10 december 2020
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Dr Ian McLauchlin
MY MANIFESTO
My manifesto, written in July 2016 after the disastrous UK EU referendum result and in despair at the subsequent antics of third rate politicians.
https://www.compassonline.org.uk/aftershocks-
Posted by Dr Ian McLauchlin on Saturday, July 16 2016:
I scribbled the following in some desperation. I sent it to The Guardian but didn’t even get an acknowledgement. Sorry it’s long.
Some thoughts prior to writing My Manifesto
At the present time, and in the present circumstances, you would expect that parties and candidates would be giving some serious thought to the fundamentals of governing, especially the broader objectives and how to achieve them. Instead we see petty squabbling from individuals who think they’re up to the job, but clearly aren’t. So in some desperation, I’ve sketched the sort of manifesto that I think some should be talking about, but we’ll wait a long time for them to get round to it. So I offer the following, in no particular order.
A fundamental starting point: It’s easy to make it seem complicated, but it’s not. It’s simple. If anyone tries to make it complicated, they have a vested interest in doing so.
Big Business and the Rich can look after themselves. It’s a government’s job to look after those who can’t look after themselves.
There’s a fundamental requirement and a fundamental concept: FAIRNESS
If you want to be in charge of the country, what sort of country do you want it to be? Where do you intend it to be in 20 years time? How are you going to do it? Who will be the losers and how do you propose to help them?
Whatever you do there will always be people who exploit the system. You can’t stop it but you can minimise it. You can stop demonising those few (to whip up anger) and you can get on with the REAL problems. Oh and while you’re at it, make tax avoidance illegal like tax evasion.
The tabloid newspapers have too much power. How can you reign it in, while maintaining the freedoms to draw attention to injustice, corruption etc.?
Our electoral system is broken and has been for decades. It MUST be reformed.
The form of democracy itself needs to be re-
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/29/why-
You must tell the truth.
Forget about left politics and right politics. Take no notice of how others label it. Just formulate a vision for a better world. If it’s convincing people will vote for you.
Don’t allow vested interests to lobby you. Why should they have that facility when the vast population doesn’t?
We need a new politics led by people with gravitas and statesmanship who’ve given serious rational thought to the formulation of their ideas, and care about the WHOLE country, not just their own class. One that doesn’t quickly become an irrelevance but strides forward purposefully. Again, if it’s convincing, it will get votes.
The leader needs to be ‘a safe pair of hands’ with a serious and consistent approach and a similar record.
The class system hasn’t always existed, it was invented. Not by the lower classes. That tells you all you need to know.
Everyone and every company should be taxed, taxed fairly, and must pay up.
Education should be available, free, for everyone so that each can be educated to the limits of their abilities. It benefits the individual, the country and society as a whole. There should be no elite schools with entry restricted by ability to pay.
Health care should be the best available and free at the point of use. Anything less is not civilised enough.
The overall aim in everything should be to increase the measure of civilisation wherever and whenever possible.
Employment and the terms of employment must be secure and fair. Unfair contracts might bring a short term advantage to employers but at the expense of society as a whole.
Everyone should have a right to a pension sufficient to support them when they leave work. Contributions should be sufficient for that and ring-
We need someone who understands the forces which affect people in the world as it is TODAY, not 50 years ago.
The idea of a citizens wage for EVERYONE, providing enough to live basically on, is an attractive one. The implications need serious and unbiased examination. At the very least, it would save a lot of administrative money and personal anguish associated with the current benefits system.
There is something seriously wrong with a country when it is happy for many of its citizens to go hungry and have nowhere to live.
Religion and faith systems are a matter for the individual and should have no place at the heart of the state.
I’m waiting for someone to show that they’re thinking along these lines, but I’m not holding my breath . . .
