Bring Down The Elephant

I should just clarify, though the gentleman in the video says much of what I do here, it is not me. (I am not sure who he is)*.   I have just seen this over on Muffled Vociferation where Sue says it is already doing the rounds, so I thought I would do my bit and post it here also.



Perhaps we should have a whip-round and get this broadcast on the BBC and ITV as a party political broadcast for the movement against more of the same?

If you like this and agree, then please remember to look at the smaller parties and the Independents running in your area; and if you have a blog or a social network page, please help spread this video so as many voters as possible see it.



*Update: Lawson Narse got in touch to inform me it is Pat Condell; Thanks Lawson!

Independent Network

I have just stumbled upon this website and wanted to extend a link in case it is of interest to any of my readers and help spread the word as such.

This is the link to the Independent Network an organisation set up to aid Independent Candidates.  It would appear to be a similar concept to the Jury Team, but not the same in that this appears to be an unbranded network seeking to assist in the background rather than providing an umbrella for which Independents can stand under - I have written about Jury Team many times, so if you are considering standing or prodding someone else to do so, both are worthy of some attention.

They claim that 98.5% of people do not belong to a political party in the UK, yet there are only two Independently Elected MP's in Westminster, Dai Davies and Dr Richard Taylor MP.

The Independent Network claims on their site to have done the following previously:

• Helped over a dozen candidates in the 2005 general election and provided an effective national media campaign
• Produced leaflets and resources for supporters
• Started an online presence, with a website, blog and social media pages
• Connected with current and former independent politicians, such as Martin Bell and Richard Taylor
• Formed an Executive committee for the IN that act as the guiding body
• Designed and created videos for Independent candidates. Examples of these include campaign adverts and vox pops
• Adopted and edited the Bell Principles, a code of conduct for Independent candidates and representatives
• Registered IN as a Ltd company – Independent Network Campaign Ltd
• Registered IN as a Third Party with the Electoral Commission
• Held meetings with national journalists
• Arranged meetings and formed partnerships with organisations, such as Parliamentary Outreach and the Democracy Trust.
• Connected with Independent PPCs and individuals interested in non-party politics
• Arranged events and workshops for Independent PPCs
• Started a bank of volunteers
• Conducted interviews and set up media opportunities for candidates
• Created an information page on Wikipedia

If you are thinking of standing as an Independent and the above sounds like the kind of support that you could use, then it would certainly seem like a worthwhile click of the mouse.

Independents are vital to our system; they are predominantly focused on constituency issues and can really challenge parachuted party candidates.  Independents are the candidates that dare to say if you want to run to be my MP, you have to speak to my issues, and get more votes than I can.

Jury Team Issue Challenge - Step Forward Or Stop Complaining

  

Step Forward or Stop Complaining

I am writing to let you know about the Jury Team's (http://www.juryteam.org/) progress.

 

Last weekend we launched our general election campaign. We had advertisements in newspapers and magazines with a circulation of more than 5 million and a readership of more than double that number (see http://tiny.cc/ZLhbt).

Are you happy with the current political parties and politicians? If not then now is the time to stand up and be counted. Step forward and make a difference or stop complaining. If the turkeys (the current MP's and political class) won't vote for us, we need to change the turkeys. Go to www.juryteam.org/become-an-mp.php to sign up as a candidate to be an MP to challenge the politicians you dislike (or even despise).

The British people are fed up with their politicians. The Jury Team is working for the people that the politicians have ignored. We want to give back to people their pride in their country and its institutions. We will let them become the ultimate jury. We can make this country a better place for ourselves and our children. Please help us to do so.

We know that on many issues the current political parties are too weak to provide what the majority of people want. We have a number of key Proposals which the electorate would vote for if they were allowed to. We want to give them that democratic right.

The Jury Team advertisements ask whether the British people should have the right to vote on the Jury Team Proposals: 

• Staying in or leaving the European Union
• Setting up an English Parliament for English matters
• Reducing the number of MPs by a third (from 650 to 433)
• Changing Commons elections to proportional representation
• Requiring referendums on petition by 5% of the electorate
• Limiting government borrowing to 10% of expenditure
• Protecting bank customer deposits from casino banking
• Limiting benefits to 80% of the after tax minimum wage
• Sentencing violent criminals to 'army style' punishment
• Limiting UK troops in Afghanistan to the NATO average

We know from our YouGov polling that all of these policies are very strongly supported by the British people. However we would also like to know whether you think that the electorate should be allowed to vote on whether these Proposals become law.

 

Click Here To Take The Survey

 

Go to http://www.juryteam.org/ to see the details of our Proposals. If you like the idea of the people having the right to vote on the Proposals, become a candidate for the Jury Team or support us in some other way. Sign up on the website. 

 

We are now inviting principled and independent people with a decent career record to become candidates to be MPs. We will help good candidates to get elected. When elected you will vote for the Jury Team's Proposals but on the basis that these will not become binding until agreed by an authorising referendum. You will otherwise be free to use your best judgment in voting on behalf of the country and your constituents. No party whips.

 

We are now providing you with an opportunity to make a difference. Please take it. If you cannot become a candidate you can still help. Go to www.juryteam.org and join up or make a donation. Tell your friends about the Jury Team. Forward this email to all of your contacts and colleagues.

 

Your country needs you to do something (or stop complaining that it is someone else's fault).

