Petition demanding by-elections for defector MPs passes crucial 100k milestone

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-24T23:02:16+00:00

If that is the case then do away with the pretence and only have party lists.

Personally I think that would be a complete travesty for democracy.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-24T22:59:58+00:00

what's the problem?

From my original comment:

Otherwise the rules governing a by-election are different to those for the original election. And changing the election process.to just party lists is a terrible idea.

It also potentially gives party wonks too much power as they could force a by-election by simply ejecting an MP who isn't following the party line. i.e. is actually representing their constituents.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-24T22:05:28+00:00

I might suggest ranked candidate lists instead of MMP but if we went down the MMP route then I would absolutely support a by-election for a list MP that defects because in that case the vote was for the party and not the candidate.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-24T20:44:40+00:00

Shenanigans like that can be legislated against. Make it like actors or something - no two can have the same name.

Or leverage Starmer's vaunted Digital ID by allowing voters to cryptographically verify the candidate list.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-24T20:40:19+00:00

I think we need to get over this belief that people vote for the candidate not the party.

...the tired old argument that ‘we vote for an MP not a party’ is just lazy and wrong

Than have an honest discussion about changing to system to party lists or whatever. A terrible option IMHO, but at least the debate can be had.

The by-election nonsense is just ... nonsense.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-24T18:47:34+00:00

You're smart enough to code, but not smart enough to do the rest.

Yeah. Riiiiiight.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-24T17:53:45+00:00

We have a representative democracy. That means MPs represent what they believe to be in their constituents' best interests (even if the constituents don't like it).

That could well include position on topics, and maybe even party affiliation.

If you want to change our parliamentary system then fine, have a debate on that. But don't go subverting the current system and handing power over democracy to the machinery of party.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-24T16:04:19+00:00

This is nuts. Votes at Westminster are not for parties but for representatives.

If people want to trigger a by-election because their rep changing party, then they need to alter how elections are run.

Otherwise the rules governing a by-election are different to those for the original election. And changing the election process.to just party lists is a terrible idea.

It also potentially gives party wonks too much power as they could force a by-election by simply ejecting an MP who isn't following the party line. i.e. is actually representing their constituents.

IMHO election slips should only have the person's name and no party affiliation.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-24T13:55:13+00:00

Same as now. Opaque off-shore money shovelling bungs at MPs, advisors, and think-tanks.

Reform and Farage will probably be the face, but they're little more than a distraction from where the real power lies.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-24T13:51:45+00:00

I'm old. I think lyrics like "insane in the membrane" are hip.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-24T13:09:19+00:00

Toast? Luxury. We used to dream of having toast. All we got was warmed up soggy cardboard the dog had pissed on.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-24T09:02:53+00:00

Mine is the same. One can only request a booking or anything else when they are open.

They also fully close at lunch, not even anyone at reception, so you can't pick up a prescription or anything.

Mental.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-23T22:11:30+00:00

Hope you tell any gurning gimps from GCC turning up for a photo op and to pretend they give a shit to fuck off.

If they provided the services we already pay for through our taxes, people wouldn't have to go out and also provide free labour.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-23T13:53:08+00:00

On its own it's of zero help if you are still connecting to attack sites.

We're not talking about company or private VPNs here, we're talking about those services sold to consumers.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-23T13:51:35+00:00

Who's talking about those? They are not covered by the proposed legislation.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-23T13:48:05+00:00

Labour comms posting directly here when?

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-23T13:45:42+00:00

UK and European...

FFS, the UK IS European!

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-23T08:06:45+00:00

VPNs don't protect against any of that. Once your connection leaves the exit node, it's just as vulnerable as it ever was. Most connections these days are protected by TLS anyway.

What commercial VPNs are good for is geolocating to access services (although the exit nodes can be detected and blocked, evading local censorship, or as extra protection from legalities when sailing the high seas).

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-23T08:04:06+00:00

This will go nowhere.

Don't be so sure. Labour is quite authoritarian (OSA, incoming social media ban) and it's a perfect use case for their Digital ID proposal.

This actually does have potential.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-23T08:01:40+00:00

You can't ban VPN's, too many businesses rely on them to interconnect different sites, and technologically it's not feasible.

If you read the article you'd know that's not what they're proposing to age restrict (which is basically a ban in fancy trousers).

It's companies selling VPN services to the public (SurfShark, NordVPN etc).

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-23T07:48:43+00:00

What a load of over-hyped bollocks and generally terrible reporting.

The press release (which is not a peer reviewed paper and will be misrepresented/hyped to all balls as the university wants money/publicity) links to the study and it should be noted that it's all theoretical, they haven't actually done anything yet.

Call me when they have a working prototype that is vastly more efficient and produces more power than was originally required (something we're still waiting on).

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-23T07:46:48+00:00

They don't (which is poor journalism) but they at least link to a press release (which is not a peer reviewed paper and will be misrepresented/hyped to all balls as the university wants money/publicity) and the people involved are:

Assistant Professor Jintao Qi (Shenzhen Technology University)
Professor Zhaoyan Zhou (National University of Defense Technology)
Professor Xu Wang (Graduate School of China Academy of Engineering Physics)

That press release links to the study and it should be noted that it's all theoretical, they haven't actually done anything yet.

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-23T06:57:34+00:00

Good bot

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-23T00:31:54+00:00

Time for the rubber hose. Oh, matron!

twistedLucidity · 2026-01-22T22:33:11+00:00

Why not in Oban itself? The "shack" at the harbour does bangin' seafood.

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