Get registered

I was delighted to read Bev Webiry’s letter “Register Now” in the Letters page last week, and grateful that the Editor chose to publish it. Bev’s strong encouragement to everyone of voting age to get registered, in good time before the next General Election, is both timely and important. Not only is maximum registration essential, generally, for a healthy democracy, but critical in the context of the next national poll, which will determine whether, and how far, we really do want a very different set of political leaders from those we’ve had in the last few years. However, registration is only the start. All of us, who are passionate democrats, should also demand: a voting system that makes every vote count; a reform of the funding of political parties; and MPs not allowed to take tax-payers money and have other jobs ‘on the side’. A Member of Parliament is a public servant, and should never take the job for personal enhancement and gain.

Published today in the Knutsford Guardian.