Philip John

Category: Political

  • When secularism is not secularism: when it’s French (or European)

    It’s disappointing that the European Court of Hunan Rights has upheld the French ban on full-face veils. Some call this a ‘victory for secularism’ but it is no such thing. Secularism is about equality for all. Freedom of religion, and freedom from religion. It is not about curtailing individual liberties for some misguided notion about…

  • The Communist Manifesto

    Years after buying a copy, along with some other political philosophy books, I finally got around to reading Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto. My understanding of it is that it postulates two things; Society is split into two factions; the working class, and the ruling class, with the latter exploiting the former for it’s benefit. In order…

  • Why I’m voting Green, and why you should definitely vote today.

    After using the excellent Vote Match website, I reviewed my answers and the comparisons to the policies of the various political parties and decided that I agreed with it’s assessment that I should vote for the Green Party. There are a few things I do disagree with the Greens on, such as their stance on Nuclear…

  • The case for lowering the voting age is NOT less persuasive now than at any point in the last 50 years

    Re: The case for lowering the voting age is less persuasive now than at any point in the last 50 years While I don’t fundamentally disagree with the points made (some are very valid), this argument misses a key point. At 16, often for the first time, young people are making big decisions that will…

  • Switzerland’s referendum system sounds fantastic

    Re: Switzerland rejects highest minimum wage Reading the above article I was mostly fascinated by the fact that on one day the country goes to the polls to vote on multiple referendums. As a believer in direct democracy I’d love to see something similar in the UK.

  • A no vote for Scottish independence is not a yes vote for devolution

    Re: Nick Clegg: the matter of Holyrood’s tax powers must come out of the shadows Nick Clegg is suggesting the Westminster parties should have a devolution plan ready in the event Scotland says no to independence. Doing so may well help their yes campaign but voters should beware. In the event of a no vote…

  • Idea: A re-usable framework for “Who Should I Vote For?” tests

    Those “Who Should I Vote For?” sites are, I think, a great idea. Many of them fail though. They; often miss out huge policy areas (e.g. Europe) often just copy/paste from manifestos making it easy to see which party is which over simplify questions or provide limited answer choices that don’t always match views become…

  • UK may have no say on EU top job, frontrunner warns

    Re: UK may have no say on EU top job, frontrunner warns European Commission President hopeful Jean-Claude Juncker suggests British people aren’t getting a vote on who becomes President but ignores one fundamental problem: the British people never get a vote and neither do the rest of Europe’s citizens. Ridiculously, this is the first time that the Commission…

  • I think I’m going to join The Pirate Party

    I’ve spent some of today reading through all of The Pirate Party policies. With only two exceptions I find myself agreeing with the whole thing. It’s a great feeling, and I reckon a lot of the people I know will feel the same. Time to join then? Update: I did it.