From the stats it would appear that the subject is popular but not the flavour of the month, but having started it I must complete it. I propose to set out the structure and the reasoning behind the structure of the nucleus and the outposts. The purpose of this exercise is to regenerate political awareness, get rid of apathy, and to give back to the man in the street a political voice. By the nature of things it will have to start as a ginger group, using independent politicians as a means of stirring the government and drawing attention not only to the ills it is hoping to eradicate, but also any successes it might achieve.
To start with we need a Selector, a man or a woman, educated, highly intelligent, liberal, politically minded, and a member of the House of Lords – a young Shirley Williams would be an ideal selector. The purpose of the selector is to enrole the first layer of the nucleus. The nucleus is intended to be divided into a series of functions, such as law and order, health and welfare, social services, the police and the penal system, education, commerce, etc, and international relations. The latter is not a substitute for the foreign office. In a supervisory role will be the Director, a person who has had considerable experience in retailing and pulling companies out of trouble. He or she will have a sound knowledge of public relations and will oversee the second layer, the people responsible for those sections of the nucleus mentioned above, some of which could be amalgamated. The director coupled with the selector will persuade suitable people to lead these groups, and the variety of professions encompassed, will add to the competence of the nucleus. It is not intended that these people would receive more than nominal retainers plus expenses, and care should be taken to ensure they have no strong political affiliations. The siting of the individuals of the nucleus is unimportant as the work would be carried out on the Internet.
The backup staff would be in two categories, the analytical core and the outposts. The analytical core would be made up of professionals such as IT, analysts, a librarian, and those who understand the needs, can keep track, record and save the flow of information between the core and the outposts in each particular. The outposts will be manned by volunteers pure and simple, selected for their energy and ability rather than any specific training, collecting information either spontaneously or at the behest of the core, and passing it back to the nucleus for analysis and priority.
If this proposal is to be a success, publicity and media interest are cessential and so contact with local press and national media would be essential. This would require the assistance of someone well versed in this field of activity. Canvassing for information and assistance would be a suitable tool to advertise not only the project, but its aims and breadth.
The trial period. Unless the documentation and general management framework are sound, information collection, storage, extraction and correlation would be a nightmare. It is therefore necessary to have a trial period in which the gremlins and the unforeseen problems can be identified and rectified. The area for the trial period must have all the elements found in the United Kingdom on a smaller scale. The trial period itself does not have to be a full dress rehearsal it will be sufficient to take, say, four elements and deal with them in exactly the same way as is proposed for all the elements. As it is a trial there is no need for the electorate to appreciate what is going on, especially if there are likely to be errors. No one county in Britain would fulfil the requirement, and so it would appear that Scotland would be ideal, it has the full range of commerce, large cities with their inherent problems, rural areas and a thriving tourist industry. Due to the secrecy the collection of information might be slightly different from that for the final operation, but it will be adequate for a verisimilitude.
The transition from a ginger group to a National Party must be exponential if it is to retain the public interest. It would involve tremendous energy, shrewd manipulation, and a close relationship with the electorate, and the media. Initially independent politicians would be recruited on a lobbyist basis, to help promote the views, without actually forming a party. Once the numbers of those wishing to partake had reached a suitable level the
party would then declare itself
While I naturally have great belief in this proposal, I think it unlikely that it will ever get off the ground, but my philosophy has always been ‘never in, never win.’