Write your election manifesto

[Nitefly]

1. Crap person tax
2. Creation of socks that can't get wet
3. No green bananas
4. Mandatory exercise
5. Money to create shirts that wash and iron themselves
6. Remove Scotland from the UK

 

[Biohazard]

1. Crap person tax
6. Remove Scotland from the UK

You can have my vote, but I'd be worried about economic strength in England after that...

 

[Nitefly]

You can have my vote, but I'd be worried about economic strength in England after that...

As long as I don't get up, make my sandwiches and see that my bananas are still green, I care not for the economy.

 

[alex_tank]

Nice summary of the way the system works!

As for my manifesto:

1) Points based immigration system based upon what trades/professions we need.
2) Transition of the military budget away from physical force projection towards defence and modern ideas.
3) Transition of health and social care policy towards two long-term goals. 1) Maintain a healthy workforce 2) Enabling every child to have the opportunity to thrive. And then removal of social-care, education and health from governmental whimsy and guide it with evidence steered by professionals and logical stake-holders.
4) View infrastructure as an investment and do it properly. Good internet, good road, good railways are never a bad idea.
5) Facilitate families and people to live in homes by making affordable and sizable housing, penalising the incentives of BTL, introducing Austrian/German rental style legislation.
6) Remove the special rights given to 'faiths'.
7) Take back pride in the country from the right-wing. There is no shame in the union jack every other country is proud of their flag we should be too.
8) Adopt a isolationist approach to the world politically. Make it quite clear we are open to trade, discuss and work with everyone but stop the meddling.
9) Reduce the voting age down to 16. Well able to understand stuff then and then still vote the same way as everyone else does irrespective of what really happens - in fact your average 16 year old would actually maybe look better than your average 60 year old.
10) Clamp down on shaping of policy by the onerous lobbying of the big corporations and the trade unions.

Nearly all good.

2) Yes, and scrap the expensive nukes.
8) Not sure about isolationism, I'd prefer we stay in the EU and such.

and..
11) Scrap university fees. Highest in Europe, taxes are not so different here than in many European countries so it really doesn't make sense.
12) Much higher tax free allowance, £15k? A big policy to lower taxation on the poorest.
13) Nuclear power stations.

 

[Castiel]

For a Tory voter you aren't half socialist? ;

I voted for a conservative Government this time, but I am not a conservative. I vote by manifesto, not by arbitrary historical loyalty.

 

[elmarko]

Agreed

Agreed, but might have difficulty actually implementing such a system regarding contracted qualified builders etc...

You will have to train them first. House building is not something that just anyone can do.

Training would be part of it, but for a long term government scheme designed to keep housing costs affordable for the average person in the UK.

You can already get free contraception from the FP clinics and from your GP.

I'm thinking to further promote it's use & hand it out at popular stores/shops to the population - anything to reduce population growth/make it so it's very hard not to have contraception.

Hmmm, not sure on that one given the proclivity to other forms of narcotics in some demographics.

It's one I'd need to see all the data, but as a drug the scientific community seems to be in agreement that it's not as harmful as other drugs currently legal (Booze/cigs).

But as per one of the rules further down, only if the evidence suggested the social impact was a net gain.

Makes sense, but needs to be of a broader spectrum than simply scientists.

My bad, I should have also stated subject matter experts - an independent panel kind of thing would be ideal.

You will find that would have significant unforeseen consequences on many social program's across communities throughout the UK, from food banks to homeless shelters, Crèches to soup kitchens, and the huge amount of money raised by religious institutions for charities ranging from the big hitters such as Cancer Research to the small local charities like our local disabled one which helps kids on days out etc...without the local diocese and the money they raise and donate through various organisation the impact on local communities to removing charitable status from religious institutions would be enormous and ultimately costly.

I'm sure the charity element could be kept (Without the side addition of religious teachings) - the charity part would still be tax free, just not the preaching.

You cannot trust the population to make those kind of decisions...they simply do not have access to enough information or relevant knowledge to make tat call objectively....better to have an independent committee or process of verification instead.

I agree you can't trust them in isolation, but as we are meant to live in a democracy the government should need the approval of the population before getting into a war.

I'm not suggesting the public has the power to declare war, just to veto the governments plans (like they would have for the war in Iraq which has no real public support).

Most of the public wouldn't vote anyway (only those who actually cared).

