Whilst my policies are important because they set out my
plan for the UK, my vision and outlook are equally important. Policies come and
go and change several times in one term. Sometimes it is because these policies
were flawed from the start, but invariably I suspect that policies are changed
because they are no longer fit for purpose and rigid policies are disastrous
for a fast paced democracy like ours.
Before I talk about my vision and outlook I will make you
one promise, and it will be the only promise I will ever be able to keep. I
promise to work hard, make decisions based on what’s best for our country and I
will never stop trying to improve public services. I can’t promise you greater
education standards, reduced hospital waiting times, greater confidence in the
Police, more fire appliances and less tax. I can’t promise you these things
because I can’t see the future and neither can anyone else so to promise these
would be reckless.
I will set targets of where we would like to be, but these
will be targets not promises and the targets will not interfere with the
services provided.
Throughout this blog you will read my policies and what I
intend to do if elected, but as I said earlier my vision and outlook are just
as important as my policies. The UK is a multi-faith society accepting more
than one religion, for example in the 2001 Census just over 71% or 42 million
people identified themselves as Christian, 2.7% or 1.59 million people
identified them as Muslim, 336,000 people identified themselves as Sikh’s and
267,000 people identified themselves as Jewish, in addition there are hundreds
of spoken and written languages in the UK. Moving away from the statistics,
each and every one of us whether born in the UK or moved to the UK brings
something with us, whether that be local dialects, food preferences, ways and
routines for carrying out certain tasks and so on.
What I am trying to say is that our country is rich with
culture and we should be embracing that culture, we should be eager to learn
about other people’s cultures. I believe our country is one in which anyone
with passion, persistence and commitment can really achieve.
When I look around the country I don’t see skin colour, I
don’t hear accents, I don’t see religion, what I do see is one nation with the
capability of outperforming itself and other countries, but what is actually
happening at the moment is that somewhere amongst reclaiming personal
protection insurance and the health and safety devils we have taken our eyes of
the ball.
My vision for the UK is simple. I want to help people who
are genuinely in need of help, primarily at home but on the understanding that
at times we have an obligation to assist the international community, I want
the population of this country to be proud to be from the UK whether they were
born here or have settled here, I want neighbours to talk to each other, I want
children to have the best education and to be able to safely play on the
streets outside their homes, for university to be a right rather than a
privilege, I want our hospitals to help those who are sick and ill in whatever
form that may take, I want our emergency services to feel proud and respected
for the jobs they do, I want our armed forces to protect our interests at home
and abroad and understand that we couldn’t live without them, I want the police
and the councils to protect the most vulnerable in our society and not be
afraid to use the resources at their disposal. Most of all I want the public
services to function free of any political interference and to be the very best
they can be.
We are free, we live in a democratic nation and every day is
a gift. This is something which shouldn’t be wasted. When David Cameron
introduced the idea of the big society I was initially impressed at the
concept, but when you consider what the big society is, it’s existed for years.
The phrase Dunkirk Spirit didn’t come about because neighbours were warring
with each other, it came about because neighbours knew each other and they all
resolved to work together for the good of the community rather than their
individual needs.
I believe we have an amazing country as it is, but I also
believe that we can always make things better. Change takes time and comes in
small increments but as long as we keep putting one foot in front of the other
then we will eventually complete our journey, no matter how long it takes, how
hard the journey and if we should fall then we get back up, dust ourselves off
and carry on with our journey.
Whilst browsing the internet I came across a video on
YouTube about an American television show called The West Wing. It is in effect
a mock-up of a President running the White House and in one of the early scenes
the candidate for President makes a speech in which he says “If fidelity to
freedom and democracy is the code of our civic religion then surely, the code
of our humanity is faithful service to that unwritten commandment that says we
shall give our children better than we ourselves received”
Whilst the programme is there for entertainment purposes, I
believe the quote itself is an accurate reflection of the direction I believe
this country should be going in. I hear people around me all day every day
saying that our country is on its knees and if this is true then we are the
only ones to blame. I think personally in certain areas we have made changes
which have impacted on us negatively but the changes do not have to be
permanent, we just need to be positive and put our energy in to changing what’s
wrong, bit by bit. My aim is to leave this country in a state in which my
children and grandchildren receive better than I did when I was a child. What
is your aim for this country?
On Twitter? Why not post me your questions :
@ThePMCandidate
Email : realchangerealpeople@ymail.com
The Candidate
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