Peace Party works for the children...

Good ideas . . . kids want money spent on helping not hurting 

By JOHN MORRIS,
Peace Party National Organiser

In 2014, year 7 pupils at a Surrey school had a mock election. 

One class took on the mantle of The Peace Party and produced the following manifesto:

"Stop spending money on the army and weapons. We can spend the money saved on helping people instead of hurting them.

"Give children a say in their own education. Children are individuals and every child's needs at school will be different. Every child should have a choice of which subjects and topics they study.

"Buses and trains should be free to use. This will discourage people from driving cars and will help our environment."

The Party also produced a stunning video and then achieved second place out of six in the final poll. 

An example to us all!

Earlier this year, Peace Party's Chesterfield candidate Tommy Holgate met with UKYP (United Kingdom Youth Parliament) representative for Derbyshire Rachel Wibberly, to discuss the issues most prevalent in the minds of school leavers.

Living wage, increased funding for mental health services, and an end to tuition fees were high up on their agenda.

All things that we too would like to see in occurrence.

Not only this, but the implementation of a 'curriculum for life' which would incorporate more realistic life skills into the education of 11-16-year-olds, such as finances, sex & relationships and even politics.

The consensus was that - by the age of 16 - people DO want to be able to make a change to society but feel under-equipped due to a lack of relevant education on the political system.

This curriculum for life idea tallies up with the Surrey school children who wanted to have more control over what they studied. 

There seems to be a theme running through; that people want more control over their lives, even from a young age.

Yearning for learning . . . pupils would like more input into what they study

Here is our 'approach to education' in brief...

1. Education should be free at all levels, and should be clearly distinguished from 'training' (for work), which should generally be paid for by employers.

2. Encourage and facilitate constructive dialogue between parents and teachers.

3. Abolish the National Curriculum and encourage the development of flexible pupil-based curricula through discussion between pupils, teachers and where appropriate, parents.

4. Develop new approaches to teaching that respect the place of the pupil as an active participant.

5. Encourage the study of the place of the individual in society and politics, and of alternative approaches to conflict.

6. Encourage critical thinking and an awareness of cultural and nationalistic propaganda in conventional historical narratives.

Click HERE to view our education policy in full.

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I've heard people say: 

"You won't get spiritually conscious action in Parliament for love nor money."

But maybe one day we could. With a little bit of either.

Feel free to contribute to our 2015 General Election crowdfund campaign or follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook or visit our website.

What is love?

Love man . . . wise words from one of history' most admired individuals

By TOMMY HOLGATE,Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Chesterfield

It is amazing to be able to enjoy such a great plethora of wisdom from heroes of the world gone by.

In my teenage years, the thought of getting your Nokia 3310 out of your pocket to Google the words of a prophet from the 1400s was less than likely.

And not only because 'Google' was nowhere near becoming a verb back then.

Great figures like Martin Luther King are among the many iconic figures of human furtherment who are now immortalised in the form of a photoshopped image with text overlayed, and posted on to Twitter, Instagram and Facebook galore.

And I love it.

Martin Luther King, pictured top, said:
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. darkness cannot drive out darkness - only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

As Einstein [whom it brings us great pleasure to find as an inspiration on the topic of peace] said: "Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved through understanding."

Which got me thinking, 'maybe that means, on some level, we need to try and understand love'.

Yesterday, I wrote of my desire to still be chucking love in the direction of Green Party leader Natalie Bennett, after a disastrous radio interview the previous morning.

But in 1993, Trinidad-born-German-vocal-artist Nestor Alexander Haddaway pondered: "What Is Love?"

And it's difficult to know the answer, even 22 years on.

John the Baptist said: "God Is Love." 

That was ages ago. Now it's on car stickers. Is God a car sticker? Or is God in the air.

"Love is in the air," as John Paul Young sang (1978).

It is traditionally defined as:

noun

1. 1.

   a strong feeling of affection.

So I like to think about what sort of force it is that keeps us alive by sending electric pulses to our heart and that somehow extracts the oxygen from the air and sends it through our blood that moves to the muscles and organs, and what sort of feeling that is imbued with.

