Gareth McNab’s Post

In a democracy, everyone's voice matters equally. So it's completely unjust that so many people on lower incomes get shut out from using their vote. This General Election looks set to be the most unequal for more than six decades, due to a ballooning turnout gap at elections and the growing role of money in British politics, according to a recent report from IPPR. We can help change this. In the run-up to July 4, we will be working hard to raise awareness about how people can register to vote, and our manifesto will aim to put ending the injustice of poverty in our wealthy country at the top of the political agenda.

The #UKGeneralElection is exactly 3 weeks away. It’s so important we ask our political leaders to urgently tackle poverty and create a more compassionate and fair asylum system. At the SVP we’ve just launched our ‘Email your candidates’ tool, to help people ask questions to their candidates. Make sure you use your voice to advocate for those in need. #SocialJustice #GeneralElection

The importance of creating safety for open and honest discussions, where people can listen and learn, was a recurring theme of the business leaders and businesses at our first #SocialImpactinthePub event. Whilst each were operating in completely different industries and settings with extremely varied structures and staffing compositions - the golden thread between each was they focused on enabling their people (and those involved with their business) to learn for themselves. By playing the role of supportive enabler, they found that people made the best decision based on understanding and empathy. Now isn't that a nice takeaway as we move closer to the #referendum.

Let this be the last UK election where: - it is a choice between the lesser of two evils. - campaigning is the first time many constituents have had any contact with their MP - an MP can tell constituents to 'shut up', calling them 'illiterate and ignorant'... and still expect to be a candidate, much less be elected - most of the electorate feel unheard, un-represented and *used* to support injustice in the country and abroad - the data the country has paid for is not used to *objectively* inform, where it is so elitist that Joe Public can't access it. - 'immigration' is named as the big 'issue' even as child poverty rose by almost a million (from 3.6 million in 2010/11 to 4.3 million in 2022/23 - according to Child Poverty Action Group). - people vote for parties based on a manifesto (what is offered) and not on what they genuinely are concerned about (what is needed). - liars, crooks and accused war criminals can confidently walk about representing the UK as elected officials. - voters can be swayed by compromised media that abuse the role of journalism in democracy. - voters lazily vote for the same party they always have, never judging them on their record, just 'always voted blah'. - people have no legal option to not vote for the offered candidates and for that feedback not somehow be quantified and acted on We have 5 years until the next one. Let's get to work. #democracyNeedsFixing

The #TripleLock is so important in protecting income security for older people. We need the next Government to keep it in place to reduce pensioner poverty, but what is it? Swipe to find out. Find out what we're calling for ahead of the General Election here: https://bit.ly/4a0Qp2X

The general election is an opportunity to ensure the next government puts fuel poverty and fuel crisis at the heart of their vision to deliver change for the most vulnerable in society. To this end, we have published our manifesto to End Fuel Crisis, in which we set out our top priorities for whichever party is elected. You can read them here: https://lnkd.in/eEvy8ZJr #EndFuelCrisis

#bynotvoting Why many South Africans dont vote? Many  believes that all politicians are the same and   feels strongly excluded from the political rhetoric. They are growing increasingly frustrated with these issues that continue to plague the country. ‘Although they acknowledge the importance of voting, they  often don’t identify voting as the best way to bring about change. In my view; People will not vote if the dominant idea in their minds is “nothing will change” or “what good is my vote?” Currently; the citizens  are less trusting  of government and  believe that our fellow compatriots and government officials are all out for themselves and cannot be trusted to behave in a moral fashion, then voting is likely to be seen as useless." Despite how disillusioned we are with politicians and the government, we need to go out and vote. Not voting is to our detriment. By not voting, you accept and signal that you are happy with our politics and government’s performance. It may feel like your one single vote will not make a difference, but adding up all the votes of those who abstain can swing an entire election and bring about the much needed change. Bringing about democracy in South Africa entailed much pain and suffering. The opportunity to participate in the democratic process to enable real change should not be taken for granted.

Conservatives are too distracted by flag waving. From my latest blog 👇 "Nationalism is when we’re talking more about immigration than we are about child-poverty. It’s when local councillors stop talking about council tax and parking charges to instead focus on flying a flag above the town hall. With a third of all children in poverty, next time you knock on a family’s door tell them about what Conservatives, locally and nationally, will do to ensure their kids can eat. Lower council-tax locally, tackling inflation nationally. Fighting movement taxes in London, creating jobs in every region of the UK. That’s what Conservatives are good at. That’s what people expect from us. Once we’ve got kids eating, then we can worry about flags." Read more: https://lnkd.in/evaWCH28 #LocalPolitics #Politics #Havering #Council #Nationalism #Patriotism #Immigration #poverty

Buckle your seatbelts. Our Disruptionality metric is now at a level (-5 points) where historically Canadians have significantly cut back in their economic activity, the potential for protest is heightened and politically where they would replace incumbent governments if an election were held (witness Manitoba). Higher scores mean relatively stable economic activity (spending) and more limited receptivity to disruptive socio-politics (and is generally good news for incumbent governments). Lower scores mean the opposite. 

Buckle your seatbelts. Our Disruptionality metric is now at a level (-5 points) where historically Canadians have significantly cut back in their economic activity, the potential for protest is heightened and politically where they would replace incumbent governments if an election were held (witness Manitoba). Higher scores mean relatively stable economic activity (spending) and more limited receptivity to disruptive socio-politics (and is generally good news for incumbent governments). Lower scores mean the opposite.