THE COTSWOLD HUMANIST

Newsletter No 9                                                                              Spring 2003

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DRIVEN BY BELIEF

   The video we viewed, about the fifty "people of faith" - Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc - who have the greatest influence on the affairs of this country was, on the face of it, somewhat alarming.

  
A number of those named, some very wealthy, were close to government ministers and officials, and though some influences could have been for good, others in our view were misguided and wrongheaded, especially when they involved promoting religious beliefs. Where morals and ethics were in concerned the religionists appealed to their particular religious scriptures, with which the others would probably disagree.   The fifty named were paraded in reverse order of influence, and topping the list, well beyond the then Archbishop of Canterbury was, would you believe, Tony Blair!

 

Our initial alarm might be assuaged by looking at the growing list of Honorary Associates of BHA and NSS, including recent joiners like the philosopher Dr A C Greyling, author Philip Pullman, Alice Mahon, MP and Joan Smith of the Independent on Sunday.

 

MAKING VOTES COUNT

John Holman, Chairman of DAGGER (Liberal-Democrat Action Group for Gaining Electoral Reform) spoke to us in October. He called upon electors to empower themselves, not to accept what government wanted by way of electoral reform, but to demand a referendum on the best system of proportional representation.

 

   The Electoral Reform Society say that in the 2001 General Election

·         two out of every five electors did not bother to vote.

·         49% of voters did not get the MP they voted for.

·         although Labour had the support of only 2 voters out of 5, it won another massive majority.

·         it was the other way round in previous General Elections. In 1983, for example, the Conservatives won  61% of the seats with only 42% of the votes.

·         of the 641 seats in England, Scotland and Wales only 21 changed parties.

 

No wonder ordinary people are being turned off from voting and becoming disconnected from politics!

The Electoral Reform Society is campaigning for a modern democracy - one in which electors can influence decisions which affect them and in which politicians can be held to account. They seek voting systems which

 

·         ensure that all votes have equal value.

·         give effective representation to all significant points of view within the electorate.

·         Allow electors to vote for their preferred candidates without fear of wasting their vote and

·         Ensure the accountability of individual representatives to their electorates.

 

The ERS believes that the voting system which best fulfils these aims is the Single Transferable Vote (STV).

 

How it worked in NORTHERN IRELAND EUROPEAN ELECTION 1999

 

VOTING PROCEDURE

Northern Ireland used preference Voting by STV for electing its representatives in the European    Parliament.

The Province is the constituency, electing three MEPs. The ballot paper displays the names and parties of all candidates and the voters mark their preferences with 1,2,3,4 and so on. Each voter, however, has only one vote which may help to vote-in a successful candidate achieving the set quota, or as part of an excess of votes for the winning candidate, which will be redistributed at a partial value to the second choice.

  

When redistribution of excess votes has been accomplished, losing candidates' votes are similarly redistributed at full value until all votes have been fully utilized, enhancing the scores of following candidates until they have achieved quota or are eliminated.

 

As these processes are carried out, column by column, the aggregate scores are added and must equal the total numbers of votes cast, to ensure that the arithmetic is correct, no vote is lost and all votes accounted for.

 

While the voting procedure is more complex than voting by the cross of the illiterate, it is not difficult to express one's preferences. The counting method is more complex but today is done by computer program, and should not be the concern of the voters any more than is the F-p-t-p method.

 

   Northern Ireland turnout was 58% compared with 23% in the rest of the UK.

 

WAR LITERATURE

 

We heard brief extracts from a number of First World War poets, records of whose lives and work is now on show at the recently opened National War Museum in London. Other wars before and after were memorialised, and included the writings of a driver in war-torn North Vietnam and a soldier in Kosova. We were reminded of the wars in other parts of the globe, and of the current threat of war in Iraq. We are indebted to Gillian Bailey for the loan of a video called Not in My Name which we viewed. This included footage of the war in Afghanistan, with commentary by Tony Benn, Tariq Ali, John Pilger and several others who deplored the actions of the Americans and their ambitions in Iraq, which they believed was aimed at controlling its oil.  They described the difficulty of launching protests and the difficulty of getting accurate information when, for instance Al Jezeerah television station was bombed by the Americans. The video, which might be described as propaganda, met with a generally sympathetic response from those present with only two members expressing contrary views.

 

YULETIDE PARTY

 

This was held earlier in December than usual in the hope of avoiding clashes with other parties and events. Members brought games, quizzes and various things to amuse including the now, almost traditional bagatelle board.  The break for refreshments revealed interesting food people had brought and provided more opportunity for informal chat than our usual structured meetings allow.

 

RACIAL EQUALITY NOW

 

This was the title of a talk in January by Sheleen McCormack, a Racial Equality Officer employed by Worcestershire Racial Equality Council, one of the 90 such RECs.  Its aim is `Community Equalities and  Social Cohesion as the way forward for Worcestershire in the 21st Century.'

 

Its legal basis is the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 which strengthens and extends the scope of the 1976 Race Relations Act in two major ways: it extends protection against racial discrimination by public authorities; it places a new, enforceable positive duty on public authorities.

 

 This was a very lively meeting in which Sheleen was bombarded with questions which she answered with admirable knowledge and composure. Yes, the Police could be taken to court for racial discrimination.  No, quotas for racial minorities in employment would not do as reverse discrimination is illegal. Fear or distaste of  Muslim women's burkas was unnecessary, it was a cultural matter. Asked about separate schools for different religions she agreed that it could be divisive, but people tended to keep to their own groups. She said that people needed to recognize and respect each other's differences but agreed that much was still to be achieved to alter some people's long-standing prejudices. 

 

The Worcestershire REC is the organization that deals specifically and entirely with matters of racial equality in the county. They are committed to contributing to the welfare and development of black and ethic minority in particular, and the whole community in general. They do so by: providing guidance, advice, advocacy and assistance to people who believe they have been racially discriminated against;   bringing together individuals of different cultural and racial identity as a collective body; working towards the elimination of racial discrimination; promoting equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups, and communities with different cultures; doing so in a spirit of conciliation and co-operation.

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Published for Cotswold Humanists by Philip Howell, 2 Cleevelands Close, Cheltenham, GL50 4PZ

Tel: 01242 528743. E-mail: philiphowell@cleeveland2.fsnet.co.uk