Time to stand up against ‘dishonest MPs’
07/12/2009
The scandal of nearly half our MPs fiddling their expenses in order to line their own pockets has shocked the whole nation. If anything it has shocked Seniors even more than anyone else because our generation was brought up to believe that the principles of honesty and integrity should govern our every action.
It is impossible to reconcile this with the complete disregard for honesty and integrity demonstrated by our elected representatives, who were told clearly in the ‘Green Book’ that: “All claims must be incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily for the purpose of carrying out their parliamentary duties.”
Tony Watts has hit the nail right on the head in his article entitled “How to get heard”, in the October issue of Mature Times. There is unfortunately no one organisation that represents the 20.6 million people over 50 who make up 43% of the voting population. Most of the organisations who work incredibly hard for Seniors such as Age Concern, Help the Aged, Counsel and Care and many others, are actually registered charities, and as such have to be very careful about getting actively involved in political activity, as this could compromise their charitable status. They can speak to politicians individually, but individual politicians have no power to change things, only political parties can do that, and it would be inappropriate for registered charities to support one of the three main parties.
The problem of the local Older People’s Forums is precisely, as Tony says, that they are too local, they are not part of any national movement for senior citizens, which is what we desperately need and many reject modern technology such as email and websites which would enable them to be much more effective in communicating with other Seniors both locally and nationally. Many are also adamant that they must remain non-political, not realising that the only way to bring about change is through politics. I suspect that this attitude stems from a fear of causing dissension and splitting their membership between those who support the Labour Party and those who support the Conservatives or the LibDems.
What we need is a genuinely independent party for the over-fifties of people who have already pursued a successful career in business or the professions and now want to do something different, and perhaps more satisfying, like serving their community and helping to build a better and fairer society. They must stand up for honesty and integrity and be prepared to replace the nearly 50% of our disgraced MPs who may not – and certainly should not – be re-elected, The only way to concentrate the minds of elected politicians is to threaten their jobs.
Many readers may not be aware of it, but there is a genuinely independent party for the over-fifties and it is called the Senior Citizens Party. It is independent because it does not support any other party and because, unlike all the other parties, it does not appoint Party Whips, but expects every representative to listen to the debate and the views of his (or her) constituents, and then vote according to his conscience and what he believes to be the best interests of his constituents and the country as a whole. It was founded in 2004 along the lines of a similar party in Germany and has several thousand members throughout the country, but it has no millionaire business men or trade unions to support it financially and is totally dependent on the subscriptions and donations from Seniors. It is actively looking for people all over the country willing to stand as candidates in the coming General Election.
Your country needs YOU to demonstrate your belief in honesty, integrity and democracy by standing as a prospective parliamentary candidate yourself. We are working closely with the Independent Network, so if you would prefer to stand as an independent candidate we will be happy to help you do that. The most important thing is to persuade as many Seniors as possible to stand. If you are prepared to consider standing as a candidate, please contact us by email (info@seniorcitizensparty.org.uk), or call 0845 260 1215.
Grahame Leon-Smith is Founder of Senior Citizens Party