Non-manifesto candidate policy for elections

[robharris]

I'm starting to see various parties put promises out for the scottish elections, and I think it would be good if we could put out some press releases saying "all pirate candidates agree that....." to try and get some coverage.

My proposals are:

Student Tuition - We believe education should be free at the point of entry, and will consult local students, student unions and NUS before voting on any bills

Independance - I know this is a tricky one, but I suggest no comment on which is better, but pro-referendum: "Time for public to have their say, politicians have done enough talking about it"

Minimum Drinks Pricing - Pretty certain this is covered under freedom, but just to confirm that we agree this is a bad nanny state kinda thing to do?

Do all other candidates agree this should be our stance? Do other pirates agree? Any other non-manifesto issues people think we should have a united front on?

I've made a good start on a list of scottish press contacts, and hopefully will be finished by the time we reach an agreement (if we do)

[lhsi]

I think the standard answer for anything in this area is that only things from the official manifesto are 'official policy', but individual candidates have the freedom to campaign on anything in addition they they wish to, and are encouraged to listen to constituents, etc.

Saying that, if you got the Scottish candidates together, and agreed on some things, like you have mentioned, you may be able to put out press releases saying "All Scottish pirate candidates for this election agree that..."

[PlanetNiles]

I agree with you on Tuition and Independence but not on minimum drinks pricing. While it impacts ever so slightly on freedom (is there a Right to get drunk?) it otherwise seems a reasonable policy to kerb excessive alcohol consumption.

[SpudTater]

(Copied from email response)

Student Tuition - We believe education should be free at the point of entry, and will consult local students, student unions and NUS before voting on any bills

Absolutely. Education should continue to be free for Scottish and eligable EU students. Education is a public good that benefits Scotland's people, culture and economy.

In addition, and relevant to us politically, I'd like to suggest an investigation into how we could make more teaching materials and lectures available online, for the benefit of those who would like to study but are unable to go into full-time education.

Independance - I know this is a tricky one, but I suggest no comment on which is better, but pro-referendum: "Time for public to have their say, politicians have done enough talking about it"

Personally, I think that's a good idea, and I'd like in fact to see more referenda on a variety of topics. I am, on balance, opposed to independence, but would like to see the people of Scotland have their say.

We have to be careful how we phrase this one, to avoid sounding like we actively want independence! We could say something like "let's put the issue to rest, one way or another".

Minimum Drinks Pricing - Pretty certain this is covered under freedom, but just to confirm that we agree this is a bad nanny state kinda thing to do?

I'm not too sure on this one. I'm in no way in favour of a "sin tax", punishing people for the choices they make, but on the other hand there is strong evidence linking low alcohol prices to high rates of violent crimes including assaults, rapes, and spouse and child abuse. Hence there must always be some trade-off between personal freedom and public safety in this matter.

I'm a strong believer in evidence-based politics, and if the evidence points to minimum pricing (in particular, banning the sale of alcohol "below cost"; as a loss leader) being effective in reducing alcohol-related crime in Scotland, then I would support such a measure.

However, I'm not 100% convinced that minimum pricing is a particularly good answer. There are economic arguments that such measures might actually cause the problem to get worse, not better, and researchers seem to be in general agreement that raising tax, not fixing minimum price, is a better solution. However, I believe Holyrood does not have that power, or at least not yet; does anybody know whether the Calman report recommendations cover it?

[PeterBrett]

Independance - I know this is a tricky one, but I suggest no comment on which is better, but pro-referendum: "Time for public to have their say, politicians have done enough talking about it"

Personally, I think that's a good idea, and I'd like in fact to see more referenda on a variety of topics.

Don't forget that referenda are pretty bloody expensive.

[Finlay_A]

Independance - I know this is a tricky one, but I suggest no comment on which is better, but pro-referendum: "Time for public to have their say, politicians have done enough talking about it"

Personally, I think that's a good idea, and I'd like in fact to see more referenda on a variety of topics.

Don't forget that referenda are pretty bloody expensive.

He/She needs [$Random_Public_Sevice] NOT alternative vote Independance referendum

[PeterBrett]

Personally, I think that's a good idea, and I'd like in fact to see more referenda on a variety of topics.

Don't forget that referenda are pretty bloody expensive.

He/She needs [$Random_Public_Sevice] NOT alternative vote Independance referendum

I was commenting on the "more referenda on a variety of topics" bit, not the independence referendum bit. I've no objection to rare referenda on very pivotal issues.

[SpudTater]

Don't forget that referenda are pretty bloody expensive.

They are reasonably expensive, but if Switzerland can afford them up to four times a year, then certainly it's not beyond the realms of possibility.
Bear in mind also that a lot of the costs will be cycled back into the economy, so I don't really view it as "lost" money.

