One thing I have learned during this General Election is that it is very hard to keep up a blog while campaigning at the level we have been campaigning at. 

Our team entirely consists of volunteers, most of whom have jobs to go to plus other commitments, but everyone is doing everything they can in what has been a fantastic campaign for the Lib Dems.   Less than a week to go now, and still nobody can predict what the outcome of the election is going to be nationally or locally. 

I can tell that some of the Conservatives are rattled locally, because they have resorted to ridiculous tactics.   For example, some of them are trying to pretend that the Lib Dems want to build either 12,000, 13,700 or 14,000 houses in Arborfield.  For those of you wondering, that’s a town bigger than the whole of Wokingham itself, and more houses than the entire housing allocation for Wokingham borough for the next 20 years.  And according to them it would all fit into part of Arborfield.  NO, NO, NO, NO, NO.  NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.

This nonsense started  a few weeks ago.  We have written twice to their agent, but it cropped up again this week from two different Conservatives.  It seems the Tories can’t offer people a reason to vote for them, so they have to try making up stories to stop people voting for someone else.   And in this case maybe they think it will have the added benefit of taking people’s attention away from the fact that the Conservatives are the ones who have actually voted through a plan to put 12,460 houses across Shinfield, North and South Wokingham and Arborfield.

This kind of ludicrous false scaremongering from the Conservatives shows exactly why we need a different kind of politics in this country. 

We need to change our voting system to one which gives parties MPs in proportion to how many votes they get.  Then everyone’s vote will count, and people in future would be able to vote FOR something they want, not AGAINST something they fear.   It may produce more coalition government, but actually wouldn’t it be a good idea for politicians to start working together, instead of shouting at each other as happens now?  That is what the Lib Dems are offering at this election:  voting reform, working with other parties on the economy and on social care – not to mention trying to get a bit more fairness back into our tax system, sorting out the banks, and doing something to help the environment.  And it looks possible that this time we may be able to exert some influence over what happens during the next government, because we may be involved in hung parliament.

Nationally, the Conservatives are claiming that the country will go into meltdown if we have a hung parliament.  Also nonsense.  Germany is in a rather better economic state than the UK, and they have had coalition government for most of the last 60 years.  Greece has “strong” government as beloved of the Tories – look at the state that country is in!

The Conservatives have always argued – and appear to be still arguing – that we had to stick with the unfair First Past the Post voting system because it delivers a government with a clear majority.  How ironic then, to see what’s happening at this election, where First Past the Post may end up giving the most seats to the party that comes third.

We cannot go on with this voting system – and the only way to get it changed is for as many people as possible to vote Lib Dem this time, so that the pressure becomes irresistable.

PS  Have to mention John Redwood, Mark Ashwell, Marjory Bisset, George Davidson, Top Cat Owen, Ann Zebedee and Robin Smith.  And Nick Clegg!

PPS For those of you who are wondering why this post doesn’t mention Labour:  they have had enough problems this week!

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