2018-11, UK Review of Referendums...

A review, University College London, into the conduct of referendums, calls for multi-option ballots. Because of our submission?  Maybe.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/research/electionsandreferendums/ICR_Final_Report.pdf

And it follows on from, and supports, Ireland's Citizens' Assembly. See 2018-3.

2018-10 Brexit and Boris

So Boris Johnson resigns. But why? Hence our latest press release, No 22, top-right hand corner of the home page, calling for the matrix vote.

2018-9 The London demo for a People's Vote

Please sign the petition for a people's vote: www.peoples-vote.uk/petition 

23rd June, 100,000 in London marched for a people's vote. Brexit was divisive, not least because the ballot was binary: for-or-against, yes-or-no, remain-or-leave? To overcome the division, it would be wise to use an inclusive multi-option vote. The "people's vote" should be everybody's vote, at least something like: remain, Theresa May's negotiated option, or the WTO?

"Our campaign must be diverse," Caroline Lucas. "I want to work with people... from other parties," Sir Vince Cable. In other words, the UK needs (PR in elections and) pluralism in decision-making. The latter means multi-option voting, the most accurate form of which is a preferential points system, the MBC.

Indeed, if the UK had PR, we would not now be in this mess anyway. Secondly, if the 2011 referendum had been multi-optional, (like the New Zealand poll of 1992), we would probably now have PR. And thirdly, if the Brexit ballot had been multi-optional - something like the EU, EEA or WTO? - the EU option would probably have won. (See also 2018-7, 2018-2, 2017-14, 2017-1, 2016-12, 2016-9 and especially 2016-1, in which we predicted the result of the June 2016 Brexit nonsense.)

2018-8 North Korea

I went there for 10 days on 6th June, and Kim Jong-un went to see Donald Trump in Singapore. Mine was a package tour, of course, and there's more on the blog.

2018-7 Brexit: a “meaningful” vote?

To be “meaningful” for (almost) everyone, any final ballot should be multi-optional and, at best, preferential. Something like:

a) Theresa May’s negotiated option;

b) EEA and Customs Union;

c) EU;

d) WTO.

2018-6 Beijing/Tianjin/Hong Kong/Taiwan

Four lectures in four universities, all with the same message: two-option referendums are usually divisive, often inaccurate, and sometimes a cause of war. If but for the sake of Xinjiang, any polls in Hong Kong or Taiwan should not be binary.

2018-5, Dr John Robb RIP

One of our patrons, John was only fantastic. He was one of the few in NI who managed to build friendships based on trust from both sides of Northern Ireland's sectarian divide. Indeed, it was he who was largely responsible for the success of the New Ireland Group, an NGO which he founded in 1982 and which so often managed to bring together persons from all walks of life, not least the politicians from across the dreadful divide.  

2018-4, Majority/Grand Coalitions

In 2016, Ireland and Spain both broke their national records for time spent by a newly elected parliament to form its government: 70 days and 303. In 2017, the Netherlands did the same, 225. And now, in 2018, Germany does it as well, 161 days. Surely the lesson of Weimar is that majority rule is no good. Better an all-party coalition. That is, never let extremist parties get more power than their proportional due, like the Nazis in 1933 Germany, the Jewish Home in 2015 Israel, the DUP in 2016 UK, and the FPÖ in 2017 Austria. Just give them, including AfD (Alternative für Deutschland), their fair share. And then work in consensus. Extremists will soon tire. Others, like Sinn Féin, may well soften up.

Here's the latest graph showing various parliaments and the days they've taken to form their governments.

2018-3 Ireland's Citizens' Assembly

They've done it: the Citizens voted in favour of multi-option voting! Albeit in a majority vote. Ah well, can't be perfect. And albeit with another majority vote - STV or FPTP? - to recommend how should such multi-option ballots be analysed. This second question could have been multi-optional; but no; another dichotomy; this is probably a diehard reaction from the 'experts' to (try to) show that binary ballots are still acceptable.

To what extent the vote on multi-option voting was a result of our persuasion/persistence, we will probably never know. Never mind. It's happened. Here's our submission. See 2017-12, 2017-11 and 2016-14.

2018-2 A second EU referendum?

Complex questions should not be reduced to simplistic dichotomies.  Hence openDemocracy's latest: https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/peter-emerson/second-referendum-on-deal-with-eu-multi-option-poll  

See 2017-14.