• The kind of political party I’d like to see

    I’m not a member of a political party at the moment, though obviously I have been in the past.

    Here’s the policies that would be to the fore in the kind of political party that I would like to see and which would get me back into making a more active engagement in politics:

    1. A burning desire to reduce absolute poverty across the United Kingdom
    2. An ambition to reduce relative inequality across the country.
    3. A narrative that focuses more on justice than nationhood.
    4. A reforming zeal for the institutions of government – House of Lords, PR and the EU Parliament to begin with but not limited to these.
    5. A localism that seeks to put power in the hands of local communities.
    6. An internationalism that seeks to redeem colonialism by unashamedly promoting progressive values (equality of men and women, LGBT rights, anti-corruption, anti-bribery) as it seeks to trade with the world.
    7. An ability to articulate what freedom for the individual means in a digital age.
    8. An acceptance that social security is here for the good of us all.
    9. A celebration of the relative peace and prosperity that the European Union has brought to a once warring continent
    10. A stable, mixed-mode economy.
    11. A secure National Health Service.
    12. Disestablishment of national churches

4 responses to “Equal Marriage – Prop 8 Ruling in California”

  1. Cal Avatar
    Cal

    “Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither hath he been displeased.
    And surely the Future shall be better for thee than the Past,
    And in the end shall thy Lord be bounteous to thee and thou be satisfied.”

    Little by little.

  2. Amelia Hagen Avatar

    Yes, little by little. Taking the long view is frustrating, but in the end that is the view that God must surely take.

  3. […] Holdsworth has a good response for an Anglican revisionist this side of the Pond which gets down to the core of the argument. […]

  4. David | Dah•veed Avatar
    David | Dah•veed

    May we join the celebration?

    Mexico court upholds gay marriage law
    Thu, Aug 5 2010
    MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s supreme court on Thursday upheld a landmark law that allows gay marriage in the capital city, bucking a challenge raised by the conservative government of President Felipe Calderon.
    This year, Mexico City became the first capital in mainly Catholic Latin America to pass a law allowing gay couples the same marriage and adoption rights as heterosexuals.
    But Calderon’s government and his right-wing National Action Party, or PAN, argued the law was unconstitutional on grounds it would be destructive to families. The powerful Catholic hierarchy in Mexico calls gay marriage immoral.
    While the supreme court decided gay marriage was constitutional, it will review the adoption clause on Monday.
    “Those of us who are in favor of this (law) are in favor of diversity and tolerance,” Supreme Court Justice Arturo Zaldivar said during the court’s deliberations.
    “Our constitution does not establish a concept of marriage,” he said.
    Since the law was passed, more than 300 same-sex couples have tied the knot, the majority of them men.
    Activists see the law as part of a sea change in attitudes on homosexuality in much of traditionally macho Latin America.
    With some 20 million residents, the Mexico City metropolitan area is one of the world’s largest cities.
    (Reporting by Miguel Angel Guitierrez; writing by Mica Rosenberg; editing by Missy Ryan and Jerry Norton)

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