I would say we are fairly affectionately kept alive by our subconscious abilities to digest food, reproduce cells at a staggering rate and enter into slumber for a recharge every night.

So if it's the universe doing this, the universe loves us. 

If it's 'us' doing this, that is to say our bodies, then our bodies love us.

But then we are our bodies.

So perhaps we are love. 

That's a nice thought.



Persian Sufi mystic love poet Rumi had some good things to say on the topic too, as per the images below...

Thought-y love . . . Rumi ponders it as an all-pervading energy of creation

Connection . . . through acknowledging its presence, love unites us with life

All-encompassing . . . love comprises infinite potential

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I've heard people say: 

"You won't get spiritually conscious action in Parliament for love nor money."

But maybe one day we could. With a little bit of either.

Feel free to contribute to our 2015 General Election crowdfund campaign or follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook or visit our website.

Natalie Bennett - Let Me Love You

Havin' a gaffe . . . it wasn't the best day for Natalie Bennett, but her good intentions deserve to be highlighted

By TOMMY HOLGATE

"Meanwhile, the Greens were left red-faced at their 2015 general election campaign launch..." read the newsreader during the opening headlines of last night's evening news.
Oh dear, I thought, what could have happened?
What did happen - which you'll already know if you've been anywhere near social media for the last 24 hours - was that she stumbled over the answer to a question about how to effectively cost the building of 500,000 units of social housing.

I listened to the interview in full after hearing it splashed all over the news. and it was uncomfortable, but - in the scheme of existence - not anywhere near as bad as the mayhem suggests.

It was just two people in a room talking. One had a bit of a cough.

Admittedly it was cringeworthy, and one of those people could have responded with more sharpness to an enquiry about policy costing, but the level to which other politicians [Chesterfield's Labour MP/my fellow 2015 election campaigner Toby Perkins* had a particularly good time rubbing it in on Twitter, which was a shame] and various media outlets whooped it up was a reminder of the lack of humanity prevalent in the current game of politics.

It would be nice to sidestep the current culture of mudslinging. I always found/find it embarrassing to see Prime Minister's Question Time riddled with the sort of name-calling and discourtesy that makes much playground discourse look considered, mature and empathetic.

Of course, if a politician is blatantly lying in a way that will be detrimental to the general public, we would like to call them out on that. But that is born out of a lust for truthfulness and a love of people over a desire to slam an 'opponent'.

Natalie immediately admitted the gaffe and apologised to voters in a fine display of honesty in which I am sure she will have endeared herself to many of the British public.

Her 'answer' itself was drastically lacking in terms of factual response to the question [an element of answering that is often considered crucial], but lest we forget that her intentions are for the benefit of the under-represented masses. Or the common good, as the Green slogan suggests. Part of our ethos is to work alongside others who are working towards the same goals and the common good is certainly one of those aims.

Natalie didn't avoid the question, nor was she lying in an attempt to cover up an extra-marital affair, or claiming that she had no knowledge that a former aide of her predecessor had a raving history of unscrupulous dalliances with under-age minors despite working closely with them for several years.
She just had a 'brain fade'.

I met Natalie at a Green Party meeting a few months back and she is lovely. A person who has entered into the political realm with a wish to do good.

Hence, I just wanted to write some nice things about her - in the spirit of peace and love - as it must have been a bloody nightmare of a day.

In the words of American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor Ne-Yo...

Natalie Bennett, let me love you.

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Our 2015 General Election crowdfunding campaign - in which we are seeking to raise £500 to cover the costs of one candidate deposit - can be found HERE
Follow @PeacePartyUK on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Visit our website

*For reference, I may sing Ne-Yo to Toby when I see him. Or may plump for Donna Summer's Love To Love You Baby.

Peace begins with compassion in the human heart

2015 General Election crowdfunder blog, day two... 

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By JOHN MORRIS

Great character . . . Einstein - synonymous with intellect - delivers good news to benevolent people

"The concept of a “golden rule” in which we do to others only what we would want others to do to us," says The Charter for Compassion, "can be found in one form or another as far back as the civilizations of ancient China, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It has been called an “ethic of reciprocity,” and can be found in all cultures, and in all world religions as well as in the philosophies of humanists and existentialists. It is, in short, an ethical code that most all of humanity can agree on."

