Is all this left wing or right wing? …. NO!
I’d like to think it rises above those categories. Some bits may seem leftist such as the desire to have the state resume some functions like running the railways and generating power. But support for the military isn’t a tradition leftist position.
No real debate in today’s politics. A problem with British contemporary politics since Tony Blair embraced commerce and the City is that there’s little difference between the parties. Nobody is standing clearly for the things I am calling for such as a public service NHS, or a national railway. Maybe the extreme left wing or old Labour may be but one doesn’t hear such voices expressed clearly by the major parties and many people miss having such a choice.
Today the state is weak and we have yielded power to the faceless “Market” and to “Finance”. Democracy has lost out. We need to reassert the importance of mature democratic collective decision-making for the good of our society as a whole – for the Common Good – hence the name of the party.
People say – why don’t you join one of the existing parties and influence things from there. Answer: because I have something different to say and because I won’t endorse an over-mighty market as the main parties do or acquiesce with horrors such as abortion and euthanasia. If I joined I’d have to agree with those and with the political and economic messages that I so disagree with. So NO Thanks! Even if I have to do speak from bleak wintry pavements, I prefer to keep the freedom to say what I am saying.
Christian Parties. I acknowledge the contribution of various expressly Christian parties including the Christian People’s Alliance (who have been good to me) and the Christian Party and others. They are currently a bigger following than the Common Good party has in numbers, but theirs, again, is a different message. I don’t want to appeal for Christian support on the grounds of bearing a Christian label but on the grounds of a mature vision for the nation as a whole.
It is a message of a different kind from those of the main parties of today.
This message is a challenge to us all (not just to politicians) to sacrifice and hard work. It calls us to a higher national vocation and to a transformation as Lord Sachs the Chief Rabbi once put it, from a bunch of uncommitted to guests at a hotel to committed members of a family in a beloved home. It broadens our national vision and deepens our self-understanding and asks us to set an example within our nation and in the wider world.
The Greens are a party that has succeeded in influencing public affairs and perceptions out of all proportion to the number of MPs they have. Similarly I think our ideas and vision may be able to win friends even if winning elections may be beyond us for the moment.
Ukip has a particular focus on getting us out of the EU but we haven’t given up on Europe yet.
The BNP appeals to real fears that some people feel but I think our answer to these fears is more likely to deliver a healthy and happy outcome.
There are parties with a special local focus in Wales, Scotland and N Ireland who differ from us in that respect.
There are many small parties and we are currently among them. Some are single issue parties but we are a single issue party …. indeed to date we are at least a 45 issue party ! and counting.. and one with an overarching worldview and vision that we hope you will warm to.
Thinkers. We want to stay abreast of new thinking and people who write books. … but there’s a lot of them and it is a struggle!