Peter Smith is a retired Government PR professional, now lecturing in journalism, communications and politics at the University of Lincoln.
In less than a month we will be asked by the Government whether or not we want to keep the present first past the post voting system traditionally used for national and local elections, or switch to AV, the Alternative Vote system.
In the face of the continuing issues of cuts, NHS reforms, Libya, and the general wear-and-tear of coalition politics, the case for reform has been slow to find its way to the top of the news agenda.
Even now, it seems that the coverage – locally as well as nationally – is more about the political schisms than about the issues.
There are any numbers of campaigns running: for a Yes vote, No to AV, to scrap first past the post but for Proportional Representation (PR) rather than AV, and even a rogue Tory website in favour of change.
All of these have lined up heavyweight political support and a good smattering of celebrities and commentators to make their case.
Over the weekend the rhetoric has been stepped up and the points—scoring by the two main camps has obscured rather than clarified things. The problem is that both campaigns make essentially the same claim for their preferred voting system—more certainty, less likelihood of more coalitions, keeping the MP-constituency link etc., etc.
Voters are being urged to use the referendum to thwart the coalition but again each camp has a different take—many No supporters see the vote as a chance to drive a wedge between Cameron and Clegg, whilst many Yes campaigners see a change as being the best way to deny Cameron any chance of an outright majority in the future. So the differences are becoming more personal and increasingly about something other than a deep seated commitment to one particular electoral system.
As with the last national referendum, though there has been many local or regional referenda in the meantime, on Britain remaining in the EU (which wasn’t called the EU then, of course), there is no clear party divide on changing the system.
Most Tories, led from the front by David Cameron, are opposed to change and trenchant in their views on the perils of AV but the No campaign is chaired by former Labour Minister Margaret Beckett and has many prominent Labour politicians in its ranks. Which is a little odd as Labour was the only one of the main parties to go into the 2010 General Election with AV in its manifesto, neither Conservatives nor Liberal-Democrats were arguing the case a year ago.
Indeed, Nick Clegg, a passionate advocate of voting reform, had gone on record as describing AV as a “miserable little compromise“. Now he find himself now firmly in the Yes camp, to the extent that Ed Miliband has urged AV supporters to vote positively and not to turn May 6 into a “referendum on Nick Clegg”.
Well, the fact is a referendum on AV was part of the coalition agreement, so we have the rather odd spectacle of David Cameron agreeing to put something he doesn’t want to the country, in order to appease Nick Clegg, who didn’t want it either.
Given that PR purists would rather see the single transferable vote (STV) replace our present system, another analogy that comes to mind is the referendum in Australia in 1999 on whether to retain the Monarch as head of state or to become a republic.
Many republicans were so unhappy with the model of Presidential selection and constitutional change on offer that they voted to retain the Monarch rather than opt for a flawed republic.
Apply that logic and the STV camp might well decide to vote No on May 5 and wait and hope that a more truly representative system might be offered by later Governments.
Similarly, many Labour proponents of AV might vote against this time because tied into the reforms would be a re-drawing of constituency boundaries that would not only reduce the number of MPs for the present 650 to around 600 but would, on best estimates, benefit the Conservatives at Labour’s expense.
We do not yet know the extent of these proposed changes or whether they might affect Lincolnshire but this issue—integral to the Parliamentary debate on the referendum—has all but disappeared from any of the campaigns.
So with less than four week’s of campaigning to go, the two (or more) camps have got a lot to do to explain to a largely in different public why this matters, why their vote counts and why change is, or isn’t needed.
Their mainstream TV campaigns do try to focus on the issues but in the press and PR battle, surely it is time to get the politics out of political reform.
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Peter Smith is a retired government PR professional, now lecturing in journalism, communications and politics at the University of Lincoln.
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The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
A 22-year-old man from Scunthorpe has been given a life sentence in prison in connection with the murder of a 20-year-old man.
Peter Balog, 22, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a requirement to serve a minimum of 21 years before he can become eligible for release, after Abdullah Balouchi, 20, was murdered on Peel Street in Hull on October 7, 2020.
Balog initially pleaded not guilty, but changed his plea to guilty after two weeks of the trial.
Abdirahman Aadan, 18, of Pendril Street, Hull, will be kept at her majesty’s pleasure for a minimum of 17 years, due to being 17-years-old at the time of conviction, after also being found guilty of murder.
Two other men, Khalid and Mohamed Aadan, 19 and 20 respectively, both of Pendrill Street, Hull, were found guilty of manslaughter and will serve 10 years detention in a young offenders institute.
Both have a requirement to serve a minimum of two thirds of that period before consideration can be given to the remaining time served in the community under license.
