Report 30th October

[LozKaye]

As was brought up in the leadership election, I want to initiate a space for members to ask me questions, and I can report back what I have been up to. So, there is this thread, I will be online tuesday evenings, 8.30-9.30 ish to respond to any queries you want to put. Post when you want I can come back to you.

I'll share why I think this is important.
A couple of months ago a LibDem had a go at me because of our non-whip policy. Yet strangely now I find many of their activists challenging government policy, and …er … defying central control.
I got involved with the Pirate Party because I share our core ideas, but also because it is the kind of organisation that has space for grassroots views. I hope we can maintain integrity, and translate that in to action.

Since I have been elected I have been focussing on 3 areas- media, getting out there, and the party.

Media has been the big thing, and I am still catching up on the requests that are coming in. For me this is the first thing we need to be thinking about, a small group of people know who we are, more people need to hear about us. I have enjoyed the weirdly varying nature of the requests that have come in - Texan professors, journalism students, the Telegraph, a book trade blog to name a few. I have been on Radio 4, and asked to comment on the strategic defence review. I have been developing a relation with Pirate Party radio, who are official broadcasters of US and Canada Pirate Parties. The latest broadcast includes a segment on the revival of plans for blanket surveillance of phone and internet connections in the strategic defense review, and my statement.

I believe one of my greatest strengths is in meeting people face to face. Each week, I have been making sure I get out to share our viewpoints, whether it is with Take Back Parliament and the electoral reform campaign, the Labour party fringe or the Abandon Normal Devices digital culture festival in Manchester. I think though the gig in Leicester organised by Shaun has to be a high point, for showing we support culture.. and for some great bands.

I have also been getting in amongst the functioning of the party. Just like my taking on the election agent role earlier this year this is a lot to learn. I have several times used the image of the learning cliff as opposed to the learning curve. But I am convinced that we can take the whatever the challenges are ahead.

There is too much that we care about that is under threat. Whether it is the Digital Economy act, ACS law, privacy, state surveillance, ACTA,… and so on… we are the ones that have to speak out. So tell me how we are going to do it.

[samgower]

Thanks Loz! Do you have links to any articles or the Radio 4 programme you were in?

[Gavman]

Thanks Loz! Do you have links to any articles or the Radio 4 programme you were in?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00vhgj4/The_World_Tonight_28_10_2010/

The segment about Limewire starts at 25:00

[Gavman]

Hi Loz,

Thank you for letting us know what you have been up to. Its good to see you being open and giving members a chance to engage with you.

So please find some questions/feedback below

1) What are your plans to engage the existing membership base?
You mention that the big thing for you at the moment is the Media and engaging with them to get PPUK more well known, but what are your plans to keep current members/supports engaged with the party?


2) The party talks a lot about transparency, especially about the idea of making government more accountable by increasing transparency.

What are your plans to increase transparency/accountability within PPUK?


3) PPUK is officially recognised as a political party, so what are the plans for the party politically? Short/Mid/long term? In the short term can you confirm that the scottish local elections are the core focus?

What about other regional/local elections? What support/infrastructure do you want to see put in place to support people who wish to stand/help the party?

What other political activities do you want to see the party engage in?


----

Just some feedback which is actually nothing to do with you really but in the radio 4 broadcast I noticed that the host stated that PPUK were the UK branch of an international movement however as far as I am aware although we share our name with other pirate parties and want to work closely with them, we are not affiliated with them in any offical capacity and I feel we should emphasis this.

[LozKaye]

Hi Gavman,

Thanks for the questions. I certainly want to be as accessible as I can. After all - this is something we like to criticise 'mainstream' politicians for, like the Tory MP who found it terribly irritating to answer constituents' emails... You can also get me on l.kaye@pirateparty.org.uk and on the go I am on twitter at @LozKaye .

1) What are your plans to engage the existing membership base?