I think there should be a publicly owned high street banking system.

Quite, add to that investment in British and Foreign Business as shareholders, like France do.

Indeedy.

Integrated public transport should be nationalised, energy also. agreed.

Yup, it's more of a case of risk.

If the taxpayer is covering the risk then they should be reaping the benefits - if the train companies/energy companies all go bust, the government will have to pick up the pieces - not to mention these are required for our nation to run.

I voted for a conservative Government this time, but I am not a conservative. I vote by manifesto, not by arbitrary historical loyalty.

The best way to be.

I have no idea who I'm voting for next time, the selection is ... lacking.

Nothing annoys me more than loyal political supporters, blindly supporting a party like a football team.

For a Tory voter you aren't half socialist?

I thought it was a good effort as well, a couple of points I'd never even thought of so congratulations on that elmo.

I absolutely love your idea of no acts of aggression without referendum unless our direct sovereignty/soil is under attack however it falls foul at one hurdle, existing memberships agreements and pacts that would require us in certain circumstances to protect other nations.

I would like to see leglislation to ensure that never again can a representative of our nation use those principles in a twisted and distorted fashion, including fabrications about risks to our own soil.

The Civil Service must be empowered to deal with political corruption of this nature.

Hehe, I'm sure he's a secret comrade . (not a bad thing in my view lol).

Yeah, it's an odd mix - I believe in a strong state in supporting the vulnerable, but also strongly in personal liberty - freedom of choice & the ability for individuals to prosper.

I want a strong government in it's capacity for support, but decentralisation of power to reduce the impact of individuals in the poltical system.

Left-libertarianism is kind of my stance (with a leaning towards a technocracy)

A mix of these,

Left-libertarianism can refer generally to three related and overlapping schools of thought:

Anti-authoritarian, anti-propertarian varieties of left-wing politics, and in particular of the socialist movement.

The Steiner-Vallentyne school, whose proponents draw radical conclusions from classical liberal or market liberal premises — either emphasizing links between self-ownership and egalitarianism. The term in this sense can also be seen as referring more broadly to political philosophies in the liberal tradition which embrace egalitarian views concerning natural resources, holding that it is not legitimate for someone to claim private ownership of such resources to the detriment of others. In this sense, the work of David Ellerman can also be seen as left-libertarian.

"Left-wing market anarchism", which stresses the socially transformative potential of non-aggression and free markets.

Technocracy is a form of government in which experts in technology would be in control of all decision making. Scientists, engineers, and technologists who have knowledge, expertise, or skills, would compose the governing body, instead of politicians, businessmen, and economists.

In a technocracy, decision makers would be selected based upon how knowledgeable and skillful they are in their field.

People often mistakenly associate left-wing ideology with a powerful authoritarianism (when in reality, libertarianism/authoritarianism are opposites & so are left/right wing - you can be right or left libertarian/authoritarian.

 

[elmarko]

double post

 

[Castiel]

I'm sure the charity element could be kept (Without the side addition of religious teachings) - the charity part would still be tax free, just not the preaching.

Then you are effectively taxing people's right to religious freedom and right to practice their beliefs, something that I feel is too close to the kosher tax or tolerance taxes of the medieval period. Just because you do not share a belief, doesn't mean you should therefore tax a belief which by removing exemptions is what that effectively amounts to.

I agree you can't trust them in isolation, but as we are meant to live in a democracy the government should need the approval of the population before getting into a war.

I'm not suggesting the public has the power to declare war, just to veto the governments plans (like they would have for the war in Iraq which has no real public support).

I do not think they should have either the power to declare or veto....they simply do not have the relevant knowledge to make such decisions. Public Support would have in all probability appeased Hitler for example and vetoed our entrance into WW2...no-one want to go to War.

 

[badcompany]

1) If they don't know English, send 'em back
2) If they speak English but are haters on our culture and basic human rights, send 'em back
3) As with bhavv's post, tax religious buildings
4) Remove stupid questions like "what is your gender identity?"
5) Make it mandatory that everyone knows how to sew on a shirt button, how to use the washing machine etc
6) Impose a law that stops employers from spying on employees' private lives on Facebook etc
7) Stop bullying smokers (I'm a non-smoker myself)
8) Don't do a Cadbury's and bring more firms back into the UK
9) Likewise with Indian call centres

get my vote