good reason to keep our broken politics and the voting system that protects it, they have spend lots of money on offensive adverts such as this

Now clearly there is a cost to running a referendum* but it will cost the same whether you vote yes or no.  The no campaign appears to taking the public for fools and is clearly desperate.   

It really is no surprise.  For too long the country has had to put up with a two parties taking it turns to run the country.  And those two parties are both trapped by the media who subscribe to the “comment is free, proper journalism is expensive” theory, so simply print what they want people to hear, rather than print facts and allow people to make up their own minds. 

Successive governments that have sucked up to big business to keep their parties going as ordinary membership crashed through the floor.  Is it any wonder that whilst the top earners have seen their wealth expand, for ordinary families, both parents have to work to support the family. 

Despite all the economic triumphs claimed by Macmillan, Thatcher, Brown etc, the days of raising a family on one basic wage are gone.  We’re working harder than ever, to help others get richer than ever.

Business and media have it all sewn up. The two old parties have become (often reluctantly) dependant on business for funding and the media for support. 

What about ‘the people’, under the current system, only a few hundred people in those marginal seats matter. The rest of the country, ‘the people’, had become a bit surplus to democratic process.

And whilst big business got on with running the country and the media re-assured the busy public it was all ok.  The old politics sat back with nothing to do but fill out expenses forms, sell confidential knowledge to lobbyists, offering honours for cash and after what we're told is a hectic16 hour day, old politics finds time to write their memoirs in preparation for the day the media decides it's someone elses' turn and the generous tax payer funded pension scheme won't stretch to the lifestyle the old politics has grown used to getting for free!

It is all a bit cosy, unless you’re ‘the people’.  And it is ‘the people’, for the first time, who have the chance to blow a big whole in the old politics.  The old politics in very scared.  They will try anything to protect the current system.  You will see lots of adverts in the press, on billboards and in magazines for the ‘no’ campaign, they have the backing of big business and the media because they’re also scared of change.  They will make stuff up if they have to, after all that is what the old politics is all about, dishonsty, corruption and sleaze.

But the people have something that business and media doesn’t.  The vote.

On May 5th, ask yourself 
Do you want to ditch the old politics? 
Do you want to wash away the grubby sytem that lead to the expenses scandal?
Do you want politicians to look after people rather than news editors?
Do you want votes to be fairer?


If any of your answers are Yes vote YES

(*as it happens, introducing fixed term parliaments has more than covered the cost of the referendum as authroities can plan ahead and General elections will be every 5 years rather than the usual 4. Add the reduction in MPs to 600 and reform is saving a fortune)