Common sense for Proper Change

It may not feel like it right now, but we are in desperate straits, and in need of radical change if we are to maintain the society that we have built over the last 300 years.

Britons deserve the right to choose a proper solution at the next general election, and that is why we have formed the LIFE Party.

Slashing at our social fabric, or paying ourselves more, cannot be the only two alternatives on offer in the nation that used democracy and freedom to spawn the greatest advances in human accomplishment. In a time where balance is so desperately needed, between man and planet and between ambition and compassion, simply loading one side of the scales is a betrayal of our proud history and our potential future.

Any grown-up can see that we have exceeded the bounds of affordability and broken our compact with each other. Restoring sanity to our finances and reaffirming our social contract are nothing more than common sense. These are our common goals, and these are the manifesto of LIFE.

Faced with the greatest challenges of their times, Britons have time again risen to the moment, and dared to forge new paths, full of ambition and confidence in a better future that we deem the right of every man, woman and child. This is such a time, this is a moment of reckoning that demands bold progress, resourceful invention and the maturity of conscience that is the hallmark of this great nation.

In the tradition of clarifying understanding before launching to action, LIFE is based on a clear understanding of humanity: as a social species adapted to live in large, interdependent groups. Our greatest personal assets flourish in the soil of freedom and empowerment, and our greatest rewards are experienced in our contributions to the common good. Freedom, not competition, is the mother of invention. Happiness is an interactive experience, not a solitary reward. Diversity is the root of capacity, and uniformity is the greatest weakness. Understanding these natural aspects of our humanity, not of our choosing but the result of millions of years of evolution, imbues LIFE’s policies with purpose and direction far stronger than the vicissitudes of the clapped out 20th Century dogmas promulgated by the legacy political parties.

A reaffirmation of our common social contract, as individual members of a common society, will restore the fabric of our society and return sanity to our public finances. It is unquestionably within our capacity, and unavoidably our duty, to guarantee each other the basic elements for life. Shelter, sustenance and the elementary services of modern living are the right of every person in this country, and it is our noble duty to provide them.

Far from seeing our social fabric as a cost that must be cut, LIFE understands that our social fabric is the bedrock of our future. Neither is our social fabric nourished by engrandising our self worth by increasing the money we pay ourselves, it achieves none of our goals and only serves to dig our hole deeper. LIFE will increase the provision of social support so that we can pay ourselves less. We will activate the tipping point heretofore avoided, in a deliberate act, to convert money into effort, cash into caring, and division into cohesion. We can guarantee each other all that is necessary to live and prosper, and LIFE will deliver on that guarantee through the provision of comprehensive social support services, sufficient to sustain every life. Not only is this affordable, it is cheaper than any of the alternatives, by virtue of the reduction in pay that we voluntarily trade for the value of the services provided. Cost is reduced, across the economy, benefiting public and private finances alike, and making investment in the fabric of a new sustainable society affordable.

The new social contract unleashes a new economy, the next great revolution in human progress. Our promise of solidarity reduces cost and restores sanity to our budget, because it restores the most natural human condition: interdependence. We cannot escape our reliance on each other, and ceasing the struggle to achieve that unattainable mirage releases us from our Midas delusion. We cannot buy our society, our security or our safety; we already have all of those, we simply need to honour what is already ours.

The attendant flourishing of enterprise and creativity will define a new era of real prosperity and happiness. Released from the unnecessary coercion of survivalism, the true bounties of a large, diverse and free human society can blossom and bloom in every corner of our bright, new future.

LIFE will invest in a massive social housing program, and, just as importantly, retrofit of the existing housing stock to improve efficiency. We will double the transport budget, investing in building the best local public transport systems in the world. We will empower communities, with direct distribution of income taxes and new local governance, to deliver the social support services to their citizens.

LIFE will ensure that everyone has free access to basic phone and Internet services. We will restore faith in democracy by modernising government, devolving power to regions and increasing the accountability of politicians and civil servants. We will legislate for freedom and privacy, updating our laws for the 21st Century and making the security of our society compatible with the freedom of our citizens.

LIFE will lead from the front in the EU and in the world, by establishing a new contract between citizen and state, one that honours the individual as part of a greater whole. Our example will change the world, and define a new era in which humanity evolves to be the caretaker and custodian of our common home: a planet with clean water and clean air, that is a beacon of happiness, respect, and even, dare we hope, joy.