Chosen to represent North Somerset Green Party in the General Election

Yesterday evening I was chosen to be the candidate put forward by North Somerset Green Party in the Parliamentary elections on May 7th this year. Here is the acceptance speech I prepared but did not deliver because we are very informal and I didn't like to ask.


Thank you for selecting me as North Somerset Green Party’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Weston super Mare Constituency. It is a great privilege and a huge responsibility.

The privilege is to be able to speak out for the Common Good of this constituency. This means speaking not just for the poor and unemployed, the marginalised and the disabled, but for the good of everyone, rich and poor, and also for the wellbeing of the beautiful, rich green environment and its wildlife.

It is also a privilege to be able to speak out against the irrationality and stupidity of the present way we are governed:

· An economy that is sixth largest in the world, but where thousands are dependent on food banks
· An economy where empty houses coexist with homelessness
· An economy that is disturbing the energy balance of our entire planet while the solution to our needs is blindingly obvious: the great shiny fusion reactor in the sky.
· An economy where millions are suffering the evil of unemployment while millions of good jobs, jobs that heal society and environment, are crying out to be done.
· An economy where one of the most efficient health services in the world, the NHS, is being re-hashed in the image of the most inefficient health service in the world, the US system.

Our responsibility is to communicate to the good people of Weston and district that Green policies are positive, realistic and practical.
· To communicate the fact that our world does not have to be dominated by misery, resentment, and violence. Instead, we can create democracy, equality and sustainability.
· To communicate that there is a light in the heart of every human being, a love of nature, a love of other people, but that this light is often obscured by adversity, mis-education and an oily smokescreen of misinformation and outright lies flowing daily from the corporate media.
· To communicate that if, instead of insisting that the world must be run for the profit of multinational corporations, we learn how to work for the common good, things can turn out a lot better. And by work, we will try to link practical direct action with our meetings. We do not promise a utopian heaven, just that things can be a lot less hellish in our world.

Over the next 13 weeks, we will be meeting with the people of the constituency in village halls, on the doorstep and in social media to develop these themes.
It will be hard and difficult work, but at the same time, exciting and satisfying.
We will be speaking carefully and listening carefully.

Again, thank you for giving me the opportunity to lead this campaign, and with good will and cooperation, we will be successful in securing a substantial Green vote here in Weston constituency.                                

30.1.15        
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