Hmmm. What are your policies on climate change?

Dunno about the name - it may say what you believe it should say, but to me it looks like a lightning rod. And any publicity which has the word `honest` in it will automatically provoke skepticism and/or cynicism. How about 'New Progressive' or 'Integrity In Parliament'? Just a thought.

Craig- why not stand under the LPUK banner.

Mike
No, they sound to much like a political party in the understood sense. That's why "Jury Team" failed so abysmally.

How about FOR TRUTH AND JUSTICE for the name?

How about somebody reliable just volunteers to do as Craig asks??!

Put An Honest Man/Woman into Parliament is a good, well-judged name.

I would volunteer, but no can do today. Sorry.

I'm Spartacus!

At the risk of being off link, Mark Steel has a very entertaining article in the Independent on New Labour today: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mark-steel/mark-steel-so-this-is-new-labours-legacy-1701055.html

Andrew - see reply to Mike.

Alasdair - I am a firm believer in the existence of man mad climate change. I think many of the solutions for the UK are well understood but insufficiently pursued. Energy efficiency in buildings and industrial processes is labour intensive and should be the subject of truly major government programmes in time of recession. I strongly favour wind power. I would build the Severn Barrage because I think the net benefit outweighs the local environmental effects.

I want to see much more done on electricity generation from ocean currents (as opposed to tide or wave) and I think this could be especially important in the developing world.

I am against nuclear fission. I am not against research on fusion. I am sceptical on photo-vlotaic and solar concentration.

I don't drive or own a car.

I would just add that there is a peculiar tendency of voters which I noted in Blackburn, with Independent candidates for voters to expect to agree with everything they say or not vote for them. Across economics, foreign policy, social justice and public services, civil liberties, the environment, etc etc you will probably never find anyone you agree with on everything. I don't know a single person with whom I agree on all subjects.

I think the "Clean Hands Party" says it all.

Hi Craig.. thanks for that. I don't expect to agree on everything with anyone! Just that they are willing to discuss it!

I agree with Mike Cobley, and would add that a single word party name would help the meme.

Try things like:

Welcome Party
Open Party
Energy Party
Simple Party

They lack overt pretension, and free you up for a more dynamic manifesto.

Clean Party

:))

I have time today. I don't know anything about the nuts and bolts of the system.

Craig,

Looking at the form to see if I can help it seems you need a Leader, Nominating Officer and a Treasurer, and all three must sign the form. Assuming you want to be one of the three, that makes it hard to get it done until you are available.

Sadly I am in Norwich and if you want the form taken in to the London office today I can't really help, though the idea of madly running around for a day registering a political party appeals to me greatly.

One thing I could do is register you a web address though, you'll need one! www.electcraigmurray.com? www.murrayfornorwich.com?

Sorry I can't do more, but count me in for several of those volunteer roles!

PS - Good to hear some views on energy issues. I am pro-fusion and think the steadily reducing funding for ITER - the international experimental fusion reactor being built in southern France is an outrage. On PV i can see many reasons for scepticism, though i think as a small scale, intermediate technology it shows promise it will never replace mass energy generation technologies. Looking forward to discussing this once you make it out here to Norwich!

Citizens In Parliament

"I am a firm believer in the existence of man mad global warming" (I corrected your quote for you, its now called climate change because the warming has been shown by reality to be bullshit)

Why? Because you believe the lying pols youre trying to replace with honest ones? The scientific evidence is against not for. Falling average temperature 1998 to present concurrent with rising CO2. Its just a tax and control scam.

If I lived in Norwich you would lose my vote for this position. Draconian environmental legislation based on false premises literally KILLS people!

Possibly it doesn't matter - if your campaign lets people know who you are, they should recognise your name immediately.

Anyway, if you want an 'anarchic constitution', which I take to mean 'as undefined as possible' here's one suggestion:

PREAMBLE

WHEREAS major political parties have been guilty of the abuse of public money and complicit in crimes against humanity, such as receiving information obtained from torture,

NOW THEREFORE we, the friends of Craig Murray, form the party "Put An Honest Human Into Parliament" and adopt the following constitution.

