Regular readers should have noted that over the past four years I have not been too impressed with the actions of our government and various MPs.
As part of the on-going fallout from the MPs-taking-the-piss-out-of-the-taxpayer-with-their-expenses-claims scandal I've got increasingly more ticked off with our Lords 'n' Masters and have been thinking about what I can do in response.
After reading
this article in Liberal Conspiracy - effectively stating that the time is right for more non-party hacks - I've decided that I want to run for Parliament.
Where would I stand?If I obtain the necessary funds, I would be looking to stand as MP in the
Bethnal Green & Bow constituency. I've chose this simply because I live in the Stepney Green/Limehouse area of east London, which it covers. The
current MP for the area is George Galloway, but he is not seeking re-election in this area and so it is effectively open for anyone.
What Party would I represent?According to
UKPollingReport Labour, the Lib Dems and Respect have already nominated their candidates. Because it is inner city London, I consider that it is unlikely that the Tories would field a candidate and so they would be wasting their money. Therefore, I would run as an Independent, but any suggestions for party names are welcome, e.g. the Bloggers' Party.
How will I finance it?Like I said, I do not have the backing of any political party, nor do I have funding from AN Other big donor. Seeing that part of my inspiration for running comes from
Sean Tevis (who last year ran for the Kansas state, albeit unsuccessfully) I have decided to copy his model and so will be completely dependant on donations from people on the internet. I am happy to take other donations, however, to make things perfectly clear, I will not be controlled or told what to do by any big donors.
What would I do?My platform would be based on what I have
previously claimed as the Manifesto and my views on the Liberal Democrats'
Great Repeal Bill and
Freedom Bills.
However, to these I would add the following:
- All MPs will be limited to a salary of £30,000.00 per year, including expenses, and MPs will be banned from taking any other positions while they are serving - you get into Parliament to help your country, not to get rich - and their subsidised bar will be scrapped;
- Party whips would be abolished - MPs should vote on what they think, not what they're told to do;
- Trident, Contactpoint and the NHS IT system will be scrapped;
- CCTV would be abolished expect for within car parks because it doesn't work;
- The Church of England will be disestablished and there shall be no taxpayer funding of any religion;
- Libel laws to be reformed so that there is a presumption of innocence and the aggrieved party has to show loss and malice in order to win their case;
- All government departments must use open-source software where available, e.g. Ubuntu Linux instead of Windows, OpenOffice.org instead of Microsoft Office and GIMP instead of Adobe Photoshop;
- The Parliament protest and police photography laws would be abolished (however, Daily Police Photo would remain as a tribute);
- Cannabis would be downgraded back to a Grade C and Ecstasy would be downgraded to a Grade B, as per the AMCD's advice who would also have a complete say on what to do with other currently-illegal drugs;
Readers of the blog will also know that I have a keen interest in public transport matters and so I propose the following:
London- The under-construction Shoreditch High Street station would be zone 2, not zone 1 as planned, with an interchange built with the Central line;
- The Waterloo & City line would be extended to Paddington station via Victoria, Knightsbridge and Marble Arch with a further station built at Blackfriars;
- Transport for London would have control of all suburban trains within Greater London and also those local trains which extend slightly outside;
- The pointless plan for a new version of the Routemaster would be scrapped.
National- Extensive electrification of the to-be-nationalised railways would take place;
- The Manchester Metrolink would be extended via the East Lancashire Railway to Rawtenstall (and possibly Burnley) and it would also be extended to Wigan and Leigh;
- A train line would be built from Manchester to Burnley to help travel from east Lancashire and one would be built from Uckfield to Lewes as a diversion to for London-Brighton trains;
- An "M25 train line" would be built encircling Greater London, reducing the need to travel into central London for long-distance train journeys.
I am also happy to listen to any suggestions that people have for things to stand for.
How can people contribute?If you want to contribute to my election campaign, I've set up a PayPal account using the usual contact address (dnoticeblogATyahooDOTcoDOTuk - amend it in the usual way). Any funds will simply be used to help me get elected and if I am elected any remaining donations will be spent on a post-election thank you piss-up.
UPDATE: I've been asked how much it would cost to stand.
It currently costs £500.00 to give a deposit, which would be returned if I obtained a 5% share of the vote. The other main expense would be the costs of running a campaign, but I do not know what these would total.
