To ballot, or not to ballot?  

INTERESTING that supporters of the Alternative Vote (AV) among Tory members are outnumbered nine-to-one by those opposed. And that raises the question, once more, of when governments should hold referendums. Now, I might consider it a tad undemocratic for a Tory government to be forced to have a referendum it never wanted on a policy it opposes. And no doubt, supporters of this coalition, and of coalitions in general, will respond that compromise is the reality of coalition government, blah, blah, etc. It’s perfectly valid to challenge me – and others who share my view – on how democratic it is to oppose referendums. And then we enter the well-worn territory of parliamentary democracy versus direct democracy and before you know it, Old Holborn is leaving comments reminding us that the Swiss are the happiest people on earth because they all own guns, or something… My...