Quote of the Day

From one Ken Clarke, talking about the rise of the prison population under Nu Labour:

David Blunkett and John Reid had a chequebook in one hand and a copy of the Daily Mail in the other.

Compulsory Voting

David Blunkett - with with his trademark lack of respect for freedom and individual responsibility - on the idea of compulsory voting:

"We should introduce compulsory voting between now and next May. Forty per cent of the population aren't voting, therefore they are leaving the other 60% to cast their vote for them and we know that those in greatest need are least likely to vote," he said.

Note how this is less about principle and more about maximising the Labour vote at the next election. Although quite how those stay-at-home Labour voters would feel towards the government if they were forced by law to head to the ballot box might be a different kettle of fish.

Now, I'm all for everyone in the country heading to the ballot box on election day. Voting is an essential part of our democracy, and - regardless of what you might think - people fought and died for your right to vote. Voting is a right for people in this country; and it is a right that should be exercised.

However, I can't bring myself to favour compulsory voting anymore. Democracy has to include the right to opt out, particularly if you find there is no-one representing what you believe in. A free society also requires people to have the right not to vote if they so wish. Any proposal to introduce compulsory voting has to come with the threat of punishment, and as a result it is essentially a negative measure. It isn't making people want to vote; it is forcing them to do so whether they like it or not.

If politicians actually want to increase turnout, then they should inspire people. They should offer groundbreaking policies that interest people and make them want to support the party in the ballot box. The declining turnout over recent General Elections isn't indicative of a declining interest in the general public about how this country is run; it is simply showing the lack of choice between the potential parties for government and how uninspiring the status quo is.

Don't make us vote; make us want to vote.

Bringing Back the Blairites.

Alan Milburn: Looking like a chipmunk who has just smelt a particularly bad fart*

It is ok, people. Britain is about to become a far fairer place to live. Our visionary Prime Minister, as part of his ongoing commitment to ressurrect the careers of Nu Labour drones who you hoped had finally left the public eye, has given a job to Alan Milburn. Something about social mobility, I think, but I cannot really be arsed to work out exactly what Milburn's new job is. It sounds made up, and I doubt that the man who, for all the world, resembles Nu Labour's answer to Alan B'stard, will be able to achieve anything in this *role*.

What does worry me is the precedent that seems to have been set by this appointment and that of Peter Mandelson. Because this all seems to be leading to what must be considered the worst case scenario - the return of David "machine gun 'em" Blunkett to the Cabinet. And I'd argue that the last thing we need is Blunkett back at the front line of British politics in a role such as "Minister for Brutal Suppression of Any Political Opposition", or whatever other role Brown might invent for him.

*Photo from the BBC.