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The 'Positive Policy' Series - An Introduction: Let's talk about what matters
Posted by Steve Conyers (@oxfordspring)
Sunday, 28th February 2010
Last week I tried a little experiment - I went out onto the street and asked a lady carrying her Sainbury's shopping, the first person I saw, if she had heard the furor about Conservative Party posters and Labour spoofing of them. It was all anybody was talking about on the blogs and on Twitter I exclaimed!
"What's Twitter?" she asked. "What posters?"
We are drawing closer to a general election, politicians and the politicos inevitably grow more negative and the stories in the media grow darker. Personal attacks take over, shutting out real debate. Tribalism sets in. By the time the rosettes are pinned to lapels on polling day, the idea of actually 'thinking' beyond what is written in a manifesto seems foreign.
It becomes about us and them; about winning and losing.
That is not what politics should be. It is so easy to become submerged in the story of politics and not the ideas we are really fighting for; it is much harder to actually think about what is good and what is bad for the electorate. The lady I startled on the street didn't care about posters, Piers Morgan or Christine Pratt. It certainly wouldn't influence her vote. What she wanted to know was whether the milk she'd just bought was cheap, whether the bus I was keeping her from catching was on time and if her kids had had a good day at school.
Politics isn't entirely about policy issues, but they must be at the core of the debate.
In old media, the issues and style of debate were decided by politicians or newspapers. In the 21st century we have the unique opportunity to form the debate. We on the blogs and on Twitter help to decide what is talked about.
Starting on Monday, the (brilliant - Ed.) House of Twits website has agreed to clear the Tory Front bench for the next few weeks and replace it with the 'Positive Policy' series. A group of us decided that we wanted to try to bring the online debate back to issues and policy. Every writer was given a policy area to research, contemplate and write about with an open mind. Some are well known and proliffic posters- others have rarely written before.
The articles are positive: they talk about what is good, what currently prevents our country from reaching it's full potential and what a Conservative government could do to help. There were no other instructions, and each blogger took on the challenge in their own way. Topics vary from immigration to the arts, from tax to foreign affairs. We have even dared to tackle Europe! The articles all differ - not just in the writing style, but in the political philosophy behind them. They show an open approach to policy, a willingness to think and a genuine interest in making this country better.
They also include some of the best political writing I have seen in some time.
But this is only one part of the project. For this to work, we need positive enagement from every reader - from you.
I am sure you will enjoy the series, and I hope that in some small way, we will make what is bound to be one of the nastiest elections in many years just a little bit better.