CONSTITUTION

1. All principles and policies of the party shall be decided by a democratic process and aim at increasing the quality of life for all citizens.
2. Application for membership is open to anyone who supports the principles and policies of the party.
3. The party shall consist of a general membership and a smaller executive, the latter which shall be chosen by democratic election from all members at the annual general meeting.
4. The members of the executive shall democratically decide the offices that they hold and allocate, including that of the president, the general procedures that they follow, and the implementation of the party's policies.

Craig,
My scientific thinking does not let me grasp the human-caused warming theory, but I think I'm with you on the net result: that our finite resources need to be managed for the benefit of all humanity. This is where foreign policy, especially exploitative violent policy must be considered.

Monbiot, leaving aside his on climate hobby-horse, has just written an article about our secret history of abuse:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/08/british-empire-colonies-banks-reform

Please let us know what you think about this article.

how about

JPOG - Joe Public Oversight Group
JPAG - Joe Public Accountability Group

Hi Ed. I am wondering what aspect of your scientific thinking makes it hard to grasp ACC? (I am not being snippy, but you see this on the blogs all the time and I don't understand it).

I trained as a biologist and did a lot of chemistry through the years and it seems pretty straightforward, although predictions are a nightmare. The real issue though is people. If there were only 300 million people on earth, CC wouldn;t matter, we would go somewhere else. Sadly, there is nowhere left to go.

Hi Ed. I am wondering what aspect of your scientific thinking makes it hard to grasp ACC? (I am not being snippy, but you see this on the blogs all the time and I don't understand it).

I trained as a biologist and did a lot of chemistry through the years and it seems pretty straightforward, although predictions are a nightmare. The real issue though is people. If there were only 300 million people on earth, CC wouldn;t matter, we would go somewhere else. Sadly, there is nowhere left to go.

Er, how about "Elect an Honest Person"?

I have printed out the forms and the guidance notes if that helps anyone.

If the ballot paper lists parties alphabetically you might want to have something a little earlier in the alphabet than P. Especially as the main parties are C & L.

Accountability
Clean Hands
Equitable
etc

Alasdair,
I'll try to keep it brief because it is off-topic. Sorry I mentioned it at all. It seems to be a distraction from the real concerns of humankind, which is that we all need to get along better.

There is not (and can not be) a "controlled" lab experiment. Thus we have to rely on authority. (But the authorities have been politicised.) I have not seen a fair admission that the data is not comprehensive. Contrary evidence is suppressed, including warmer periods in the past (pre-industry).

Natural phenomena, volcanic eruptions and forest fires, emit lots, and the energy from the sun and the earth's core vastly swamps other sources.

That's it.

I like "Accountability Party" very much; best so far.

Stevie -

Are you filling out the forms? (not sure if that is what "I'm Spartacus" meant).

I don't need to sign the forms or to be an office bearer or leader. I guess there are some basic legal requirements for the constitution, specifying audited acoounts etc? Must be a template for a club/society constitution somewhere.

The name is not mean to be a political party name in the conventional sense. It's just the slogan I am using for my campaign, and needs to be registered as a party name to get it on the ballot. The party can even change its name in future - parties do (eg New Labour).

There is not going to be a party policy programme other than to elect independent non-racist people with their own opinions, who want to work for the good of their constituents. Then any candidate for the party can set out his her own views.

I am not trying to start anything like a political party in the conventional sense. I am trying to register a slogan that can appear on the ballot, and a campagining entity to overcome biases in the expenses rules. That is all.

It does not matter a jot what the constitution says as long as it gets past the Electoral Commission.

It is a simple administrative task. Can someone stop cogitating and get on with it?

This is not a thread for people to air their views on climate change, interesting though they may be.

Craig,
Yes, I was volunteering to do it so I will get on and complete/post off the registration forms/documents today. I did also send you an email.
Bests Regards

Stevie
You have probably already seen it, but just in case you have not, there is a draft financial plan you can crib in Appendix C of
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/electoral_commission_pdf_file/0004/13495/registeringpolparty_final_23814-6305__E__N__S__W__.pdf

Thanks Stevie. You have just been elected party leader :-) I think the guidance says you need two signatures - doesn't matter if I don't appear on the forms as I am not there to sign.

