Thursday 5 May 2011

An Alternative to Voting....

This is an idea that I heard a long time ago. Probably from a radical socialist. I forget precisely who.

So, in the spirit of "The Mark Steel Solution", I proffer you this:

MP's should be selected in the same way as jurors.

The first thing to say about this is that this would mean the end of elections. It would mean, at least in some ways, a no-party state. Here's how it works..

  • Every year/ two years/ five years/ whatever, a load of names are selected at random from an enormous hat that contains the details, scribbled on rizlas, of everyone in the country who is sane and over 18. (or lots of hats, one in each constituency)
  • Each person selected must be a member of parliament for that period, unless they can give a good reason why they shouldn't. (doctor's note, death certificate, etc)
  • While serving as MPs, they should not be paid, but they should be compensated for loss of earnings. This would mean paying them the same amount they recieved for doing their day job.
Government of the people, by the people, for the people? Or a recipe for disaster, as the Murdochs of this world exploit the naive MP's?

Feel free to comment.

No comments: