All I want is a sustainable world, in which everyone can have dreams and ambitions and the wherewithal to achieve these. That is my politics in a nutshell.
Expanding on this:
- Sustainability: we cannot go on burning up the world, it is the only one we have. We must address climate change with urgency and determination. We must produce less waste, recycle what we have, repair things when they go wrong. Generally, our footprints have been too heavy on the Earth. We need to tread more lightly and delight in the wondrous nature around us.
- Everyone: without exception, and without discrimination, everyone deserves a wholesome life on this planet. In current times, some people get left behind, even in our local town and nearby villages which are rich in community spirit and much material wealth. We have lonely people, some who have very little, and some for whom daily life is a real struggle. Everyone deserves a chance to live a fulfilling life.
- Dreams: hope is fundamental to human life. We all need dreams but there are some who lead dreamless lives without ever feeling that they could have or be more. Politics should be about helping people tap into their creativity and think what else | what more | what could be...?!
- Ambitions: there is so much more we can make happen, if we give ourselves permission to set goals for ourselves and encourage, support others to do so as well. Ambitions come in all shapes and sizes from wanting to send a woman to Mars to deciding today is the day to shake off the fears and visit the shops. Ambitions make life worth living!
- Wherewithal: to achieve our dreams and ambitions we need skills, we need confidence, we need to be free from fear, we need support, we need to be healthy, we need a secure place to live, we need friends and family who have our backs, we need warmth, we need so many things... Some people have these in abundance, and some don't. And this is why we have the public services like the police, like the NHS, like the schools and so on: in different ways they all help us to have the wherewithal we need. And this is why we need an economy and a business environment that rewards innovation, ingenuity, sweat and tears.
I see the role of government - locally and nationally - as seeking to make all this happen. I think it is also something we can all do for ourselves, for our neighbours and for our communities.
And I know we cannot achieve all this without more fairness, more justice, more equality, more peace and indeed more love in the world. I describe myself as socialist because I want all this for everyone!
You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I am not the only one. I am also very tenacious, pragmatic and phlegmatic: always looking for the most elegant way to make things happen, never giving up and letting any negativity just roll of my back.
If my politics sounds like yours, I hope you will feel able to support me. Even if we may not agree on everything, I am willing to bet that there are many things on which we do agree. As Jo Cox said, we always have far more in common than anything which divides us.
