In a country where everyone seems to be fighting for the ‘centre ground’, people like myself can sometimes be excluded from the political debate. Labour are no longer left-wing, the Conservatives are no longer right-wing, and the Liberals are… well, no-one really knows what the Liberals are.
I won’t bore you with the fine details of my stance on every major political issue. Instead, here is a list of the principles (in no particular order) that I would use to guide this country if/when I become Prime Minister, which should give you a flavour of what to expect on my blog:
1. The government is rubbish at running public services - get private firms, charities and voluntary organisations running them instead.
2. Career politicians should be banned and elitism must be stopped - the Conservative Party should prioritise applications from people wishing to become a PPC if they have previously had a ‘real job’ i.e. have worked outside politics, and please try to remember that Oxford and Cambridge are not the only places that can produce politicians (let’s be honest, they often produce useless ones).
3. Politicians are very good at talking, but they are very bad at listening. Governments don’t always have the answer to problems so they should seek out advice, assistance and expertise from external organisations when trying to sort things out.
4. The Conservative Party should be right-of-centre on most issues.
5. People should stop confusing ’standing up for this country’ or ‘putting this country first’ with ‘racism’ - it’s really irritating. Every government has a duty to prioritise the needs and interests of their own citizens above those of people from other countries. Please note that does not mean we ignore people from other countries, but being a white, British, hard working, taxpaying, middle-class employee like me appears to be a disadvantage these days and that is not the way it should be.
6. Politicians shouldn’t be afraid of upsetting voters - being right and unpopular is always better than being wrong and popular. Politics is about taking this country forward, and to do that some tough decisions have to be made.
7. You stop terrorism by talking to people, not blowing them up. For our government to then use terrorism as justification for denying us our freedoms or spying on us in the name of ‘protecting’ us is insulting.
8. The EU was a project set up many years ago with the very best intentions, but the project has failed. The EU is now a political and financial disaster for this country and it is time to rethink our entire relationship with our European neighbours.
9. You can’t run a country from a desk in Whitehall. Making political decisions closer to the people who are affected by them will benefit everyone.
10. Each country in the UK should have its own ‘parliament’ (or equivalent) and look after itself, including raising their own taxes and spending them. On matters concerning international relations and national security all these institutions could still be brought together, but for the rest of the time let them get on with governing themselves.
11. The welfare state should do nothing more than support a select few people who genuinely need help. No-one should get ’something for nothing’ from the government. Every individual should take reasonable care of themselves in terms of their health, lifestyle, safety and general well-being. If they don’t take care of themselves, they certainly don’t deserve to have taxpayers’ money spent on bailing them out of whatever hole they have dug for themselves.
12. ’Political correctness’ should be removed from the English language. You are allowed to offend people. Freedom of speech is so fundamentally important to this country that unless you support it, I don’t think you can call yourself English or British.
13. If politicians keep reminding people who live in Britain how different they are in terms of religion, ethnicity, skin colour, social class or anything else, they will never live and work together peacefully. Highlighting differences promotes segregation, which is why faith schools should be scrapped and phrases such as ‘multiculturalism’ should also be removed from the English language.
14. Obviously we need foreign workers to plug some gaps in our economy at the moment, but that doesn’t mean we should just leave our country’s front door open. Anyone with a shred of rationality knows that our borders need to be carefully controlled.
15. I am so grateful my parents sent me to private school instead of the local comprehensive, and I will never let anyone criticise them for removing me from state education because state education is a disgrace.
16. The best place to bring up a child is in a family with a loving mum married to a loving dad. Everything possible should be done to make sure that every child grows up in this environment, and only once every avenue has been exhausted should we consider alternatives.
17. Men and women are not equal, and never will be - we are just different. Deal with it.
18. Individuals, businesses and communities should be left alone by the government as much as possible. There is no need for the government to interfere in our day-to-day lives as much as they do.
19. Parents are responsible for their children up to the age of 18. If you don’t want that responsibility, don’t have children.
20. Harnessing the power of the market mechanism can change our country and the world for the better, but left to its own devices the market mechanism has the power to destroy as much as it creates. Finding the perfect balance between the public and private sectors is the holy grail of politics in the modern era.
