Democracy is at work in Britain... or is it?

In the wake of the spectacle put on by the highly undemocratic monarchy before the last weekend us Brits have been given an opportunity to vote for a significant change in the way our government is elected, if the "yes" vote wins it will mean the end to the First-past-the-post system that this country has used for centuries as it will be replaced by what is known as "Alternative Vote" where we will be allowed to indicate a second choice of candidate during elections.

However, as I sit here on the day of the referendum I have to wonder if there will actually be any change. The first (and so far only response) to my posting on Facebook is a friend who has already voted "no". As with the recent royal wedding I'm coming around to the idea that my long standing opinion that the people of my home country are able to make intelligent and informed decisions may be flawed. I'm getting to the point where I may have to admit that while my generation had an education based on being able to think for ourselves and look at all the evidence before making an important decision, the younger generation seems to have succumbed to the combined brainwashing of the last Labour government and the tabloid press; the dominance of last Friday's fawn-fest and the recent death of Bin Laden seem to have played into the hands of the two major political parties, the real issues behind the need for change in Britain have been largely hidden from the electorate with the result that those who can be bothered going to vote will probably decide to stick with the existing system.

It's ironic that a country so opposed to change voted "yes" in this country's last referendum that took us into what was then known as the EEC... and to this day there is a vocal minority who claim that people weren't given a proper choice in the matter and that we should leave the EU.

While I support the "yes" campaign and suspect that "no" will win, I stand to be pleasantly surprised when the result is announced.