Doh! URL came out wrong.
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/electoral_commission_pdf_file/0004/13495/registeringpolparty_final_23814-6305__E__N__S__W__.pdf

There's a fist for this site. I just deleted my own comment as too rude.

Stevie

The woed "party" should not appear on the end and "into" is one word.

"Put an Honest Man into Parliament".

There is a limit of six words allowed!

Don't forget to register the domain name. E.g. www.putanhonestmanintoparliament.org.uk
seems to be free

Have you considered registering a name with satiric overtones? Thinking here of Auberon Waugh when he stood as a candidate of the Dog Lovers' Party - an allusion to an alleged threat to kill the dog of Norman Scott (Jeremy Thorpe's 'friend')

Craig,
I have completed the registration form and emailed it to your Tiscali address for checking. Regards

The "very tight by-election spending limit" is actually £100,000 - see page 37 of http://tinyurl.com/5er73a

Craig,

I genuinely wish you well.
However, you are on record as saying that you are against "party" politics.
I understand and bye and large agree with your reasoning.

I also understand what you say about the system being skewed against independents and towards parties.

But, I can't help but think that you have you have "sold out" and compromised at the very first hurdle.

Exciting times I know but think about it (please).

I'd be delighted to contribute a Norwich telephone number - calls delivered to any location!

Now - would that be taking advantage of modern technology or would it be... cheating?

Good work all. Sorry for going off topic, although I asked the question in the beginning becuase I was thinking about jumping the gun.. no need however.

POP - Peoples Oversight Party
TOP - The Oversight Party
TAP - The Accountability Party
PAP - Peoples Accountability PArty

Haven't read the entire thread, just butting in to say I strongly advise against party constitution and you should run as an independent under your own name.

Party formation for a single candidate would be a joke. Run entirely under your own name; it has stood you in good stead thus far.

Dear Craig

How about

The Ethical Candidate Party?

If Parliament is about one thing it should be about people having ethics.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

How about

"Let's party !"

"The Norwich Union"

or to be serious "Reform"

no idea if this helps but I rushed this off on the Guardian comment column today when the G reported on Brown's reform ideas......or lack of reform ideas

H

is that it? The big idea.

A debate on electoral reform. A debate no less

Tightening of the rules on what MPs can steal. Coo ; impressive stuff.

A commission , wow , a whole commission on House of Commons Rules. Coo.
a review of the expenses system for peers. Gosh. How radical

the 30 year rule is reduced to 20. That is a really major constitutional reform. That'll convince me that Gordon is serious

Small minded stuff for small minded insiders. Nothing for the people.

This is a joke. A poor joke but a joke. An insult. A slap in the face for an outraged electorate. He cannot be serious

Go out & canvas for & vote for Craig Murray , my buddy , in North Norfolk. Get out there in your thousands , go to Ketts Hill , vote for none of the main parties & give the political class a statement that we will not tolerate the sleaze & the lies & being ignored any longer

Haward

no idea if this helps but I rushed this off on the Guardian comment column today when the G reported on Brown's reform ideas......or lack of reform ideas

H

is that it? The big idea.

A debate on electoral reform. A debate no less

Tightening of the rules on what MPs can steal. Coo ; impressive stuff.

A commission , wow , a whole commission on House of Commons Rules. Coo.
a review of the expenses system for peers. Gosh. How radical

the 30 year rule is reduced to 20. That is a really major constitutional reform. That'll convince me that Gordon is serious

Small minded stuff for small minded insiders. Nothing for the people.

This is a joke. A poor joke but a joke. An insult. A slap in the face for an outraged electorate. He cannot be serious

Go out & canvas for & vote for Craig Murray , my buddy , in North Norfolk. Get out there in your thousands , go to Ketts Hill , vote for none of the main parties & give the political class a statement that we will not tolerate the sleaze & the lies & being ignored any longer

Haward

Yassau, Rob

It is not a party in anthing but name. It has no political programme, imposes no discipline. It has three members and is not asking for more. That is why I am rejecting all the halpful "party" names people are suggesting.

