Time for positive outlook
I want to congratulate and wish The Independent Group all the luck in the world. As a Lib Dem I am sorry “the Magnificent Seven” former Labour MPS felt unable to cross the floor but ever since I tried for Parliament in 1974 I have believed that a realignment was required in UK politics. Indeed when Chris Mayhew crossed the floor with promises to be the John the Baptist with many more to follow, I felt honour-bound to invite him to Bath. Then in 1983 the when the Alliance was formed many of us Liberals got behind the SDP candidate in Bath. Neither effort paid off, though Bath is now a Liberal Democrat seat. To get Bath into a winnable position I squeezed the Labour vote unmercifully first as candidate, then as agent twice. What is so obvious as it is appalling is that our wretched first past the post electoral system requires the majority voting against rather than for something, ie Labour in Bath to keep the Tories out; in other places Tory to keep Corbyn from being PM. All of that is negative and wrong and indicative of Britain in too many ways. Parliament is all confrontational, the law is the same. We need positives in our outlook and approach rather than the adversarial negativity as “the Magnificent Seven” are calling for. The country needs a constructive and harmonious approach to the absolute mess we are in and some organisation or a leader that can harness and unify.