A bad smell and the vote

Today I walked up to the village...........it was bright and sunny, though the breeze was a bit chilly..........in order to collect a prescription from the chemist. What with the price of petrol being what it is, and that exercise is good for you, walking seemed the best option.


So, nice sunny (chilly) day, plugged into my iphone listening to the new Pet Shop Boys album that I down loaded yesterday. Most of the journey is past houses, but as you get closer to the centre of the village, it gets more rural. Yeah I know, contradiction of sorts, but we have a small common and two ponds (that have a few ducks, that stop the traffic when they decide they want to cross the road) and hedgerow type stuff. Now the hedges and round the ponds there are hawthorn bushes. Now hawthorn bushes are quite common in the UK, especially in hedgerows, and they look quite pretty.................nice white flowers. But the smell.....................they stink.............bit like unwashed flesh, or maybe rotting flesh. We had a hawthorn bush in the garden, but I had hubby get rid of it as I cannot stand the smell.


Next week we have a referendum to vote on whether we want a different voting system to the one we have. Currently the UK uses the first past the post system................the person with the most number of votes wins. I quite like this system.............I vote for one person and if they get the most votes, they are my elected MP, or local councilor, or who ever. The referendum is about do we want the AV (Alternative Vote) system. You can vote for everyone, you just put them in order. Then, if the person with the most number of votes does not get 50% of the vote, then the votes of the person who came last are discarded, and those votes are given to the other candidates.............on the basis that these are now the second or third choice. Now this system also sounds quite good.


Currently, if the person you vote for does not win, then in effect you could say that you vote is wasted...............it doesn't count anymore. At least with the AV method, you get a second or third chance, so your vote is never wasted as such. But.............and there are so many buts. Currently I make my choice, I decide who I want to represent me based on their policies..................I don't vote for the others, because I don't like or agree with their policies. So, I don't really feel the need to have a second or third chance. We are only having the referendum because it was part of the agreement between the conservatives and liberal democrats when they formed the coalition government. The AV method has been the lib dems desire for years and they believe that this is finally their chance to actually get somewhere in UK politics. Basically UK politics are dominated by the conservative party and labour party............well on a national level anyway. The lib dems come a very poor third.



So, we are getting a vote on what we want to do and this means that we are getting campaigns by those who want us to vote yes, and those who want no; and even the politicians can't agree.
I am still undecided............most of the time I think no, but the occasionally I waver into the yes camp. Decision time!!!!!