It is a simple means of administration and of getting the slogan on the ballot. It is am administrative fiction forced on us by the rules. I am being open about it for reasons of transparency. But the voters will just see posters and leaflets that say - "Craig Murray - Independent - Put An Honest Man in Parliament".

The latter phrase will be on the ballot paper to jog their memory. The word party will nowhere appear. It will not appear as a party to anyone. Nor is it in the normal sense. it is an adminstrative fiction for legal purposes.

Haward -

Thanks. Certainly cheers me up anyway!

Hmmmm .......I got the constituency wrong (all these places which practice incest are the same to me) & I am not offering any money (because you will just spend it on your moat).......however we will get to Norwich North once the election is called & do what we can. Time to stick it up 'em. Once more into the fray with Don Murray-Quixote........

"One of Blair's numerous Anti-Libertarian laws was a new provision that the only description allowed on the ballot paper is the official, registered party name."

OR

"One of Blair's improvements to our election system was a new provision that discourages timewasters, nutters and vexatious litigants from abusing our hard-won democratic system."

You take your choice.

Well done Stevie!

eddie spewed;

"One of Blair's improvements to our election system was a new provision that discourages timewasters, nutters and vexatious litigants from abusing our hard-won democratic system."

You take your choice.
=====

The choice is a no brainer; all of the 640 of the bastards, to a man of them. You little runt.

Sick of you going around and spamming this board to improve the general Gesundes Volksempfinden, as per the instructions you have received.

Blair ought to be in Hague and tried for crimes against humanity, along with treason, and being a wannabe Pinochet, as well as totally bollocksing this country to the mess that it is now.

You are obviously not aware of Craig's new non-abuse policy. Calm down dear.

I don't think the name is quite right. There are still some honest people around but they wouldn't all be good MPs.

For clarification, we are not looking to set up a political party as such at this point. What Craig is doing is just taking a step to ensure that next to his name on the ballot paper are the words "Put an Honest Man into Parliament" as opposed to just the word "Independent". This will help focus the minds of the electorate when it comes to voting.

Why not make the name of your party the first one that comes up by choosing an alphabetically early title?

Re: "paul" above denying climate change.

Climate change deniers know better than peer reviewed climatologists. Why? Because they wheel out a slight variance on the following (quoting Paul):
---
"The scientific evidence is against not for. Falling average temperature 1998 to present concurrent with rising CO2."
---
1998. Always, always, 1998. That's the exceptionally hot year they bring up without fail, because they are too stupid or too dishonest to understand climate change is not a straight line progression. And an exceptionally high peak, rather than the trend, is statistically invalid.

What is it with these climate change deniers - are they stupid? Stooges? Frightened of the truth? They hold onto the fatuous 1998 reference as if that were all the mattered.

re: John A @ 5:53pm - because the candidates are listed on the ballot paper in alphabetical order of surname for a Westminster election.

' Its Our Parliament ' should appeal to voters.

ItsOurParliament.com
ItsOurParliament.org
ItsOurParliament.co.uk

All the above domains registered and available.

Craig/Stevie/all

www.honestmaninparliament.org.uk

or

www.putanhonestmanintoparliament.org.uk

or something else? The latter is correct but unwieldy, but then that's what you have search engines for. "Parliament" is a bugger to spell in either case.

Also if other candidates might stand later, will the gender bias of the name get in the way? Don't mean to sound pedantic, but regardless of the registered name, how about:

www.honestpeopleinparliament.org.uk

Thoughts please, and I will arrange.

The 'party' has been registered in such a way to allow for either of the following to appear on ballot papers in the future:
i) Put an Honest Man into Parliament; or
ii) Put an Honest Woman into Parliament.

@Stevie: OK, but

www.putanhonestmanorwomanintoparliament.org.uk

is probably a bit wordy!

If you and others don't dig my third suggestion (honestpeopleinparliament) I suggest we go for the first one (honestmaninparliament) as the second is just too damn long, imho. (And if a female prospective candidate turns up, then we can made changes if that happens.)

Vector-based posters (any size you like) for the campaign...

