UK Politics
General Discussion for politics in the UK.
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"The IPPR recommended four policies (...) Lowering the voting age to 16. Implementing automatic voter registration. Introducing a £100,000 annual cap on donations to political parties. Creating an “election day service”.
(...)
The IPPR also said the government should consider enfranchising the 5 million long-term tax-paying residents who are not citizens "
Yes, yes, yes and yes. I don't care about "election day service" but the rest should be introduced as soon as possible.
I find the concept of non-citizen voters to be really weird. Ideally, the path to citizenship would be easier, and then you get a vote this way.
Unfortunately, that's not reality.
What I find weird is that Commonwealth citizens can vote in the UK parliamentary elections but tax paying EU citizens cannot.
"no taxation without representation"
Fuck off.
If they want to live here, use our services and have employment here then they pay tax.
When were were part of the EU, arguing for voting rights for residents made sense. However we are not, and if you were from any other country in the world I would expect you to pay the local taxes, even if you cannot vote there.
That quote is about the UK imposing taxes on the Americas. We are not talking about that here.
Weirdly aggressive response - it seems fairly clear to me that they're arguing that people who live, work in the UK should have a right to vote, not that they should be exempted from paying tax
You may consider it aggressive, but I want a bit more commitment than just paying a bit of taxes.
Thats the sort of thing an American says just before Musk declares that he pays corporate tax and sues to vote in multiple countries, for as many companies as he owns.
Commitment like living and working there, you mean? Nobody was proposing it should apply to corporations, because they aren't people
All they're proposing is that people who pay their fair share for, and depend on, government services should have a say in how those services operate
And considering the majority of migrant workers return to their home country, your proposal is not very bright.
Hey, everyone who doesn't have a stake in what happens in 5 years, do you want to vote for more investment in the country or reduced taxes. Yeah, thats going to end well.
They need to have some skin in the game if they want to decide that level of impact.
Okay? But I never said I agreed with them, did I? Just that it's not such an intrinsically evil concept as to legitimate you being an asshole to the original commenter
I think this is the only one likely to change / come into effect.
Honestly, why this hasn't happened yet is beyond me.
laughs in Tory and Labour special interests
Hmm... Call me old fashioned but I think voting should be reserved for citizens not simply if you pay taxes. If you want to vote then show that you want to be associated with the country you're voting in and become a citizen. Living in a country and using it's services is one thing but deciding where the country goes (however naively) is another.
None of those will help, the problem is the FPTP system that allows a party to win with only 1/3 of the popular vote.
There is no argument here, FPTP is definitely an issue. Nevertheless, I belive these should be implemented irrespectively.
Reading these recommendations again and I'm struggling to see the benefits when it comes to voter turnout.
If you add 16 year-olds to the franchise, the majority of them are not going to vote. So that will depress the turnout figures.
If we introduced automatic voter registration, the people who never vote will continue to never vote. So that will depress the turnout figures.
The cap on donations is completely irrelevant to this topic, so I don't know why it is even in there, likewise with the "election day service" idea.
Its removing hurdles & simplifying the voting process.
People entering higher education should have a chance to shape the country.
People don't have to worry if they're registered to vote when all eligible votes are automatically registered.
The cap on donations ensures parties all have the same level playing field.
It literally takes 5 minutes to register to vote. If the people who aren't registered were serious about voting, they would get it sorted.
Clearly they can't be arsed.
If it's so simple and so negligible then why not just make it automatic. Those 5 minutes seem like a waste of time don't they? How much time and money is wasted on those alleged 5 minutes? Why not streamline it?
You think the cap on donations is irrelevant? Really? You think voter apathy and participation is in no way tied to the perception that politics has been bought and paid for by the wealthy? I'd say that's by far the most important one.