"Why then do we find ourselves here in the 21st century inhabiting a world that is dangerously polarized, with a growing imbalance of power and wealth among the ever-increasing number of people on the Earth, with continuing wars that ravage populations and waste resources, with massive genocide and terrorist atrocities that endanger us all? How is it that we find humankind facing the terrifying possibility of environmental catastrophe?"

"These questions confront us with a greater urgency than ever, and it is these questions that have led us to the human heart and the human brain—the great possibilities of compassion that lie within each human being— to identify a solution."

The Peace Party has been working on a political programme to put to the electorate in the UK ways to some of the answers to the questions raised by the organisation, Charter for Compassion.

The Charter's website goes on to say: "We believe that a compassionate world is a peaceful world. 

"We believe that a compassionate world is possible when every man, woman and child treats others as they wish to be treated - with dignity, equity and respect. 

"We believe that all human beings are born with the capacity for compassion, and that it must be cultivated for human beings to survive and thrive. We believe that a compassionate world is a peaceful world."

All-true-ism . . . kind words from Buddha

The Peace Party stands side-by-side with such beliefs, and the great news is that any other organisation working towards peace feels the same. there are hundreds of organisations across the world working towards the same goal, and this number is growing.

The idea of 'competing to bring about peace' doesn't really exist, as it can only be brought about by co-operation as opposed to competition.

We read recently that London and New York are competing to build the tallest residential building, with Boris Johnson aiming to make London 'the greatest city on Earth'.

Some might say 'the greatest city on Earth' would exhibit genius-like qualities, as per Albert Einstein's suggestion, above, where compassionate action towards the public was taken in a way that led to a feeling of safety, security and inclusion among its residents.

Here at The Peace Party, we will always be seeking ways to promote the ideals of the likes of Einstein, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, John Lennon and so forth [their words of wisdom will be explored in further blogs during this 28-day campaign].

If you would like to support or get involved in any way, our current 2015 Election crowdfunder campaign is now live. We are initially looking to cover the costs of one candidate deposit at £500. 

There are millions of pounds flying around in politics at the moment, and we would ultimately like to see money taken out of the political realm. However, in order to spread our message, some 'public financial collaboration' may be needed.

In the meantime, here is the Charter For Compassion video, that explains the aims of the organisation to bring about peace through interfaith communication and the promotion of that 'golden rule'...

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Our 2015 General Election crowdfunding campaign - in which we are seeking to raise £500 to cover the costs of one candidate deposit - can be found HERE

Why we shouldn’t be worried about the deficit

2015 General Election crowdfunder blog, day one...

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By DAVID BROWN

Piggy skank . . . not only is monetary system broken, but current government hoodwink us for their own gain

The government keeps telling us we must ‘reduce the deficit’. So do the other parties – the only argument between them is about how to do it and how quickly: should we increase taxes or cut spending, or both?

The problem, they say, is that the amount we pay in tax is less than the amount we spend. We have to keep borrowing to make up the difference (the deficit), and the result of all this borrowing is an ever-increasing National Debt, which will have to be repaid one day. It would be unfair to leave this to be repaid by our children and grandchildren, so we’d better start now.

That’s what they tell us. Would you be surprised to hear that it’s all nonsense?

A lot of economists now argue that the deficit reduction agenda is based on a complete misunderstanding of the way money works. Everything changed in 1971, when we left the gold standard, but governments haven’t yet – forty-three years later – caught up!

Such ideas have been labelled ‘Modern Monetary Theory,’ which makes it sound very difficult, but it isn’t.

Here's an analogical tale...

Once upon a time on a large island there was a small country. They had no gold or other precious metals and consequently no money and no shops or factories. This wasn’t a big problem because the climate was good and food grew on trees, so no one was cold or hungry. Their favourite pastime was cricket. Otherwise they did very little exercise. Their second favourite pastime was eating.
One day someone in the government noticed that the people who played cricket seemed to be much fitter than those who didn’t. And those who didn’t play cricket were much fatter than those who did!
The government took the country’s health very seriously and decided to encourage people to play cricket. They passed a law to say that everyone must score at least a hundred runs each month. To keep track they started to issue paper certificates called ‘notes’ for every ten runs anyone scored. At the end of each month everyone would have to hand in ten of these notes at a government office.