Anyway, my personal approval of referenda is not something I'm trying to push on the rest of the candidates at this time, so now's probably not the time and place to discuss this. Instead, how about the following:

Renewable energy - we believe that renewable energy will be a key part in Scotland's economy in the years to come, and will invest in research and development of a broad range of renewable energy solutions.

Also: do we have any consensus on council tax versus local income tax? The SNP want to (finally!) go ahead with the latter shortly after the election, but Labour are against it.

[aramoro]

You should probably have an Election Manifesto with your core policies in it first before choosing new ones to back as well.

The pirate party is essentially a single issue (or three, the point is the same) party but there no clear deceleration of intent for what you want to actually do. the Party Manifesto contains a lot of stuff but nothing that would be achievable in a realistic way. If the answer to the question 'What are you going to do when you get elected' is 'Well nothing the system doesn't allow it' then now one will vote for you. Worse if your answer is 'push for renewable energy sources' Then they'll just vote Green instead.

Take a leaf out of the Green Parties book, they have been where you are now and have become a much more mature party. They have 3 campaign pledges, straight and too the point. 2 of them are not core Green Party policies but importantly they are relevant and achievable.

So
1) Sort out your Scottish Election Manifesto, what do you hope to achieve within the remit of the Scottish Parliament.
2) Come up with 2 or 3 realistic and achievable campaign pledges.
3) Know everything about those pledges, their scope and impact.

If you say 'Yeah we like , you know, Referenda', then know the costs, scope and powers that you want Referenda to have so you're not left looking like a dick if someone asks you and all you can say is 'I Don't know'

But like I say you probably want to shape up your Election Manifesto first because right now as a Scottish Voter I have no idea what you're standing for in this election. And I don't mean your platitudes, I mean what are you actually going to do.

[PeterBrett]

But like I say you probably want to shape up your Election Manifesto first because right now as a Scottish Voter I have no idea what you're standing for in this election. And I don't mean your platitudes, I mean what are you actually going to do.

Yes, I'm still waiting for the fabled Election Manifesto too. I do however keep getting reassured that it's on its way.

[aramoro]

Also having Candidate policies are totally pointless. No candidates are standing directly for election. It doesn't matter if I love what Spudtater has to say as I do not get to vote for him. If you do get the ~20,000 votes required to get an MP I get Cabalmat like it or not.

So whilst I'm voting for a Party you need Party policies not Candidate Policies.

[SpudTater]

So whilst I'm voting for a Party you need Party policies not Candidate Policies.

No, there is a middle ground, and that is an election manifesto. If all candidates agree that education should remain free in Scotland, then it does not matter that this is not Party policy; you know that everyone on the list is in agreement.

[aramoro]

So whilst I'm voting for a Party you need Party policies not Candidate Policies.

No, there is a middle ground, and that is an election manifesto. If all candidates agree that education should remain free in Scotland, then it does not matter that this is not Party policy; you know that everyone on the list is in agreement.

That's semantics really. If all the candidates support a policy then it's a Party Policy to all intents.

[PeterBrett]

That's semantics really. If all the candidates support a policy then it's a Party Policy to all intents.

No, it's not. For example, it's entirely possible that in the 2014 European Parliament elections, the candidates in each region we contest put together somewhat different manifestos, and indeed I expect that to happen.

[aramoro]

That's semantics really. If all the candidates support a policy then it's a Party Policy to all intents.

No, it's not. For example, it's entirely possible that in the 2014 European Parliament elections, the candidates in each region we contest put together somewhat different manifestos, and indeed I expect that to happen.

I'm solely talking about this election and the polices for it. Not changing you Party Manifesto, but the Election Manifesto for this Election. If all the candidates agree on a policy, then it may as well be in the Election Manifesto. Candidate polices are not useful in a list system.

Each region can come up with it's own Manifesto pledges so Cabalmat and Spudtater can design the Manifesto for their List I guess. But then tailoring to that degree smacks of pandering, but hey get the votes where you can.

[SpudTater]

Sadly, Cabalamat and I have decided that it is better for us to pull out of the running for the Lothian region, so our list is no more.

I won't comment any further on the issues discussed in this thread, because I'm no longer a candidate and so have no stake in the matter. I will say however that aramoro is putting the cart before the horse here... the candidates have to agree on policy in order for us to have an Election Manifesto. These things don't spring out of thin air.

[aramoro]

That's a real shame, I was looking forward to seeing some piratical action in Edinburgh.

I was commenting on the topic of the Thread though, it's about Candidate specific policies, I was mearly pointing out they need to be at the very least list wide policies.