world2rights.com

Increasing retirement ages

Ed — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:36:59 +0100

We've consistently argued for a bolder approach to pension reform. Retirement ages need to be raised across the board by legislation (e.g. by adding 3 years to all existing agreements - public and private sector). People retiring imminently would not be included, but current phasing-in plans are much too slow.

Public sector pay restraint

Ed — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:28:13 +0100

We've argued for public sector pay restraint for many years. This would have made a big difference to the state public finances. We might now need to go further and, over time, work to ensure that public sector workers are paid no more that their european counterparts. Our website also details plans to enable public sector workers to earn large bonuses for outstanding work.

Knife Crime

Ed — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:39:19 +0100

We've spotted an overlap between the culture of knife crime and alcohol. It makes licensed premises a pinchpoint in the battle against knives. They are legally well defined spaces where no one should ever be entering with a knife. We also support the use of arches and microwave detectors and we think that knife crime hotspots should be excluded from normal stop and search statistics.

Palestinian State

Ed — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:14:53 +0100

Our thoughts for the Palestinian state on the west bank: It must be a democracy i.e. extremists must be disarmed by the Palestinian and Israeli authorities and incitement of racial or religious hatred must be outlawed. The State of Israel must be recognised by all Arab nations. Israeli settlement on the West Bank must end. Israel, the Palestinian homeland and neighbouring states should agree a high level of economic co-operation.

See more details at www.world2rights.com

Compulsory voting

Ed — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:55:21 +0100

The best way to restore the authority of parliament is to make voting in elections compulsory. People would be able to spoil their ballot papers if they really wanted to. But they would pay a hefty fine if they failed to turnout to vote. A 100% turnout is the best foundation for the rebuilding of parliament's authority.

MPs Expenses

Ed — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:47:34 +0100

This problem should have been confronted a long time ago. We believe in a 'confrontational' approach to policies. By this we don't mean confronting people, we mean deliberately moving towards problems rather than away from them. A number of good public servants are going to have to step down now - all because they made ridiculous, ill-judged and unethical expenses claims. It's a shame but it is unavoidable. All major parties need to weed out the worst cases - that can't be left to local constituency parties. It will take several weeks but it mustn't be allowed to drag on longer than that.

Global Recession

Ed — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:37:46 +0100

They couldn't have prevented the global recession but there is more that the Government could be doing to reduce its impact. For a start they could have come into the recession with stronger public finances. The cut in VAT is untargeted and the money could have been used more effectively. Major infrastructure projects should be being brought forward. As a one off measure people on benefits for a long time should be able to work and keep all their pay and benefits for a set period. Mortgage lenders should be encouraged to re-introduce first-time-buyer mortgages at sensible interest rates. As long as they have a good deposit and they meet affordability tests, first time homebuyers should be given a right to a mortgage and the right to a very quick appeal process. Finally the Government should be doing everything to make the UK a great place for business. See our proposals for Competitiveness and Public Finances.

Youth Crime

Ed — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:22:41 +0100

We support a Youth Curfew to be used in crime problem areas. After a certain time there is no good reason for children to be on the streets on their own. The police will be able to pick them up, take them home and fine their parents £200. It's not difficult.

Over-subscribed schools

Ed — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 13:02:28 +0100

There has to be equitable allocation of places where a popular school is over-subscribed. Kids from low income households should be given an increased chance. Plus at least some kids from other parts of town and from all achievement bands. The school should be allowed to expand within limits. Finally, a computerised random ballot should be used. A computer system could easily weight all these factors along with parents' preferences. If you don't get your first choice, you'll at least get priority treatment for your second choice. That's the fairest and most transparent way of doing it.

Tackling Crime

Ed — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:53:30 +0100

A lament here I am afraid. In the period 1997 to 2001 the government had a unique opportunity to dramatically reduce crime. Criminals had been robbed of two excuses for crime. Firstly, the resounding general election result of 1997 demonstrated that democracy in Britain was alive and well. It demonstrated that an unpopular government without support among marginalised groups will be removed from power, eventually. People really had a voice within our democratic institutions.

Secondly, the economy was performing well with grounds for optimism about future prosperity.

In my opinion these two conditions gave the government a unique opportunity to substantially reduce crime. Not only by increasing sentences for serious crime, or by giving the police new powers, or by building new prison spaces but also by forcefully putting the ethical case against crime. By turning communities and families against the criminals within their midst. You know, there's barely a single criminal in this country who doesn't have friends, relatives and neighbours who are tacitly supporting their criminal activity. This means that moral and ethical pressure from friends, relatives and communities can be used to reduce criminal behaviour before the stage at which the police and justice system need to get involved.

See www.world2rights.com for our policy proposals.

University Admission Criteria

Ed — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:35:01 +0100

Thirty years ago it would have been useful to know about whether an applicant's parents had been to university. However, the expansion of HE means that it's not such a great indicator of privilege any more.

Admission decisions need to be made on the basis of objective criteria, as far as possible. Those criteria should be set in a way that does not unfairly discriminate against those from less privileged groups. One implication is that decision makers will have to be more open-minded about candidates' extra-curricular experience - not everyone can afford to spend a year kayaking and volunteering. What about work experience in the family business - how many universities currently acknowledge the value of that?

Where two candidates have achieved the same A-level grades, we believe that reference should then be made to the level and nature of resources that have been used to get those grades. To get a given level of grades with fewer resources is an indication of greater ability and greater potential. In tie-breaker situations this policy would rightly favour applicants from state schools. For a tie-breaker between applicants from two state schools, you'd look to factual information about the average grades being achieved by those schools. Average GCSE grades from the secondary school would be a much better basis for comparison than A-level grades from the sixth form or college.

Regional Assemblies

Ed — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 23:50:31 +0100

Regional assemblies are the obvious answer to the West Lothian question. They would address an imbalance in our current constitutional arrangements. They would help to promote regional identities and to exploit the different economic strengths of our regions.

The decision to have regional assemblies (or not) is far too important to have been left to a single region's referendum/popularity contest/mid-term mood poll.

Let's get on with it. It shouldn't take a large budget. The assemblies won't have to have dramatic new powers. Taking a strategic overview of transport and congestion would be a good function to start with.

By the way, an English parliament is not supported. That wouldn't address people's desire to have a regional voice. Scotland and Wales are about the right size (geographically and administratively) to support the regional tier of government, as well as rightly being proud nations within the UK.

Council Tax Reform: Catch Up

Ed — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 22:02:00 +0100

Catch up. Our proposals for Council Tax reform pre-date the recent review. Yes let's add some extra bands. Well done. We could have told you that two year ago. We did tell you that two years ago.

We don't support a local income tax because that would narrow the tax base and pile extra pressure on local government spending decisions, pitching different sections of the community against each other.