Saturday, May 30, 2009

The problem with canvassing is you never know what you are going to be asked. This can also be a good thing if you are up to the job. People have always got something unexpected to say. They can ask specific questions about which I have no information to hand, or very general ones - like 'what are you going to do about Europe'. Whatever the question, the fact it has been asked is a good sign that people are thinking for themselves. Democracy is only as good as the information people have available on which to make their choices. No one should ever be afraid to ask and given the chance I will always answer.

If I am asked a question to which I have no specific answer (which is not often these days), I do the same thing as when I want to know the Green Party position on anything. I clear my mind of preconceptions - as far as that is ever possible - and ask my heart. That is a hard thing for me to write as it reads as if I am slightly mad or at best trying to avoid the question. Quite the opposite in fact.

I believe that basically everyone has the same set of needs and desires as everyone else. They may conflict, and frequently do, but when laid out clearly I have always found there is a way to sort most things out. To make this answer trick work it is essential to be honest with myself - as well as with the people who ask me what I would do if elected. The check for my internal clarity of thought comes when I read the Manifesto for a Sustainable Society - the Green Party manifesto, I have so far always found the same answer there as I found when I ask myself. When that kept on happening I joined the party as a life member.

Sometimes, if I have no personal answer, the MFSS gives me new in-sites. It's a very odd thing, but it works for me. Try it yourself. The MFSS is on the Green Party national website at http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/mfss. I am proud to say that I helped in a draft of the Philosophical Basis to the Party's thinking. This underlies everything we do, and that covers everything that needs to be done.

By the way, if I or any elected Green does not like what they read, the Green Party does not have any sort of 'whip' or party line that it's representatives are bound to follow. We are bound only by what we say we will do and what we think is right for everyone now and in the future.

You may say - as some have - 'so you think you know better than us?', well, would you vote for someone who knew less? It's our job to know what you don't have the time to find out, or it will be if I am elected. Anyway, it's not what you know, it what you do about it that counts and the way it is done.

Greens have a 'way' of doing things, a 'way' that will work because it is very close to the way things are done already. The Green difference is that our way does not make the planet accidentally uninhabitable, it gives hope and encouragement for life in all it's forms and to all the many and varied ways people wish to live it.


Green Party of England and Wales
Manifesto for a Sustainable Society

The MfSS is a statement of the policies needed to fulfil the Green Vision and create a society based on ecological sustainability and social justice. It is not a programme for a single term of government, but an expression of what is necessary to achieve these long term goals.


MfSS is organised into chapters covering particular policy areas. These vary in size and complexity, but each chapter follows a broad structure of introduction & background, objectives, long and short term specific policies.

Each paragraph is numbered with a code consisting of the 2 letter identifier for the chapter followed by three digits. This provides a means for finding and cross-referencing between chapters. You can use the box on the left to preview or jump directly to a specific paragraph.

Current MfSS Chapters

CHAPTER

CODE

Last edited date

Record of Policy Statements

PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS

PB

Winter 2007 by referendum

Agriculture

AG

Autumn '05

'94 '95 '01

Animal Rights

AR

Spring '07

'99 '03 '05 '06

Climate Change

CC

Spring '08

'00 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '08 '09

Countryside

CY

Spring '97

'95 '96 '04 '06

Crime Prevention

CJ

Spring '09

'05 '09

Culture Media & Sport

CMS

created Autumn '07

'96 '04 '08

Disability

DY

Spring '01

Drugs

DU

Autumn '06

'04

Economy

EC

Spring '09

'91 '95-'98 '02 '04 '05 '06 '09

Education

ED

Spring '07

'05 '06

Energy

EN

revised Spring '08
Spring '09

'90 '01 '02 '03 '07 '09

Europe

EU

Spring '09

'98 '99 '02 '03 '04 '05

Fisheries

FI

Autumn '95

Food

FD

Autumn '01

'97 '03 '04 '05

Forestry

FR

pre 1995

'93

Health

HE

Spring '09

'97 '03 '04 '06 '07 '08 '09

Housing

HO

Spring '07

'94 '07

Industry

IN

Spring '05

International Policy

IP

Spring '07

every year since '98 !

Land

LD

Autumn '00

Local Planning & the Built Environment

LP

Autumn '06

'95 '99 '02

Marine Industry

MI

Autumn '96

Migration

MG

Spring '09

'01

Nationality

NY

Autumn '96

Natural Resources & Waste Management

NR

Spring '07

'03 '04 '07

Peace & Defence

PD

Autumn '02

'95 '99 '01-'06 '09

Pollution

PL

Autumn '02

'03 '04

Population

PP

Spring '03

Public Administration & Government

PA

created Autumn '07

Refugees & Asylum Seekers

RA

Spring '09

'01 '04 '08

Responsibilities and Rights

RR

Spring '04

'95 '96 '00 '02 '03 '04

Science & Technology

ST

Spring '01

Social Welfare

SW

Autumn '04

'01 '08

Tourism

TM

revised Spring '09

Transport

TR

Autumn '06

'02 '04 '06 '07 '08 '09

Workers' Rights & Employment

WR

Autumn '04

'02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '09

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