I posted this thread on Twitter this morning:
After 12 years in office I have had enough of Tory corruption. Whether it is ignored security leaks, or the failure to act when that is required to protect people, or policy and politics that is solely designed to undermine society, it is time to #SayNo. A thread.
I #SayNo to:
- Destruction of our democratic rights
- Attacks on migrants
- Targeting of the poorest when cuts are made
- Climate change inaction
- Unfair taxation
- Increasing inequality
- Failure to help those with disabilities
- Discrimination of all sorts
- Austerity
I #SayNo to cuts in:
- The NHS
- Social care
- Benefits
- Pensions
- The justice system
- Defence
- Environmental protection
- Climate change measures
- Overseas aid
- Housing
I #SayNo to:
- Increasing interest rates that will force millions out of their homes
- Missing climate targets
- Corruption
- The bias to the rich in our society
- Balanced budgets that matter more than people
- Economics that says there is no money, when there obviously is
I #SayNo to:
- Foreign owned media controlling UK politics
- The removal of our right to demonstrate
- Measures making it harder to vote
- Party funding by wealthy donors
- The unfairness of first-past-the -post elections
- Contempt for the EU
I #SayNo to:
- Deliberately breaking international law
- Lies
- Corruption
- Indifference to Putin
- The failure to condemn the far-right, whoever they are
- The desperation of British foreign policy
- Anti-EU rhetoric
- The flying of flags as if we were still an empire
I #SayNo to
- Pandering to wealth
- Contempt for real businesses, and especially smaller ones
- The punishment of constituencies that do not vote Tory
- Fawning to money markets
- Bias towards landlords
I #SayYes to
- A bias to those least well off in all policy
- An end to discrimination
- A reduction in inequality
- Redirection of wealth to social purpose
- Support for those with additional needs so they can live well
- Good housing for all
- Access to society for all
I #SayYes to:
- Fair pay for public workers
- Improving pensions and benefits
- And end to student loans
- Lower taxes for those on lowest pay
- Higher taxes for those who can pay
- Higher taxes on larger companies
- Proper funding for HMRC to close down tax cheating
I #SayYes to
- Concerted action to tackle climate change
- A Green New Deal
- Every building a power station
- An end to fossil fuels
- The transformation of transport
- Protection for nature, habitats and wildlife
- A world with the hope of a future
I #SayYes to:
- Public services that meet need
- Public accountability of those services
- Proportional representation
- State funding of political parties
- An end to the House of Lords
- Devolved power
- Independence for countries that want it
I #SayYes to:
- Ending Bank of England independence
- Monetary policy under democratic control
- A policy of full employment
- Pro-business policy
- Measures to tackle monopoly power
- Rent controls
- Low interest rates
I #SayYes to
- Progressive taxation
- Increased taxation of wealth
- An end to unfair tax reliefs for the wealthy
- Fair pensions for all
- Higher taxes on banking
I #SayYes to:
- Utilities under public control
- Fair energy and water prices for everyone
- Fair local taxation
- A national bank to meet most people's needs without being exploited
- The promotion of national savings to fund investment
- National pensions, ethically invested
I #SayYes to
- Access to education for all
- An understanding that education is for life, not work
- Inclusiveness in education, as in life
- Genuine equal opportunities
- Respect for difference
I #SayYes to:
- Honouring obligations to refugees and migrants
- Honouring international commitments
- An end to the rhetoric of difference
- Policy for a single planet on which we are all dependent
I #SayYes to:
- A world where all are valued
- Where intolerance is condemned
- Where difference is respected
- Where others are our friends
- Where there is hope
- Where no one need live in fear.
I #SayNo to the politics of division and fear that is profoundly unethical.
I #SayYes to an ethical politics of hope and I say we have a choice between the two. There is no need to work by Tory rules.
——-
PS These lists are incomplete. I also know some words,like discrimination, are doing a lot of heavy lifting in this thread and refer to many situations where they can apply. But everyone has to start somewhere if the world is going to change. This is a start, not an end.
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Well said Richard , on the face of it why can’t we live together in a society that works for everyone .
Human Beings aren’t naturally selfish or greedy despite what some would have us believe .
Yes, I agree that humans are not naturally selfish. So why does the overarching system become so selfish?
Because some are selfish and, by definition, they take more than the unselfish. More money, more power, more selfish.
Very well said. I wish it could be in petition form – millions would sign it. It sometimes feels like the people in charge aren’t sufficiently evolved to stop the world self-destructing. Qualities like ruthlessness and over-riding ambition have always been highly valued in business leaders and now it seems these are the necessary traits for Tory leaders – traits that are nearer the sociopathic end of the continuum than empathy and respect for others. Perhaps these narcissistic people are eventually headed for the evolutionary reject bin because they’re not well adapted to carry us forward and help us survive. But with the planet edging closer to destruction, the threat of nuclear war and more people falling into poverty and danger, I hope there’s still time for us to pull back from the edge of destruction and vote in kinder, more enlightened leaders.
Very well said. This what we need Labour and all the opposition parties to be saying and perhaps if people wrote to Labour – in their millions – it might have an effect.
It’s a comprehensive list even if it’s not complete.
Perhaps overarching ones could be:-
I #SayYes to:-
We Can Do Better
We Must Do Better
Craig
Form a party?
Make others work?
I recently messaged a friend with the following which echoes some of your thoughts….. but not so comprehensively! Apologies for typos.
