Summary of political beliefs

[DaWN]

LABELS/POSITIONS
Social Liberal / Left
Economic Moderate / Centre-left
Foreign Policy Moderate Dove
Voting Preference Liberal Democrat (unenthusiastically)

Social
Abortion Personally not a fan but not my place to tell someone what they can or can't do with their bodies
Same-Sex Marriage Support wholeheartedly
Drugs Legalise marijuana, decriminalise all but the most dangerous of the rest. Treat addiction as a medical problem not a criminal one.
Death Penalty Not an issue here anymore but generally opposed
Prostitution Legalise but with very heavy rules and regulations to prevent abuse
Euthanasia See abortion
Internet Regulation Heavily opposed
Religious Freedom Heavily support but oppose the forcing of any beliefs on others and oppose any attempt to integrate religion into the state
Political Correctness Frequently gets a bit ridiculous but mostly harmless
Pornography Some regulation needed to prevent children seeing it but current UK government policy is OTT to put it mildly
Immigration In favour, while recognising the problems it can cause and that current levels are probably unsustainable. Ideal situation would be to introduce an EU-wide policy on both intra-EU immigration and that from outside that creates a fair balance while compromising free movement as little as practical, but obviously with Brexit this is not gonna happen. I do support making learning English compulsory for all immigrants. If possible, put a heavier emphasis on allowing in qualified migrants who can help in areas where more staff is needed (i.e NHS)
Crime Only social issue I'd consider myself right-wing on. Tougher sentences, more police presence but also recognition much of the crime problem in our cities comes from lack of investment in services.

Economic
Minimum Wage Raise to living wage for each area of the country and tie to inflation
Taxation Avoid rises for lower and middle classes - raise to 50p in the pound for higher earners, close all legal tax loopholes, including those used by corporations such as Amazon. Lower business rates (although not by too much - fine line) in order to reinvigorate the high street and produce jobs and growth. Raise inheritance tax and make it clear that mooching off rich mum and dad is not an acceptable life path.
Healthcare Support the NHS wholeheartedly, but recognise there are problems - cut down administrative costs, take unecessary treatments, or those with dubious records (ahem homeopathy) off the NHS, and potentially involve the private sector to a limited extent. Absolutely MUST be kept free at the point of use.
Education Cut all state funding for private schools except where absolutely necessary and redirect investment in comprehensive schools. Reduce university tuition fees (say to around £4.5k a year) but it's probably too late to abolish them completely now.
Trade Support free trade in principle, but more factors need to be taken into consideration when making deals, although for most of the UK it's probably too late to save the manufacturing sector for instance.
Energy Very pro-green energy. Introduce incentives and tax cuts for green energy and work to replace our dependence on Middle Eastern oil by cutting down on the number of petrol cars and diesel trains as soon as pratical.

Foreign Policy
EU Against Brexit although by no means a europhile - rather I recognise its strengths and weaknesses and think we are, on balance, better off in. Pro-people's vote, mainly because it seems very likely the first vote was at least partially manipulated, and we need to be able to reject whatever dreadful deal the Tories put before us (if at all). If we do end up remaining, major EU reform needs to be spearheaded.
Middle East We need to get out and stay out, not because of any love for pacifism, but because it's clear we're not helping. Reduce support and trade with Saudi Arabia as much as possible (see energy).
Israel/Palestine Two state solution, although we're not going to be able to do much anyway, and nothing is changing until both change their dreadful governments.
Russia Be firm but not antagonising. Work to counter any attempts to sabotage democracy or to undermine our sovereignty, but having a permanently antagonistic relationship between Russia and the west is not good for long-term world peace.

Political Reform
- Turn the UK into a federal state à la Canada, although with much smaller sub-national entities (perhaps based on English counties) so that local issues can stay as local as possible.
- Replace the House of Lords with a Senate, with each federal entity proportionally represented. Elected by Single Transferrable Vote.
- Switch the House of Commons voting system to either Mixed Member Proportional or Regional Lists - in the case of the latter, federal legislatures can deal with more local issues MPs currently deal with.
- Write a fixed constitution linked to either the ECHR or a separate bill of rights
- Retain the primacy of the House of Commons,  but give the Senate the power of veto (which can be overturned with a big enough Commons majority) delay, and committee. Put in the constitution that the Prime Minister must sit in the Commons but any other cabinet members can sit in either house.
- Retain the monarchy. Not ideal politically but it pays for itself in tourist business, and most if not all of the royal family seem pretty harmless.

And finally, just for fun, my representatives rated
Prime Minister Theresa May: E
Terrible, but mostly just a pathetic figure at this point. Saving the F for when Brexit is inevitably botched.
Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn: F
Just absolutely awful in every way. One of the worst politicians in the UK currently which is pretty remarkable given the competition. Only thing keeping him from an F- is the possibility that he could always, ALWAYS get worse.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan: C+
Not bad - has had to deal with mass budget cuts, but has made significant improvements in a number of areas. Also a giant improvement on his predecessor but frankly anyone would be.
MP Helen Hayes (Dulwich & West Norwood): D
Pretty invisible MP who pays lip service to her constituency that voted 70% remain but I've seen little from her that convinces me she's not just a Corbyn mouthpiece. Could be much, much, worse though.