Money's 'run out' . . . government deception over cash creation is just not cricket 

Of course, what happened was that some people, who liked playing cricket, scored a lot more than a hundred runs a month, and others, who didn’t, scored nothing at all. Those that had notes to spare would give them away to people who wanted them, in return for small favours like baby-sitting. But as time went by things developed. Cricket teams were set up simply to earn notes that could be exchanged for goods and services, and eventually a whole commercial sector grew up, with factories, shops, and Buy One Get One Free offers.
All this activity demanded improvements in infrastructure – better roads and communications, hospitals, policing, etc, but no one wanted to pay for it. So the government simply produced a lot more notes and instead of giving them out to people for playing cricket, gave them to architects, builders, hospital consultants, police officers, and anyone who agreed to be involved in creating and maintaining the infrastructure. And eventually they stopped paying people to play cricket.

The end.

Now suppose someone from, say, the UK or the US were to visit this fictitious country. They would see a thriving commercial sector and a lot of public spending. But they wouldn’t find anyone worrying about the deficit or the National Debt. The concept just wouldn’t exist.
They would probably end up scratching their heads and asking whether there was even any point in the hundred runs (ten notes) a month taxation.

Good question!

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On the topic of money, our 2015 General Election crowdfunding campaign - in which we are seeking to raise £500 to cover the costs of one candidate deposit - can be found HERE

Behind-the-scenes of our debut US news appearance

By Tommy Holgate

It is with great delight that I write these opening words to what is essentially the kick-off blog for my General Election 2015 campaign in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, UK, Europe, Earth.

Prior to this I had spent a month working any shift under The Sun [pun intended, as I mean the newspaper] in order to put some money aside to make a run for the Parliament.

Of course, I do not expect to win. However, in a world of infinite change and endless possibilities, why rule it out?

I feel that, if there are people in Chesterfield who are currently not going to vote at all, then they may be persuaded to tick a box of Peace by way of being part of a message that extends beyond the perceived boundaries of the town, and potentially around the world.

That message is: "There is a small town in the middle of England where people are willing to say they prioritise humanity over profit made from oil, and weapons manufacture."

The clip below is a little fly-on-the-wall video from our first appearance on US* news [full interview at the bottom of this page].

Only 48 hours prior to this chat, I was logging off after my final shift on The Sun's digital sports desk and drying my eyes off after a series of good luck messages on my leaving card.

The people who work there are only people too, and I'm keen to remind anyone of that, who may have a preconceived idea of what constitutes a tabloid journalist.

On the day in between I was covered head-to-toe in glitter, in a pair of gold hotpants, dancing in a music video for a female pop duo.

It was a strange week and you can still see some glitter on my cheeks in the interview.

But I was nervous. As soon as the interview began there was a voice inside my head, saying, 'pick your words carefully, you're a politician now, they could be held against you!' and so I felt like a rabbit in some headlights.

It felt like having a job interview - for a job you didn't really plan for or know about [ie, less than six months ago I imagined this phase would be a decade away] - conducted transatlantically, through an earpiece with a [perfectly understandable] time delay.

Plus, fatigue was present after working myriad extra-curricular late shifts over the previous month in order to save up to move home and start campaigning [in that sense I am using Rupert Murdoch's money - albeit having been exchanged for my time and digital production services - to spread a message of peace. That's one way of 'justifying' my time spent there, if such justification were ever needed, which, judging by some initial minor trolling, it will be!]

But the feedback otherwise has been fantastic, which I am grateful for as I have now stopped beating myself up for referring to 'Jeremy Paxman's Newsnight', saying 'House of Collomons' and the word 'truth' around 50 times in the opening minute or so.

Peace Out.

Tommy

*John Morris, Peace Party National Organiser, appeared on the BBC ahead of the 2014 European Elections. Click HERE to watch.

And here's that RT interview in full...

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