“ I too believe that Electoral reform in with PR is the essential enabler to reforming our democracy. There has been a shift by the grass roots Labour Party but no commitment from Starmer as he and others believe that they can get back in and command a majority. Tories want to
Maintain the current unfair system which has been manipulated to favour them. They know that PR would mean there will never be another Tory controlled government. It’s a myth that PR produces weak government. The evidence shows the opposite to be true. It means politicians find ways to work together and focus on pragmatic policies which are more likely to be in the interest of the people rather than the party. My manifesto is something along the lines of
Electoral reform
Publicly funded parties
Elected Head of State
Elected upper house
Redistributive and progressive tax policy. Investment in recovering circa £100bn per annum in tax evasion and avoidance.
Government to take back BOE. It already has the power in law.
Strategic QE to rebuild infrastructure,invest in renewables and Public services without creating an asset bubble. Maybe a national investment bank.
All the above work elsewhere”.
I say yes to
Your empathy
Your kindness
Your thoughtful caring attitude to those in difficulty
Your support for minorities
Your willingness and bravery to challenge the demons inflicting this pain on people
A good post that chimes with me, with a bit of condensing it is a manifesto. The negative words/phrases need to turned it a positive.but that’d be playing “their” game p.
A big bugbear of mine (and I try and pull people up about it) is the word “benefits”!
I’m just about old enough to remember when I was called Welfare. Seems small but it’s insidious.
You can take away a families benefits and no one will blink as they are bonuses bestowed, but taking away a families welfare is something different.
Words are important
Agreed
Social Security was the best name and aptly summed up its purpose.
https://weownit.org.uk/end-nhs-privatisation-save-lives
https://weownit.org.uk/privatisation
https://weownit.org.uk/public-solutions/support-public-ownership
https://weownit.org.uk/why-public-ownership/nationalisation-saves-billions
Why can’t the government see this?
Why can’t Starmer see it?
Best of luck promoting these ideas. you’ll need it. As the excellent John Harris points out in this morning’s Guardian, the country seems to have descended into a fatalistic acceptance that there is no alternative. Hardly surprising since both major parties are pedalling versions of the same economic model.
Agreed
His article is good and depressing
Andy Main wrote earlier on “There is no alternative”.
I have returned to Timothy Snyder… His Prologue to “The Road to Unfreedom”, and the Epilogue to “On Tyranny” both deal with our lack of a clear-sighted vision of history. We imagine it to be either *inevitable* or *eternal*. It is neither, he contends. I need to read more of those texts to internalise their message.
I refuse to accept that we have no free will. I think that asking the question would confirm that most people believe in free will. It certainly isn’t tied up in religious belief in a Supreme Being. Yet we do behave politically / socially as if there is no alternative.
70 years old and I still don’t understand cognitive dissonance. Time to challenge some friends with your ideas. Thank you for your lucidity in passion. It is inspiring.
Thanks
Great reading Richard and a wonderful vision. We *all have to be at work to bring it about. A big ask.
Those of us who pray the Lord’s prayer, and have any vision for what it means, already ponder on what the phrase ‘Your Kingdom come’ looks like in actuality. Our visions are very similar – only, one needs a King of Love to bring it into being. Humanity alone doesn’t seem to be able.
David Byrne says:
I say yes to the regulation and control of all banks, insurance companies and hedge funds to prevent global financial crises.
Sounds similar to Jeremy’s ideas, and no harm in that.
I see Michael Gove has been claiming on Sky News that Brexit has been a “significant success” for the UK. I can only assume that in the midst of the Conservative Party’s disintegration he has taken to drinking the snakeoil he has been selling the rest of us for years.
Yes, and Yes to the Single Market and an application to rejoin the EU ASAP.
Totally agree Richard. It’s what I have always believed. I know you say you don’t support any party but it sounds exactly the mantra of a true socialist. These were all the things we marched for in the London Assembly back in 2015. That was where I first heard Corbyn speak and people like me pushed him into standing as leader of the opposition. He still stands by those beliefs in his Peace and Justice movement. We had a storming Manifesto in 2019
written with and by the enormous membership. Climate change was top of the list . All trashed by the right wing media with once again influence by another country. Not Russia this time but Israel. I hope you have seen the AlJazeera documentaries recently ? I knew about the lies and manipulation already but it was great to see it told so well. The Editor was ex BBC News Night and the graphics were brilliantly done by colleagues of ours . We had an opportunity for change and we missed it. We don’t have an alternative now with Labour all the time it is still led by those who helped destroy the party when we could have won .
Talking of welfare being a better name than benefits, i just remarked to my (French) husband yesterday that when I was young it was called it’s proper name “social security” and that the imported American word “welfare” makes it sound like charity.
PR is an essential first start. Next government must commit to introducing it and THEN go to the country. For this to happen Starmer must be turned on the PR issue – threaten a Bermondsey bye election 1983 situation – read it up
Another thing which you could have highlighted is spending on weapons of mass destruction whether biological, conventional or nuclear. The environmental damage caused by was highlighted recently by the Irish politician Mick Wallace. I fail to see the justification for ramping up military spending whilst poverty is at such high levels and our public services are crumbling. As the late Tony Benn said, “if you can find money to kill people then you can find money to help people. “
That’s my list too.
Off topic: Stephanie Kelton’s book, The Deficit Myth, just arrived. Good that you mentioned it.