Saturday 16 June 2012

My one and only pledge to voters

I've never seen the point in making Political pledges, they ultimately come back to bite you on the arse.

No matter your intentions, the reality of politics and economic frailty means your pledges may have to be abandoned. Take Tuition fees (yeah I know, I know...) the party were caught up by circumstances to a degree and were forced to choose between an economic reality and responsibility to the rest of the country's economy.

I've been playing a lot of Fable III recently and as you progress through the game you have to make political pledges to would be supporters to over throw your tyrant brother King Logan. They're things like "end child poverty" "Give the mountains back to the natives and not industrialise them" "Protect the City of Aurora"...
On your ascension to the throne you are introduced to the dire state of the treasury and with a year to gather £6.3 million to pay for an army to defend Albion from certain doom. (for every £ short a civilian will die in said invasion). Suddenly you have the choice of carrying through with these costly pledges or saving your people's lives. I led a Libdem style Monarchy where we gave free education to the poor, set up green policies in the Mountain regions, cut back on policing and then had to pump £5m of my own money into the treasury to raise the army! Still I kept my pledges but gained an understanding of why pledges should not be made lightly.

Which is why this following pledge should be taken seriously as it should be the only one I ever make. I'm so serious it'll be in Italics and in parts... Yeah! It's like that readers.

I Promise that should by the grace of an unspecified deity or electoral miscount, actually get elected to any governing body be it local, national, senatorial or European I will do the following:

a.) Represent the needs of the constituency (over the will of the party if necessary). Exceptions can be made in the following cases;

i) The need of the Nation outweighs the need of the Locality but would be open to a case by case basis and discussion at an arranged forum with the electorate.
ii) In Wartime - I don't mean like Iraq or Afghanistan I mean if the German army are holidaying in Calais preparing to paddle over the channel sort of wartime.
iii) Serious "National Emergency"

b.) Carry out a grown up approach to Politics and the office of MP or Councillor. No shouting, braying, pointing or laughing at PMQs or engaging in slanging matches with opposition members of Local/national government, however tempting it may be.

c.) To maintain no vested interests. The voters before companies and doners.

d.) To be out and about in my constituency and keep my appointments where possible.

There... that was painless. The thrust is that I would be there for the people who elected me above and beyond everything even party loyalty. After all representatives are there to represent, not tow the line or hold out hope for ministerial positions (though as a Libdem I doubt I'll ever have that worry!) or self aggrandisement. If at the end of my term I could look back on it and say hand on heart that I had fulfilled my pledge and served the people, not got involved in political point scoring or football then I can be proud of myself and maybe my family can be proud of me too.

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