"What are your politics?" thread

My party, if I have one, is the Liberal Democrats.

My main concern in terms of Home affairs is that the voting system is change to one that is more representative (from First Past the Post to something like the Single transferable vote vote). The UK had a referendum in 2011 where voters were asked to decide between FPTP and the "Alternative Vote" voting system. The result was decisively in favour of sticking with FPTP to such an extent that I was briefly of the view that it would not make sense to continue to push for a change until many years had passed. However, as I now understand that the AV voting system could actually be less representative of the electorate's intentions in some instances, I am of the view that the referendum was not a real choice, and thus I still see reform as a pressing issue.

I also believe that the House of Lords (the British equivalent of the American senate, albeit with less power) should be a wholly elected body. I believe that the monarchy and peerages should be abolished. I also think that the Prime Minister should be directly elected by the electorate, although I consider this of less pressing importance.

I would like the regions of the country to be increasingly federalised. An English parliament would probably be beneficial, as would be a Yorkist, Lancastian, or "Northern" parliament. I consider nation states to be rather archaic, and would like there to be universal free movement of people, in principle (in the short term, it would be untenable to simply announce such a sweeping change: it would have to be done by degrees).

I believe that the defence budget should be dramatically decreased. I do not believe that we should have nuclear weapons. I think money should be spent instead on diplomatic (soft power etc.!) and humanitarian efforts. I believe that focusing on decreasing poverty and increasing education worldwide will be far more cost-effective and beneficial than spending money on armies etc. I think we should only intervene militarily when the lives of civilians are being lost. This is in conjunction with my view that immigrants, including refugees, should be readily accepted. Countries neighbouring a regional crisis should be encouraged to intervene more, especially if those countries have a negative view of Western intervention.

A sovereign wealth fund seems like an attractive idea. The idea of paying everyone a basic income should be seriously considered. There should be some form of Buffett Tax, perhaps at a lower rate. Science spending should be significantly increased. There should be an aspiration to be an carbon-neutral economy. More houses! Don't follow leaders. Watch the parkin' meters. That's why I think I should Mr. Universe (bachelor).

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"What are your politics?" thread