Over the next few months:
I think we need a defining cause to galvanise us again. The Digital Economy Act did that, and we need one clear thing to focus on to make a lot of noise about up to February. And keep going on and on about it, and broadcasting it out. All suggestions gratefully received. Top of my list is the revival in strategic defence review of plans to force ISPs to hold records of our internet use, and phone companies to keep our phone records, for security purposes- the return to the we are all terrorists until proven otherwise.
Then, we need to look to May '11 (see next anwers). We all need to be thinking what we can practically do, and what we need help with. We need to be able to give a next step for members once they have joined in to helping the party create influence.

2)What are your plans to increase transparency/accountability within PPUK?

To bastardise a quote, communication communication communication. This is at all levels, we need to make sure we are responding to emails, getting things done and sharing the results with the membership.

3) PPUK is officially recognised as a political party, so what are the plans for the party politically? Short/Mid/long term? In the short term can you confirm that the scottish local elections are the core focus?

I think it is important to remember that we are a political party- that we are about effecting change by contributing to debate, and ultimately influencing the decision making process in the UK. In the short term, the Scottish elections will be the focus, the current goal is to field a full list of candidates for the regions of the Parliamentary vote. I want noone in Scotland to have to spoil their ballot as we are not there, and have to draw a little pirate ship... Equally I want to encourage the fielding of other local election candidates. What we need in the short term is to just find what our starting level is in numbers of voters, and where our support actually is.

In the medium term, a lot depends on how the AV referendum comes out, and how local democracy continues to develop. The next step will be to build on what was learnt from May 2011- knowing where to go to get nominees, turning supporters in to activists, focussing activity. If the system remains as it is, it may well be that we will want to agressively target a particular council seat (for example) where we know we can affect the outcome. Often it is the case of just a few votes.

In the long term I want us to be a part of the political landscape, that our candidates are recognised in the community as well as in our online constituency. I would like to see activist groups throughout the country that can be drawn on in campaigns for the 'on the ground' work. Building on the medium term work, if we hit the mood right, why shouldn't we aim to pull off an electoral surprise. That will take concentrated work. But most of all I want to turn the tide in favour of our ideas.

What about other regional/local elections? What support/infrastructure do you want to see put in place to support people who wish to stand/help the party?

First off, people who would like to stand should contact their relevant RAO. As things stand, we are rather spread out geographically so local campaigns will very much have to have their own drive and enthusiasm. And willingness to do the boring stuff! Having said that, do draw on the experience we have : Peter Brett's campaigning ideas, John Barron's practical knowledge about the electoral process, me for election agent experience... and a place to get support and encouragment. Get friends, family, colleagues... pets... to do volunteering for things like meeting people on the street, door knocking. Be clear what you ask them to do, and it's helpful to give a precise time frame. But on the other hand, don't apologise for asking. Use the 'hive mind' for tasks that don't need a physical presence, like making press contacts, blogging, tracking down useful meetings to go to.

What other political activities do you want to see the party engage in?

There are 2 things right now-
I would like to see us more involved in the civil liberties side of our manifesto. I am now regularly getting requests for interviews on the filesharing net freedom aspects of our politics. I want us to be known for our commitment to rolling back the slide towards a surveillance state. I think this is a question of us making sure that we are talking about this as much as the other issues to start with. I think we might have to think about a demo in this area- CCTV or naked scanners to start to get us associated with this part of politics more solidly.
Also I want to encourage party memebers getting actively involved in the Yes campaign for AV in May. Have a look over on the AV thread. If you are not running Pirate candidates in your area, this would be an excellent way to get some experience as well as being a winnable step to upgrading British democracy.

[Gavman]

Hi Loz,

Just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to respond to my questions and rest assured if (ok, when :p) I have more I shall post them here

[AndrewTindall]

Loz will this be weekly or just whenever you have enough to report or whatever?

[scuzzmonkey]

Loz will this be weekly or just whenever you have enough to report or whatever?

So, there is this thread, I will be online tuesday evenings, 8.30-9.30 ish to respond to any queries you want to put. Post when you want I can come back to you.