A letter sent in by an elderly gentleman covers many Change Politics for Good Topics.

Only one topic is presented here(House of Lords reform). But after you have read this, I am sure you will want to download all the topics in a single MS Word Document. You can do this by clicking the button at the bottom of the this Article.

House of Lords Reform

This would be my first change to our political system. We boast in Britain about being democratic but our so-called "Higher chamber" is unelected which I find completely unacceptable.

I would replace this chamber with an elected body probably no more then 100 to 150 members. One possibility for the house to reflect public opinion I would think it best elected on a proportional representation basis. The house would have no power other than to recommend to the House of Commons amendments to proposed legislation. Members would do no constituency work. They would be paid a salary and expenses.

Another possibility for a second chamber has been suggested. It would be formed of members representing different groups in our Society. For example, teachers would be able appoint a member representing them. Another member would represent the farming community another, builders etc. The Electoral Commission would have to establish the categories and members of the public would have to indicate which professional category they were in and therefore their desire to choose a member to represent them. This would be done when they registered for the electoral roll and those who don’t want to vote for a professional group could have the right to vote for a political party. This chamber would be far better than the present House of Lords, be democratic and need not be elected at the same time as a general election.

The present House of Lords is extremely expensive and is the greatest club of privilege in the world. It will be difficult to have it abolished because it is a wonderful resting place for ex members of the commons and the Lords themselves will not want to lose their nice comfortable lifestyle.

 I would use the review chamber to handle referenda (see Referenda section) and also to produce factual statistics. Matters such as taxation. crime. immigration etc.

The only change I would make to the House of Commons is to reduce the number of members from 650 to about 500 but I don't regard this as important.

A few years ago, during the conservative / liberal coalition a vote was held to decide whether to change the voting system to use a single transferable vote. The idea was rejected. It has also been suggested that our government should be elected by proportional representation but this has never been put to the electorate and I personally am not in favour of it. My reason being that this would lead to coalitions which tend to be indecisive and governments where nobody actually gets what they want. I'm opposed to fixed-term parliaments because when there is no majority parliament becomes ineffective as it cannot decide matters and cannot call for a new election. There must however be a maximum term as at present.

I am in favour of a two-party system on a first-past-the-post basis which produces strong decisive governments but which can be changed at the next election and any unpopular legislation amended.

It is most important however that there is always an organised strong opposition which will highlight poor legislation and raise sensible amendments.

Once legislation had been proposed it would have to be voted through or rejected. I would stop the practice or talking out legislation.

Last week my wife and I tested positive for Covid19.

Our Covid journey started around the beginning of September when first my wife Elaine and then I fell ill with a cold.  Well a sort of cold with some mild flu like symptoms including fatigue.  

Neither of us had identical symptoms I had a few instances of diarrhea while Elaine did not.  Elaine had a runny nose while I had a bunged up feeling in my head but my nose and sinuses remained clear.

We both took cold and flu tablets, a few extra vitamins and avoided alcohol to keep as well as possible.  Neither of us felt so unwell to need to consult the NHS or our GP and it was only when Elaine lost her sense of smell that we felt the need to get tested.

The irony is that while we undergo quarantine at home both of us feel well and the only clue that the virus is active is that Elaine has still not fully recovered her sense of smell and taste.

For 99% of the population Covid19 really is no worse than flu and many do not display any symptoms at all.  For 1% of the population the virus is a life threatening event but given the mortality rates of Covid19 I believe the Prime Minister should have sacked the Sage committee and followed Sweden's example back in August to achieve herd immunity.

The social, human and economic damage caused by Conservative mishandling of Covid19 will be longer lasting and more painful than the virus itself.