20-year-old Abdullah Balouchi was murdered on Peel Street in Hull on October 7, 2020. | Photo: Humberside Police
The investigation into Abdullah’s murder will continue, as police say there are still outstanding suspects.
Humberside Police have vowed to not rest until all individuals have been brought to justice.
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Superintendent, Robert Clark said: “Whilst these convictions and lengthy sentences will not bring back Abdullah, I hope they will provide the Balouchi family with some sense of closure as they continue to grieve for their loved one.”
“I just, again, want to thank them for their strength, courage and dignity during what has been a very painful and difficult time, one that no family should have to endure.”
“Abdullah’s murder was a senseless act bringing the most violent of crime onto the streets of Hull, effecting not only the Abdullah’s family and friends but also this close knit community.
“We continue to work closely in the area around Spring Bank to unite people and make sure that it is a safe place for everyone to live and work.”
Health and safety teams in Lincoln are currently investigating after an Asian supermarket in the city was seen delivering unrefrigerated meat to its premises.
A van was seen parked up outside Asia Supermarket on St Mark Street on Tuesday, with multiple animal carcasses in the back to be delivered to the shop.
An eyewitness saw the food uncovered in the back of the van before being wheeled into the shop in a trolley.
Questions have been asked about the refrigeration of the goods, and the hygiene of how it was transported to the supermarket.
Asia Supermarket is located on St Mark Street in Lincoln. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
City of Lincoln Council’s inspectors have confirmed that an investigation is now underway after a complaint was issued to them on Tuesday afternoon.
Louise Harding, Food, Health and Safety Team Leader at City of Lincoln Council, said: “We have been made aware of the incident and have begun an investigation.”
The owners of the supermarket have claimed that their original refrigerated van had broken down, and all relevant checks were taken before storing the food in the chiller room.
A spokesperson for Asia Supermarket told The Lincolnite: “Our refrigerator van broke down and we could not leave the meat in that van. Because of this we used another van to bring the meat to the supermarket, as it was not far from the shop.
“All the goods were delivered in a different van, and all the temperature checks were done before being taken into the chiller room.”
A GP surgery in Stamford has responded to concerns of patient care, access to appointments and practice management detailed in a damning report recently published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Lakeside Healthcare Stamford was given an overall rating of ‘Inadequate’ and placed into special measures after an inspection by CQC on June 7 and 8 this year. Lakeside Healthcare at Stamford was created in 2017 following the merger of St Mary’s Medical Centre, Sheepmarket Surgery and The Little Surgery.
The practice was rated as ‘Inadequate’ in categories of Safe, Effective, Responsive, and Well-led, while it scored ‘Requires Improvement’ under the category of ‘Caring’.
The findings were published in a report on August 2, including that three breaches of regulation were found. Lakeside Stamford issued a response on its website the same day, saying that “swift action is being taken”.
CQC found that the practice was not providing care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm. Patients were also not always receiving effective care and treatment that met their needs.
It was acknowledged in the report that staff most dealt with patients with kindness and respect, and involved them in decisions about their care. However, patients commented that their care had been impacted upon by poor access to appointments.
The report added that the way the practice was being led and managed did not promote the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care. The practice said it has now appointed a Practice Manager and is recruiting an Operations and Compliance Manager to work alongside the new Patient Services Manager.
Within the report CQC listed a number of things the provider must do, including to establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care, and employees receiving the appropriate support, training, supervision, and appraisal necessary to enable them to carry out the duties.
Regarding placing the service into special measures, CQC said: “Services placed in special measures will be inspected again within six months. If insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate for any population group, key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service.
“This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve.
“Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement we will move to close the service by adopting our proposal to remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration.”
The practice said: “The GP partners, staff and executive team acknowledge issues around patient care, access to appointments and practice management, which were being addressed prior to the inspection.
“The Stamford team, with considerable input and support from Lakeside Central team, is focusing its efforts on addressing the CQC’s concerns and listening to patient feedback while continuing to provide day-to-day services for the community.”
The GP surgery had previously been rated as ‘Good’ for providing safe services after a focused follow-up inspection back in August 2019, but the most recent visit this year flagged up a number of concerns.
The practice added: “Lakeside Stamford has, and will continue to remain in close contact with the NHS Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group and other partners while these strategies are embedded.
“The new PPG committee is working collaboratively with the Transformation Manager and has been fully informed of the outcome of the inspection at an early stage to ensure that the patient voice is a valued part of any change.
“Lakeside Stamford is very proud of its team, which has worked throughout a very difficult 18 months to provide GP services and ensure that patients received their vaccines in a timely and efficient manner.
“The outcome of the inspection in June, which is one of the first to have taken place since the pandemic, has been devastating for all staff at Lakeside. However we remain positive about working to restore confidence in the quality of care we provide to the community of Stamford and beyond.”
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