Searching through a 1942 edition of the Manchester Guardian (now theguardian), I came across this letter dated October 2nd of that year. It’s from a J. L. Edwards of Whitefield.

It is to be hoped that members of the House of Commons will avail themselves to the full of the opportunity offered by the Home Secretary when he moved the second reading of the Prolongation of Parliament Bill. He then repeated the pledge already given by the Government that before a general election could be held facilities would be given for the discussion of the electoral system, so that there might be proper consideration of suggested reforms.

That our electoral system is far from perfect is acknowledged by members of all parties. It may be argued that the question of structure of the post-war Parliament is at present only of academic interest, but many will fear lest, by shelving the matter, we find ourselves unprepared for the serious problems which will arise at the end of the war. Consideration of the working of our electoral system is surely a matter of the first importance.

The War Cabinet’s plan for India, which was presented to the leaders of Indian opinion by Sir Stafford Cripps in March of this year, provided for the election of the Constitution-making body by the system of Proportional Representation. This recognition by the Government of the practicality of Proportional Representation raises the question whether this method should be applied in the election of the House of Commons, and makes all the more important an early consideration by Parliament of the defects of our own electoral system. The most suitable machinery for examining the problem would appear to be a Speaker’s Conference, on the lines of the one appointed during the last war.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Anyone know if the pledge for “discussion of the electoral system” was fulfilled?

In honour of Paul Walter’s recent Spooks puzzler (answer here), I have one of my own.

It’s about the character of Sholto who was in Monday’s BBC One episode. The actor who plays him appeared alongside one of the regulars in an episode of another major TV series. Which one, and why was the Spooks regular’s appearance in that series particularly notable?

Incidentally, Ros states that Sholto used to be a government minister. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be about the actor’s previous role in Spooks – as a peer – but it could be a sly reference to his playing a minister in State of Play.

I was very pleased to see this morning that Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats’ Acting Leader, is to boycott the state visit of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah – a move described in The Herald as unprecedented (“It is highly unusual for a leader of an opposition party to snub a royal visit. Foreign Office officials could not immediately recall any precedent”).

One of the perks of being a party leader is getting to go to state banquets and the like, and with only two months in charge of the party, Vince is unlikely to have many opportunities, which makes his gesture all the more significant.

Taking a stand for human rights and against corruption is absolutely what the Liberal Democrats are for – and the dismissive response of Liam Fox shows why the Tories, despite all their pleas, aren’t about to attract the liberal vote. It was, after all, the Conservatives who oversaw the Al Yamamah arms deal with Saudia Arabia in the 1980s.

There are a few years between them. They each have different styles of presentation. Neither of them has any policies on the economy as far as I’m aware. Erm…

As I’m not allowed to comment on the biggest subject currently enveloping the Liberal Democrat blogosphere, I’ll have to appeal to the Doctor Who blogosphere instead. [Obligatory plug: if you’re a Lib Dem supporter, click here to join the party before the end of the month and get a vote in the leadership election.]

This year’s Children in Need is on November 16th and once again there’s a special Doctor Who scene. This one is called “Time Crash” and is written by Hugo Award winner (twice) Steven Moffat. And it features David Tennant and the return of Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor. Which, if you’re a Doctor Who fan, is pretty exciting.

Here’s the story on the official site.