 

Yours very sincerely

 

The Jury Team

Jury Team

I have just discovered that Sir Paul Judge has started a new kind of political party, called Jury Team. The notion is that Jury Team will be a non-party party. So providing that you are willing to stand in an open primary which will be voted upon electronically and support the platform of good governance then you can stand as a Jury Team candidate. They will start the search for candidates for the EU elections on 16th March.

I certainly recommend their website as a good read, and I hope that Jury Team finds a home in British politics. I of course think their principle of whipless independents is good, I even wrote in support of a similar principle on only my second blog post.

I suspect if they get sufficient publicity, the people of Britain will welcome their ideas. I have signed up for the newsletter already so I will be commenting on points of interest here.

Should we try something a little different?

It has not been easy deciding what to post here. In the last two weeks there have been some big stories in the global press, and I have untypically been out of touch with the news (small matter of getting married abroad). However, I am back and determined to have a crack at getting some regular posts up and seeing if I can get some comments going on the board.

So, I will start with something at home and closer to heart, rather than commentary on some of the more pressing news of the last fortnight. I see today that a poll has been released stating that the Conservative Party are only one point ahead in the polls of the Labour Party. I should go on record as saying that I have not yet decided who I will vote for in the next General Election, as I shall be looking at the candidates running in my ward. However, I can’t help feeling that despite the fact that I am personally undecided, I definitely do not want to see a continuation of government run by the Labour Party. It is time for a change (past due actually), but I am not enamoured with the alternatives and as such I may take my vote and place it in the box for something different.

I do think the Conservative will probably win the next election, and I suspect that if there was an Election was called tomorrow there would a lot more than 1% between Labour and Conservatives.

What of the alternatives? I will be keen to blog on the merits and controversies of the Lib/Lab/Con bunch so perhaps for the purpose of conciseness in this case, let me move past these as “alternatives” and look at something else.

I will not vote BNP. I want to see laws made based on the merit of argument, and rationale of circumstance. Other motivations for laws and decision-making (such as hate towards others) is increasingly behind more and more political & legal decisions all around the world and very much so in Europe. My vote needs to go to a Party or Individual who is capable of fulfilling this criterion.

I think it is safe to assume that the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the DUP will not be standing in my particular ward in the South of England.

So party wise I am left with UKIP, and if there is a candidate possibly the English Democrats, and maybe the old Liberal Party (anyone who want to make the case… feel free). I won’t rule out voting for UKIP – but I feel they would be twice the party if they dropped the word “Independence” from their name and could get into some debates in the media that don’t centre around the EU.

And then there are Independents. Let me start by saying that Independents are fantastic. They may not get much press, even locally, but they are often the best stories (and candidates) when looking back on elections. I may be a big softy but I find it exceptionally noble that a neighbour would want to put their life on hold and put themselves to at least some financial loss so that they can stand up and say to those other individuals wanting to stand that if you want to run here you will have to speak about my issues too. I would love to see more independents in Parliament, so that we could move away from political consensus and in a direction of more debate. Some thoughts have been mulling around in my head for some time.

It must be difficult to be anything other than a little fish, or plucky activist. If you have financial backing, surely the perception then becomes that you are in someone else’s pocket. If you have no funding you either cannot get heard, or have to spend a lot of personal money to get heard. If you are rich it might be easy to be dismissed as having nothing better to do. Single issue independents need a pretty big issue to get heard.

Part of the reason why Lib/Lab/Con are generally unpopular, is because people feel they need to vote for them, for their individual vote to matter. The tri-party system, as it is now, allows for politicians to largely ignore their constituents. Lib/Lab/Con do not need to solicit donation door-to-door anymore, they have millionaire backers. It is a lot harder to ignore someone if you need their money to get elected.

I have something approaching 2 ideas. They are in fact unlikely to get entertained, and at first sound a little kooky. But we need Independents to be less Independent. There I said it. The saying sometimes goes that if “X” did not exist, someone would need to invent it. So here goes…

What if, in idea 1, there was instead of a “Party” system, as adopted by Lib/Lab/Con – there were a much looser association of elected individuals? If, instead of standing as an “Independent” you stood as, er, well I don’t have a name yet – let’s just say for now “New Independent” and instead of standing with a Lib/Lab/Con manifesto, you stood with a manifesto that you write yourself, and you can put into it absolutely anything that you like – as long as you let your proposed constituents see it, understand it and debate it. If you (and other “New Independents”) are then duly elected to Parliament agree that for all issues debated by parliament you will vote as a bloc; and decide how that bloc will vote by way of a majority vote within this new looser association. The exception being, except where the personal Manifesto contradicts (so you would still vote for the bloc decision, but can vote independently if the bloc vote contradicts your personal manifesto). There are of course a few problems with this idea, not least, having a system for tied votes, and enforcement of bloc votes without a party whip.

Or how about Idea 2, whereby once again a personal manifesto is published. But for all other decisions the decision is taken by a majority vote, following debate at a weekly surgery in the home constituency.

You may think me something of a fool for even contemplating such matters (let alone publishing them on the Internet) – but I am a glass half full kind of person. The preservation and enhancement of democracy and greater accountability to those elected to represent – so that they may better serve is my motive – if there is a problem in the system we should be prepared to ask if we need a new system. If encouragement towards independants as something of a counter-balance to the Party System is not a step in the right direction, then what is?

We need an active Parliament debating issues and hearing radical proposals not just party political back and forth.


Nb. I should just clarify; I am not personally intending to run for Parliament. I might like to later in life after I have had a career and raised a family – point being, this post is not intended as my own personal manifesto.