Friday 10 January 2014

Sikh Channel's Sikh Cafe show - political discussion

Below is part of the Sikh Channels Sikh cafe event where we discussed whether we should get involved in politics.




To add a little bit of context, this was recorded one day before the Conservative Party Conference in September 2013. 

As part of my Your Britain Your Say initiative, I am encouraging people who don't normally vote or always vote the way their families do to research which party actually represents their views and vote for the party.
Secondly, if we don't get involved in politics how do we have our voices heard?

We will all know, in a discussion environment, it is very hard to get across all your points and give a balanced view on all the parties (and that what I was trying to do), so I thought I'd clarify one thing here:
the host, Bhai Gurnam Singh said the the 'Conservatives are for the Rich, Liberals sit on the fence and Labour is socialism.'

If I can I'd like to tackle this misconception:

Conservatives - are for the kind of people who believe in small government, lower taxes and the principle that work pays - for those that can work, should work and those that can't, we have an obligation to help them. Conservatives believe in freedom - freedom to study, freedom to work and freedom to aspire to be better. We also believe that anyone should be able to achieve their goals. 

Liberal Democrats - the believe in a bit of both. The believe in getting involved when they need to. They believed in self enterprise but they also believe that people have a social duty to society. The problem that the Liberals have is striking a balance. From History, Liberals swap and change their stance on policies. 

Labour - believe in Socialism. State/Government controlled solutions. Big Government and higher taxes for those who work. They believe in a large welfare state and that work doesn't have to pay. 

My main message to anyone: is to go and VOTE. We have the power of the vote to vote in good politicians, those who will serve the community and the constituency well. Lets use this power and this right to do so. 

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