Ian Dennis
@ianindentdesign.bsky.social
Barnsley-born designer, photographer, watercolourist & occasional musician #OYes by Ians McMillan & Dennis. ID’s NT voted 10 in http://creativereview.co.uk/landing-page/top-20-logos/
Early stroll. Security lights wrestle darkness to the ground. On the horizon, nothing is happening. The rune of a broken wooden spoon. The small horse gazes through the tall fence. Trees are renting their shadows.
At the shop I get the papers out of the box. The shopkeeper arrives and her husband shouts ‘Good Morning!’ to me as he drops her off. We talk about my holiday. The Bloke With Two Dogs comes in. The Paint-Splattered Bloke comes in.
And you can't tell me it's unaffordable (it's roughly 1 hour of govt spending - roughly one nine-thousandth of the total) And don't tell me it's unmanageable. The Lottery does millions of £2 transactions every week, and is still efficient enough to pay out £100m jackpot pretty regularly.
What would this achieve? Better democratic representation Removes big money and foreign money from politics More stable parliaments, because parties wouldn't collapse due to corruption Allows small parties to get better funding Doesn't prevent new parties breaking through
The website only needs to know the absolute number of donations, and that each QR code and token is used. It doesn't need to store your personal political opinions. Act of parliament requiring a 2/3 referendum majority to change how this works, so no future party can abuse it.
Voters can volunteer to donate an additional £100 to any party, via the same website. But only once between any 2 general elections. Absolutely ALL other funding is banned, with heavy penalties and electoral disqualification for any party that even attempts to bypass the ban.
How would this work? Simple: send a letter with a QR code. Send another letter with a token (for security). Voters scan the code, go to a website, enter the token and DOB, choose the party. Phone line alternative for people with no internet.
Second, the state funds absolutely all politics. How? Simple: a small sum - say £2 - per voter. Each year every voter allocates which party they want their £2 to go to. The state pays to £2. £100m a year between the parties.
First, make voting mandatory. It is in Australia. It works. It makes every citizen take part. It also means parties don't focus all their policies on the old, who vote. Better for the next generation. £100 fine for not voting. (Exemptions for those who truly can't do it).
£72 million from 2 individuals - both of whom have faced questions about money laundering, both of whom live/d overseas to avoid tax - is not compatible with democracy. I don't care if it's Reform, Labour or whoever. We can't function like this. Not for long. So how do we fix it? My plan:
Two Dr Who fans on a Guardian date but only one has seen the black and white episodes.
There’s a nice tradition in the UK, when a statue has been standing for 100 years it’s allowed to sit down.
Weekend listening! 👇
The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL)@themerl.bsky.social · 4d agoAbsolute Units returns! What will farming look like in 2126? For our latest pod, we spoke to Ellen Knight and Rosy Scholes, PhD students at @uniofreading.bsky.social, about their research into the future of farming. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...