Honest Person into Parliament

http://www.b3tards.com/u/99463e4b0f1b647c6d03/honestpol.jpg

and Targeting James Purnell

http://www.b3tards.com/u/99463e4b0f1b647c6d03/jp_sm.jpg

Long-time reader.

Stevie:

Well done, especially for avoiding the fixation on names. I spent some time campaigning for Craig in Blackburn in 2005 (and was his colleague in the FCO until I retired in 2002). Please get in touch for any help I can provide - email biodiplomacy@yahoo.co.uk, tel 0208-693-3584 Mob 07918-634-146.

@brynmor - awesome effort on the Purnell poster. Made me laugh! Perhaps as a separate project we can get a few put up in bus shelters? :)

The first one is pretty good but not sure how the cartoon approach would strike Joe Public. Still, it would strike a chord on the honesty front. I would say "anti-racist" rather than non-racist; most people claim to be the latter. In fact whilst it is important to you and I, it may not be to Man In The Street. But, all minor concerns aside, good work.

brynmor - that's an excellent poster. It needs Craig's name on it to make it perfect.

Brynmor

Really great. Manny many many thanks.

My suggestion is to leave out the text on the piggies and just use the graphic, with Craig Murray Independent Put An Honest Man Into Parliament as the only lettering.

I love the Purnell! Can you do change the pictures and add Blears etc as a series? I think these don't need my name on, but the slogan Put An Honest Person Into Parliament might be added to tie them in.

Important points to think about:

How do we get them printed? Finding a cheap printing sources is absolutely key, as the expenses limit is very tight.

Posters are difficult as you need somewhere to put them. Flyposting is very dangerous in elections. We don't have existing party members ready to stick them up in front windows or on trees. Councils tend to take them down from verges, lampposts etc. So we need to start with realistic quantities.

We also need (though not perhaps on these particular posters) to think about a campaigning colour to make our leaflets, posters and canvassers recognisable. Not as easy as it sounds - they are pretty well all taken.

Once election is called, material must by law have name and address of agent on it with the words "printed and published by ......" Befoe election is called, not supposed to have candidate's name on.

Brynmor

Sorry, that was me. I think the problem I have with the text is that I don't want to self-describe as a politician, not even an honest one. I don't think of myself as a politician.

Sorry, the "Report corruption when you see it" bit is very good.

Here's some information on colours to consider:
- White: Pure. Clean. Youthful. It's a neutral color that can imply purity.
- Black: Power. Elegant. Secretive. It can target your high-end market or be used in youth marketing to add mystery to your image.
- Red: Passion. Excitement. Danger. Red is the color of attention, causing the blood pressure and heart rate to rise. Use red to inject excitement.
- Orange: Vibrant. Energy. Play. Add some fun to your company if you want to create a playful environment.
- Yellow: Happy. Warm. Alert. Yellow can be an attractor with a relaxed feeling.
- Green: Natural. Healthy. Plentiful. To create a calming effect or growth image choose green.
- Purple: Royalty. Wise. Celebration. Maybe add some purple tones to your look for your premium services.
- Blue: Loyal. Peaceful. Trustworthy. Blue is the most popular and neutral color on a global scale. A safe choice for a business building customer loyalty.
My preference would be for purple or pink against black or grey.

Hi Craig. Thanks all for the kind comments.

The "piggies" poster is a parody of the terrorism posters put out by the Met Police - as an amateur photographer I found them quite offensive.

The wording is entirely up to you and any people you nominate, to change and adapt to your own use: its you who is running for public office, not me :)

I will quite happily adapt the poster or hand over the original file (Xara format) - which ever you choose.

The DWP "target" poster is based on the current offensive campaign to dob in a benefit cheat - a great contrast in morality and level of cheating...

And yes, I did have in mind to change pictures and add appropriate text for each politician and their expenses detail. (May have to drop or adapt the DWP "logo" top right).

Printing: I know nothing about how to go about this: hope some of the readers of this site do.

"The costs of these Norwich offices and their national advertising do not count against the very tight by-election spending limit. "

Garbage there are different rules and spending limits for byelections (c£100k)than general elections - check your facts

It is not garbage. The parties will not have to declare the rent, utilities etc of their Norwich offices as part of their expenditure.