'Westminster Gravy Train' Visits Ann Keen

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Calls for a referendum on the voting system

The Vote for a Change campaign has chosen Brentford, Harrow East and Watford constituencies as launch pad for a national campaign targeting “roadblocks” - incumbents unprepared to let voters to decide on how we hire and fire our MPs with a referendum on the voting system.

On Tuesday 22nd September, residents including local Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Dakers joined calls for a halt to the Gravy Train that has left MPs – including their own – unaccountable and unrepresentative of their constituents. The above photo shows the campaigners opposite Ann Keen's constituency offices with the photo on the right showing them display banners on the offices..

The campaign’s very own Gravy Train, carrying some very familiar faces from the front benches, will be touring sites across the constituency. The Gravy Train has scheduled stops in Brighton and Manchester this conference season, before heading out on a nationwide tour.  

Willie Sullivan, from the Vote for a Change Campaign, said:

“This summer the Westminster Gravy Train hit the buffers. But we can’t let this opportunity to build a better politics be lost by its current passengers unwillingness to let voters make that change. Our relationships with politicians begin and end at the ballot box.  But our voting system has left us weak and them strong. It dictates whose votes count and whose views matter. It decides which MPs are safe to enjoy jobs for life - all expenses paid. The system has set the rules for our broken politics, and voters deserve a say if these rules stand.

“MPs like Tony McNulty, Ann Keen and Claire Ward have to decide are they with the voters or against them? We’re not out simply to berate the villains of the expenses crisis. We’re out to expose the roadblocks to reform, those MPs who feel that voters don’t deserve the final say on the future of their parliament. MPs should know that politics isn’t about lectures. It’s about debate. We want a debate on the future of our democracy, not to be told what’s best for us by politicians who’ve been so well served by the system. 

“We welcome any of supporters of the current system prepared to have a national debate. Let them have their say. But let the voters have the final verdict at a referendum. Opinion polls have shown that voters are prepared to reward politicians who trust them enough to let them decide how MPs are elected. Starting today, those don’t trust their voters will face the consequences. “MPs watch out: your penalty fare is due, in full.”