David Swift

After the general election produced the most disproportionate result in history, there have been fresh calls to replace the first-past-the-post system with a fairer, more proportional system.  Usually, these arguments are heard mostly from the left, especially from the Lib Dems and the Greens. This time around it is supporters of Reform, who hold 0.8 per cent of the seats in the Commons despite winning 14.3 per cent of the vote, making the loudest calls for proportional representation (PR).  On the face it, they have a strong case. Under the current system millions of votes are wasted, and the seat share of most parties usually bears no resemblance to their share of the vote.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is looking increasing precarious as international opposition grows. When I went to Friday night dinner at my in-law’s last week, everyone was gripped by the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to remove state funding from Orthodox Yeshivas, unless they break their 76-year practice of refusing to enlist in the military. The court ruled that as of 1 April, ultra-Orthodox schools will no longer receive any state funds unless they allow their students to serve in the IDF, as all other Jewish Israelis must do.  This marks the end of the uneasy status quo that’s existed since the formation of Israel.