MADAM - Re your item on Lord Ashcroft’s 1,000 person opinion poll, on the Stroud Parliamentary constituency.

 

It not only predicted a very clear Lab gain (no need to borrow other party’s votes now David), 41 per cent to 31 per cent , but highlighted the damage to Neil Carmichael coming entirely from UKIP- t he party which represents people who are still suffering from post-imperialistic trauma. Who live in a time warp when we ruled the world and we didn’t have to think about the rest of Europe.

The other significant indicator in this poll shows the slump of Liberal Democrats from 15 per cent now to six per cent.

Ashcroft also signals Greens on a ‘healthy’ position of 11 per cent.

The latter was welcomed although for the past two years or more at local Government level we have been the third party, taking the place of the Lib Dems.

It also appears now that our position is hardening up at the National level now that people are seeing the full dimension And helped by Molly Scot Cato obtaining a seat at the European Parliament That election was under proportional system where every vote did count.

With our current unfair democratic ‘first past the post’ system you can win a General Election on as little as 25 per cent of the vote, leaving 75 per cent not feeling they are politically represented in their wishes.

So what tends to happen is that a lot of voters go for second best voting tactically or negative to keep the other main contestant out.

There are of course exceptions, one being Caroline Lucas winning, and it is so refreshing what one single Green voice make in an almost conformist Parliament that slavishly supports a neo liberal economy that creates further inequality while the Conglomerates have more and more of a strangle hold over our democracy.

(Google the TTIP - Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - trade agreement).

What I find so concerning is that very few people look at what the two main Parties policies stand for - historically there was clear distinct differences, now they are both reluctant to mention their positions almost up to the time of the elections and when they do they often mirror one another.

Nationally and internationally the Green Party stand for is, equality peace, human rights and opposition to the neo-liberal economy that causes austerity where the poor get even poorer My final adage is that if you don’t vote for what you believe in then you are never going to get it.

John Marjoram

Stroud district councillor (Green, Trinity) Stroud deputy mayor