Ignore the scare tactics about a hung parliament says Unlock Democracy
Which kind of economy would you prefer the UK to have?
Germany
- Largest economy in Europe
- Already out of recession
- Hung Parliament since 1949
Greece
- Bankrupt
- Draconian cuts causing civil unrest
- Electoral system designed to prevent hung parliaments
Of course it isn't that simple, but the scare stories against hung parliament being pushed out in the media and by some political parties beggar belief. The truth is there is no evidence that countries with hung parliaments have worse economies than ones with single party majorities, and plenty of evidence that they in fact perform better.
For example, did you know that of the 16 countries worldwide that have a triple-A rating - which guarantees them low rates of interest on the borrowing markets - 10 have hung parliaments and 12 use a system of proportional representation[1]? Or that countries with single party governments tend to have worse structural deficits[2]?
Unlock Democracy does not presume to tell you how to vote. We do however think you should consider the parties actual policies when deciding how to vote and, in particular, encourage you to make the parlous state of our democracy a deciding factor. With this in mind we have set up two websites to help you make your own mind up:
- Vote Match is a simple tool for contrasting your own views with the views of the major parties standing in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
- Vote for Democracy shows where the major parties stand on the areas of electoral reform, human rights, bringing power closer to the people and creating a more informed political culture.
The only thing we can be certain of at this stage in the election is that the votes cast on Thursday will not be reflected by the number of seats each party gets in the House of Commons. This scandal has been allowed to go on for too long and we have never had a better chance to change this once and for all. For this reason, Unlock Democracy has teamed up with a host of other organisations to organise a rally in Parliament Square at 2pm on Saturday 8 May to demand electoral reform. I urge you to come and join our purple revolution.