Majority of Labour-Linked Trade Unions Now Back Electoral Reform After Shop Workers Call for PR
26 April 2023
Two-thirds of trade unions that support the Labour Party now back a major change to Westminster’s voting system, after shop workers’ union USDAW became the latest to throw its weight behind the campaign.
Delegates at the union’s Annual Delegate Meeting yesterday backed a motion calling on USDAW to “support the introduction of proportional representation for general elections, to protect and improve democracy in the UK”.
The move marks a big boost for the Labour campaign for electoral reform, after a sweep of general elections in which progressive parties won the most votes but a minority of seats in the House of Commons.
Nearly 23 million votes did not count towards electing people’s MP in 2019, according to Electoral Reform Society analysis, a result that was branded “disenfranchisement on an industrial scale”.
Labour delegates overwhelmingly backed PR at last year’s party conference – after mega-unions Unison and Unite supported the shift. But Labour Leader Keir Starmer has refused to commit to changing the system, despite noting during his leadership campaign that many people felt their votes didn’t count under the one-party-takes-all voting system currently in place.
Coronation: Public invited to swear allegiance to King Charles
19 hours ago
People watching the Coronation will be invited to join a "chorus of millions" to swear allegiance to the King and his heirs, organisers say.
The public pledge is one of several striking changes to the ancient ceremony revealed on Saturday.
In a coronation full of firsts, female clergy will play a prominent role, and the King himself will pray out loud.
The Christian service will also see religious leaders from other faiths have an active part for the first time.
The Coronation on Saturday will be the first to incorporate other languages spoken in Britain, with a hymn set to be sung in Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic.
Would you swear allegiance to King Charles or are they really outdated?
Re: UK News and Discussions
Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 3:12 pm
by Time_Traveller
As the UK local elections are happening in some places around the country. Here is a TLDR youtube video about voter IDs.
Re: UK News and Discussions
Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 2:15 pm
by Time_Traveller
Re: UK News and Discussions
Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 1:05 pm
by Time_Traveller
Local elections 2023 – live: Tory backlash over ‘terrible’ results as PM urged to ‘do better’
46 seconds
Rishi Sunak is facing pressure from senior Tories MPs to “deliver” on key issues if the party wants to avoid defeat at the next general election.
The prime minister had to show voters his party had made improvements in areas including the economy and the NHS before they go to the polls again, they said.
One former cabinet minister, who supported Mr Sunak’s bid to become Tory leader, told The Independent he now had to “deliver on his five priorities”, which included lowering waiting lists and inflation.
Lord Barwell, a Tory peer who served as Theresa May’s chief of staff in No 10, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Mr Sunak now had a “hell of a job” to undo the “damage Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have done to the Conservative brand.”
The Tories have suffered heavy losses across England, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats both making gains in what another Conservative MP described as a “terrible” night for his party.
