Lots Of Words, Now Time To Decide

Last night we had our hustings evening in Stranraer.


Thanks to the High Kirk for the use of their hall and to Ian Munro for setting up the PA.

We had more questions submitted this year than in any of the previous two hustings events I've organised. There was a good turn out of interested voters and I hope the evening was helpful for them.

Four of our five candidates were present, the fifth (a UKIP candidate) was on holdiay (or so I was told), make of that what you will.

I think the candidates from the two bigger parties did better, Russell Brown (Lab) and Peter Duncan (Con), but then both have been MP for our constituency and that gives you an experience and confidence in responding to questions.
Andrew Wood (SNP) did well, but I think suffered because the SNP are not really seen as a major player in Westminster elections. Richard Brodie (Lib/Dem) did ok on some of the questions, but the time for thinking about ethical/moral issues like euthanasia is before you run for election, not after.

John awarded Richard best response of the night, when on a question about expenses Richard said, "When I go into the local pub I always get asked Is that going on your expensies? I always say, 'Yes'".

I hope that the turn out in Stranraer and district will be good, and also across the nation. It is important for us to vote and take part in the political process.

Sin and hypocricy

John 8:7 When they kept on questioning him [Jesus], he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

I've got some questions on Gordon Brown's being caught on a live mic calling a voter a bigot:

1. Was Gordon Brown wrong to do this? - Yes.

2. Should he apologise to the nation? - Yes.

3. Is Gordon Brown the only party leader to have made such comments in private? - I can't believe he is.

4. Have the journalists presently crucifying Gordon Brown never spoken, in private, unkindly or in a rude and offensive way about someone? - What do you think?

5. Have you, and I, never come home from work, a church meeting, a chance encounter and complained long and loudly in very inappropriate ways? - I won't believe it if I'm the only one.

6. Will the two other, presumeably sinless, party leaders try to make much of Gordon Brown's failure in the debate this evening? - I can already imagine their smug faces as they try to convince us they have never done and would never do this.

Lord, open our eyes to our own sin. Lord, give us humility to deal with others when they fall. Lead us in paths of repentance to the place of forgiveness and renewal.

Krish Kandiah has a new book Just Politics, well worth a look. He has posted this excert from his book on his blog, check the post here.

Krish encourages sharing so here are his ten reasons why Christians should go out and vote at the General Election on 6 May.

Reimagining Westminster

I'm not sure if the campaign can be described as heating up, after the second PM debate the opinion seems to be that two out of the three are focusing upon substance, not airbrushing!

There's a lot of talk about a hung parliament, who else remembers 1974? What changes need to happen to bring about a new kind of election, a new kind of politics and a new kind of government?

1. We could have two polls on the day of a general election: one for a PM, the other for a constituency MP.
2. The PM candidate with the largest vote is invited to form a government, and is expected to choose the best people from whichever part to serve in that government.
3. Once all the ministerial posts are filled, the PM plus his ministers form 'the government'.
4. All the other non-governmental MPs form 'the parliament', specifically not the opposition.
5. Party whips are banned, outlawed, forbidden to operate in this new system.
6. The role of the government is to bring forward policies and to persuade a majority of MPs to vote for those policies.
7. In the absence of party whips MPs have the responsibility to vote for policies they think are best for the country.

I don't suppose it will ever happen, but imagine what it would be like if it did? What do you think?

An alternative manifesto

Getting into General Election fever at the corner, or we're going even further round the bend.

There is an alternative manifesto published on line by ONE.org which you can read here. I've copied the introduction here, it's well worth going over and having a look ...

One Vote 2010: A Manifesto for International Development lays out the 5 areas One wants the next Government to take action on in the fight against extreme poverty.


It focuses on:
•Important international events that will influence efforts to reduce poverty such as the G8/G20 meetings and September’s UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals.
•How the UK can best promote economic and social development in Africa in terms of supporting better governance, health and education.
•Developed country policies beyond aid that affect the world's poor from climate change, to agriculture, to trade.

We wrote it to influence the political parties’ manifestos, to let all political leaders and candidates know what we’d like them to do if elected and to provide guidance for our supporters as they meet their local candidates during the election campaign.

After the election our manifesto will also form the basis for what we want the next Parliament to do in the fight against poverty.