There is currently a “gap” in politics in Scotland which is for a party with Scotland’s best interests at heart which is not obsessive about independence nor anti business as all on the left now are.
I’ve been looking for a suitable party for years, and unfortunately, the choice either appears to be a mainstream party run from England or a party whose policies seem to have been written by some academic “political scientist”.
So, today I thought I’d try to produce a simple pragmatic party manifesto:
- The party will be known as the Caledonian** Party
- We are committed to a democracy that works both in the sense of the most pragmatic means to allow the people’s voice to decide our future, but also in the economic sense of a balance between the rights of individuals and the need to earn our way in the world.
- We are a Scottish party, not by nationalist inclination, but as a party working for the best interests of the people of Scotland whether they decide to be part of a wider Union or not.
- We are for public provision and support for good quality education so as to provide the next generation the necessary skills to enhance and grow our economic, social and political skills for the interests of all of us. We aim to modernise further education and will invest to enable Scotland to become a world leader in the provision of internet based supply of further education. In addition we aim to open up research & other funding to target older retired or otherwise economically inactive individuals, with the aim of better utilising this vast untapped reserve of talent.
- We believe we all have a responsibility to do what we can to keep ourselves fit & healthy, but we also believe medical care for the sick is a hallmark of a civilised society. Thus we support the public delivery of high quality medical treatment which should remain free to those with serious medical needs.
- We support private enterprise. As such we will aim for a long-term change to rebalance the Scottish economy, working to increase the size and profitability of the tax-giving private sector and reducing the burden of unnecessary red tape.
- We aim to have evidence based public policy and in order to support this, we will invest in the necessary research within Scotland to cover all relevant policy areas such as economic development, environment, climate, education, social & health policy.
- We are committed to human rights not as a luxury given to a few who have the means to enforce their rights in law, but as a general principle that all of us should be free from excessive or unnecessary government control of our lives.
- We support our armed services and will support the provision of the necessary arms and personnel for a modern functional army.
- We will work to improve the transport, energy and communication infrastructure of Scotland with the aim of providing equitable and affordable use across Scotland wherever practical.
Finally … it is time Scotland had an ambition.The US has chosen to go to Mars. Whilst Scotland is much smaller, that does not mean we shouldn’t have ambition. So we too should set ourselves a goal. Whilst that need not be a mission in space, there are nonetheless other important goals, that are achievable and within our means and which would unite our scientists and society. Such a goal, would define us not just for a few years or even a generation, but for many generations to come ideally making us a world leader.
**The name is not important.
