RICHARD LAWSON SPEECH, PRESS LAUNCH 27TH FEB

On May 7^th, we, the people, will be expressing our will in a partially democratic  general election.

Democracy, as we all know, is a flawed system, but it is better than any of the alternatives.

Democracy is supremely important, and it is a tragedy that our system and our Parliament is held in such low esteem, and that turnout is so low.

It is sad too that voters have only a hazy idea about the realities of voting.

Many imagine that in General Elections they are choosing a Prime Minister.

They are not.

Under our archaic First Past The Post voting system, the vote stops at the constituency boundary, and the only votes that “count” are those that back the winning horse.

In Weston constituency, it is 99.9% certain that John Penrose will be re-elected.

He is a popular, decent MP, a nice man in a nasty party.

Ukip may reduce his majority over the LibDems a bit, but the bottom line will be that Tories hold Weston, and all non-Tory votes will be discounted, discarded and wasted.

Like it or not, that is how First Past The Post works.

The next government is chosen by swing voters in safe seats – a fraction of 1% of the electorate.

So what is the point of voting in Weston?

Many voters will answer "none", and will behave accordingly. 

Turnout is low in safe seats, as I have shown in my blog[1].

In our campaign, we will be trying to persuade doubters that voting Green is a better protest against corrupt politicians than not voting, just as speaking out is better than suffering in silence.

Some voters vote out of principle.

They know that people died in the campaign to get the vote.

They understand that voting is not an attempt to back the winning horse.

They want to vote for what is best for their family and for the country, now and in the future.

These voters look at the arguments, and make up their minds.

Some of the local issues that we face : Here are the headlines:

1. Tropicana and Birnbeck Pier two linked Weston problems that need new energy. Literally, in the case of Birnbeck.
2. Paint bridges and street furniture. If it doesn’t move – paint it
3. Drug rehabilitation centres – let us make sure they are doing what they are supposed to do.
4. Provide more cheap student accommodation
5. Weston General Hospital – Pilot a big project to increase the health of the district, to increase education on helping people understand how to use health services, to increase funding and much more.
6. Directly reduce unemployment in the district by facilitating new jobs in the Green sector of the local economy

We know from the VoteforPolicies.org.uk website that more voters back Green policies than any other party, both nationally and in Weston constituency.

It is these voters that we hope to persuade to vote Green. Since there is no tactical pressure to change the MP, people can vote for what they believe in.

The Green vote is a vote for the Common Good, for Democracy, Equality and Sustainability. 

So how does that work out?

Everyone knows that Greens are good on the environment.

Everyone knows now that we are also big on equality and social justice.

What most people do not understand is that Greens also have the best understanding of economics. 

This is the point that I am going to focus on in our campaign.

I am going to argue that ecology and economy, in reality,  are sister disciplines.

I am going to argue that economists get it back to front by founding their discipline on money.

Money is a human artefact that is based, like the tooth fairy and Santa Claus, on belief and confidence.

Money is an abstraction. It is a useful abstraction, a helpful tool, but we have let money creep into the space that used to be occupied by God Almighty.

Money’s high priests, the bankers, have become baleful, dominant and irrational dictators of our world.

You need proof? The derivatives market is “valued” at ten times the size of all the global GDP.

The economist Minsky (one of the few who predicted the 2009 crash) described derivatives as a Ponzi Scheme.

We have a Ponzi scheme that is worth ten times more than all the real goods and services in the real economy of the real world.

An alien, or indeed, any averagely intelligent human, will see this as ludicrous and idiotic situation.

So what is the alternative?

Green Economics is founded on food, water, shelter, fuel, and waste disposal.

The second layer is manufacturing, transport and services  - and fun.

The third layer of the economy is administration.

And last of all, we come to financial services, which should exist to serve the preceding layers, not to dominate them.

This reality based view is the exact opposite of the construction that economists bring to the situation.

Government has created £375 billion pounds of QE and put it into the casino economy rather than into the real economy.

If even 10% of that QE money had been put into energy saving and renewable energy, we would be significantly better off in real terms.

Struggling families would be warmer, heating bills would be less, unemployment would be less, and our Balance of Payments would be better.

Most importantly, the world’s future climate would be better.

It is a no-brainer. But the money went to the banksters.

That is the core of our argument: Economists have got things back to front. Two words to George Osborne and all the other so-called economists braying in the political paddock: Get Real.

In my election campaign, I will be addressing some gnarly themes.

I am going to address the deficit. We are not deficit deniers. 

I am going to deal with the haemorrhage of wealth from the economy through tax evasion and avoidance.

I will condemn corruption, both the corrupt relationship between international corporations and political parties, the HSBC scandal and the Telegraph, and also the corruption that hides the 10-20 VIP child abusers in Westminster from justice.

I am going to deal with the economics of Basic Income.

I am going to show how a green economy means full employment, even when the necessity to get away from “growth” is taken into account.

And I am going to put forward many other facts and arguments to show that a different economic political world is possible.

In voting Green in Weston, people will be telling the world that they understand that Green politics and economics is a revolution of thought, a new way of looking at the world. Green politics is visionary, but also realistic and practical.

Green voters here will be telling the world that they have seen through the corrupt, rotten mess that is Business as Usual.

Richard Lawson

01934853606

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[1] http://greenerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/what-is-point-of-voting-in-safe-seat.html