TRUSTING THE PEOPLE

NOVANEWS

Trusting the people

By Steve Punt   Thursday May 6, 2010 05:56 pm BST
Elections are about trusting the people. And the final list of the top 10 People’s Policies is an interesting illustration of this. As a cross-section through the British political brain in 2010, it shows that the “wisdom of crowds” theory is pretty much right. Ask enough people, and you’ll get a pretty fair answer.
All the biggest concerns of the nation are there. The MPs expenses scandal is prominent, with two policies in the top 10. This shows that we want trust restored in the system. One policy is entirely sensible – “MPs Pay Own Mortgages”.
The “flipping” of second homes was by far the most serious aspect of the whole affair, so that’s spot-on. The other policy – “Hunt Greedy MP’s Not Foxes” – is possibly harder to get onto the statute book, seeing as it involves elected Members of Parliament being attacked by dogs. But it is possible that some sort of compromise could be reached – a pair of MP’s trousers could be dragged across fields to give the hounds the scent, and the resulting spectacle would serve as a warning to the new crop of our representatives to stick to the rules.
Next, the economy. “Make Solar Power Cheaper” is the most popular policy, although for this to really work, Britain might have to be moved 1000 miles to the south, which is going to be expensive. Another related proposal is “Change Clocks to Get More Sun!” – the only policy I don’t really understand.
You don’t get more sun by changing the clocks – you get the same amount of sun, slightly redistributed between morning and evening. The only way to actually get more sun would, again, be to move Britain 1000 miles to the south. I don’t know how that’s achievable geologically, but if it is, that would seem to be the best solution.
“Make Banks Pay the Debt” is also highly popular. Measures have been proposed in the US and Europe to make them do just that, via extra taxes on their profits – so far Britain has refused to go along with this. Clearly our leaders are out of touch with public sentiment, but then again, when aren’t they?
“Bank Holiday on St. George’s Day” has proved very popular, although presumably that’s only in England. The problem with giving the Turkish dragon-slayer a Bank Holiday is that you’d then have to have Bank Holidays for St. Andrew and St. David’s days as well.
That’s either three extra UK bank holidays a year, or three separate bank holidays on different days in different countries. Which might get confusing for travellers. You’d cross the Severn bridge on the M4 and find Wales was shut.
Ideally, I would suggest, Bank Holidays should be exactly what they say – holidays for banks. We could still get our money out of cashpoints, but the actual bankers would have the day off, and therefore not be able to lose billions of pounds gambling on dodgy mortgages. Result.
Another impressive policy suggestion is “Free water on public transport.” This is both sensible from a health point of view – as spending cuts bite, trains and buses will be even more overcrowded than they are now – but it’s also a vote-winner for people who don’t want to spend £1.50 on a tiny plastic cup half-full of tea.
The only problem, on the railways, will be deciding whether to have the same water in Standard Class and First Class. Business travellers may end up being served a selection of continental spa waters, while standard class passengers have to queue for a drinking-fountain by the luggage-rack. The advantage here, of course, is that MPs will be in Standard Class from now on, so they’ll have to wait their turn like everyone else.
All in all, the People’s Policies nail all the nation’s main concerns – that the people who caused the financial crisis aren’t the ones paying for it; that jobs for, and care of, the older citizen are an increasing problem; that we want our political system cleaned up;  that we like bank holidays. Will our leaders listen?  Let’s hope so. Or that hunting suggestion might just garner even more support.

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