My Politics
Here are some details about my politics.
I am basically a liberal centrist and believe in the politics of moderation.
Extremism on either right or left always hits a wall in the end. And everyone hits the wall with it. Think of the great 20th century tyrants.
The political skillset is quite simple: listen, understand, formulate a sensible plan, act. Never go further than the citizens' consent allows. Citizens instruct elected representatives - elected representatives should not instruct them.
I believe in the wisdom of the people - citizens will make wiser decisions than politicians.
Social Policy
Liberal social democracy appears to produce the most happiness and the most overall wealth. It is the best system we have so far. I very much believe that economic and social power should be distributed throughout society, not concentrated in the hands of corporations, elites or unions.
I believe in resourcefulness and self-reliance, not the big state making decisions for us. We should try to teach people how to live to avoid problems so they do not become dependent on the state and taxpayer.
Britain and other countries face huge problems with an ageing population. We need to encourage families and the birth of children to replenish our population. To do that we must make secure family home life affordable for ordinary Britons.
Our elderly population is seem as a 'problem' by government. We must make it easier for older people to train for less demanding jobs, if they need to, so they can work and contribute for longer.
Economic Policy
Our current economic system is capitalism. It is far from perfect but nothing else works better. Socialism seems to kill the bright sparks of enterprise and resourcefulness. Fascism seems to kill just about everything and is very corrupt. Libertarianism and oligarchy seem to disempower people except for the very wealthy.
Britain should seek closer ties with Europe and work for all international trade to be as friction-free as possible. I recognise that membership of the European Union was controversial and divisive so do not advocate rejoining it in the foreseeable future. We should however try and harmonise our business and trade law so as not to make Europe fearful that we become a Singapore-on-the-Channel. Britain can never be Singapore or Viet Nam; we should recognise that and seek to trade smarter with the EU for all of our advantage.
Public Services
Most of us need public services and we must invest in and modernise the NHS, education system and other vital services. I am in principle willing to look at other ways of delivering these essential services - I just want to see them work better and use resources better.
NHS
There has been talk about taking the NHS out of the remit of politicians and making it independent like the universities or the BBC. I think this could, done properly, be a good idea. The NHS could be given a charter against which it could be judged on standard health metrics such as infant mortality, cancer survival rates for different cancers at different stages and so forth. The NHS is an almost 80 year old bureaucracy and might benefit from being run by clinicians and expert managers instead of politicians. Also an independent NHS at arms length from the government might stop its use by politicians as a political football. It is said that this endless political quarreling around the NHS is deterring some of the younger generation of medical professionals from practising in the NHS. Some of Britain's most renowned institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge universities and the BBC operate well at arms length from the government.
I myself am dependent on the NHS for eye injections which help to treat macular disease.
Local Government
As for local government itself I think that in the East Yorkshire region the councils work quite well. Both Hull and East Riding councils are unitary authorities and function effectively. If there are faults then it is not clear that staff are the ones to blame, the policies pursued by the elected members are a factor. From first hand experience when I spent time working for a city council, I know that there are undoubtedly some areas where there is waste through poor management and working practices.
A big problem in the East Riding is that the council has suffered huge cuts to its budget, but few if any cuts to its responsibilities.
Environment
Climate change is not a myth. It is a real phenomena which will greatly impact our grandchildren's futures. They will have to make hard and unpalatable choices. We should therefore progress toward Net Zero in a sensible and sustainable way and try and reduce our carbon footprint. It is a fact that our contribution to global emissions is small compared to the massive and growing emissions of developing giants such as India and China. We will still all be in trouble if the larger nations do not curb their greenhouse gases. But Britain must set an example.
Green energy also makes Britain less dependent on unpleasant regimes who hold much of the world's fossil fuels.
Renewables are also a major employer in East Yorkshire and this could grow further.
The recent behaviour of privatised water companies in Britain has been scandalous. Strict water quality laws are needed to prevent sewage discharge abuse by these companies.
International
On international politics I am in favour of the rules-based order and against those who break it via wars and terrorism.
Non-intervention
Britain should (and to be fair increasingly does) cease from military intervention in faraway places which have nothing to do with us. We should concentrate on defending ourselves against threats that we actually face. The future should be dialogue to resolve international disputes and enforcement by international peacekeeping.
Ukraine
Russia should withdraw from Ukraine. We should be aware that due to its history, Russia is a paranoid nation. Putin is both a product and a amplifier of this. For that reason I would say Ukraine should nto join NATO as this would make the Russian government uncomfortable. Hopefully Putin will be a passing phase - the sooner he is gone the better.
Gaza
Israel should respect the rights of Palestinians and cease military operations in Gaza. It has over-reacted to the admittedly brutal Hamas attack in 2023. At present the behaviour of Israel in Gaza is unacceptable.
The Palestinians should free themselves from the influence of terrorist groups and eventually seek dialogue with Israel. Over the years violence has got the Palestinians nowhere and has resulted in the election of hard-line Israeli politicians who then encourage illegal settlements in the West Bank.
The entire region of the Middle East needs to see a concerted effort to de-arm the various armed groups and establish stable constitutional government in the Arab nations. The alternative is endless misery. I appreciate that solutions to the problems in this troubled region seem a long way away.
Trump
Hopefully Donald Trump and MAGA will pass and Britain can normalise political and trade relations with the USA in the next few years.
I do notice that modern Americans are not as respectful of old Europe as their forefathers once were. On matters of defence they are beginning to define problems in Europe as only 'European problems', which could endanger NATO and Europe's security. It may be that Europe has to develop its own more independent military capability, in order to resist any incursions into the East of its borders.
China
The 20th century was America's century: technology, military power, space achievements, great cultural influence.
The 21st century will be China's century in my opinion. There is no point in sailing British aircraft carriers off the coast of China as Boris Johnson did. We should maintain a healthy respectful dialogue with China as it will clearly be a huge player in the decades to come.
We must hope that China's steadily increasing military capability is not used inappropriately against its neighbours, especially Taiwan.