• 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

6 responses to “Michael Perham and Gracious Restraint”

  1. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    I think the married bishops ought to be asked to repent of having married in the first place.

    I think what the statement by +Gloucester fails to take on board is that it is not just about sex. It is the love and joy people have in each other. It is saying ‘have you met my husband?’ Until people get that, we will make no progress.

  2. Jaye Richards-Hill Avatar

    I’d like to gear him call for a bit of gracious restraint in Uganda and Nigeris, where the Anglican church could perhaps do a little more to wind down the appalling homophobic violence taking place, due in no small part to their inflammatory conduct and support of really bad law…

  3. Bro David Avatar
    Bro David

    Yes, it is always we who are called upon to stand in the “crucified place.”

  4. Tom D'Evelyn Avatar

    Well done! It should also be pointed out that the rhetorical form of this plea is sure to put people off, expressing the purblind self-hypnotic self-mediation of a closed mind. You wouldn’t buy a used car from this chap. I speak as an unchurched American deeply impressed by Kelvin’s intelligence as expressed on this blog, which I share with my son who is on the ordination path in a Bristol. He loves it too.

  5. Fr Steve Avatar

    Well said, as always.

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