On 2004–10–10, as the previous British elections were approaching, we suggested to the then Conservatives not to hurry, but to prepare for the next elections, saying:
“By 2009 they [the Conservatives] will be a party ready for government, while the Blair government will continue to lose trust with the electorate. As a result, the Conservatives will be elected with a substantial majority.”
We also gave them some advice on how to prepare for a landslide victory.
Now, that the time of the “next” elections has come, and Tony Blair's New Labour (under the new leadership) is totally discredited, there is still no prospect of a “Tory Landslide”, but a looming spectre of a “Hung Parliament”.
It is clear that the majority do not trust New Labour and want a change. But, do they trust the Conservatives? And, if not, then why not?
Did they follow our advice given to them in 2004?
We shall leave it to them to answer that question.
Instead we shall give them three free “tickets to a landslide victory”, in the shape of proposals for the Acts of Parliament that they should introduce as soon as they are elected:
And while the need for these acts should be obvious to any grown up person, we shall proceed to explain what they are and why they are necessary.
1. The Honesty in Government Act will stipulate that making of false and/or logically invalid statements by persons holding a public office is a crime punishable by a minimum of 5 years imprisonment and disqualification from holding a public office for life.
Reason: This is the only way to ensure honesty in government.
2. The Formalisation of Government Communications Act will stipulate that all government communications be in writing and comply with a statutory format. One of the main requirements of this format will be the formal statement of reasons for any government action.
Reason: Formalisation of government communications is necessary to help government officials to make competent decisions and to provide efficient means for public scrutiny and validation of these decisions. It will also make it easier to find errors and will help to prevent abuses of government powers.
3. The Prohibition of Government Borrowing Act will prohibit borrowing by government.
Reason: All government spending ultimately comes from taxes. And, government borrowing is just deferred taxation. And, as government can be changed before a loan is repaid, it can avoid their own responsibility for paying the loan, and make others liable for it.
Thus, a government can bribe a section of the electorate with borrowed money to make themselves “popular”, and leave the “unpopular” task of raising taxes to repay the loan to its opponents.
Also government borrowing can be used to cover up the costs of unpopular policies, as it was done to finance the unpopular recent wars. While raising taxes makes the costs of government policies more difficult to hide, and thus makes the government more accountable, and more honest.
The main issues of the current British elections is dishonesty and incompetence in government. And providing solutions to these problems by enacting laws which will make government more honest and competent will help those who enact these laws towards a landslide victory and will prevent a “hung parliament”.