Merge branch 'master' into 20170526092556

democracy.md

@@ -132,3 +132,6 @@ We will dissolve the City of London Police and bring the role of policing the Ci
 Abolish the City Minister position, ending the privileged position of the City of London to influence policy at the expense of the wider public.
 
 To dampen the influence of the City of London in the legislative process, we will remove the City Remembrancer from the floor of the House of Commons and end the Remembrancer's privileges to view legislation during the drafting process. Although granting these permissions is under the control of the Speaker, legislation should be enacted to ban the Remembrancer from resuming these permissions.
+
+##  MPs for overseas constituencies
+Introduce regional representation for overseas citizens into the House of Commons. At least one MP per continent would be a great place to start and would help give a voice to the 8% of British citizens living overseas.

economy.md

@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ The NIB will target particularly deprived or underfunded regions, and local auth
 
 ## Minimum Wage
 
-The minimum wage should be set to the same value as the living wage (currently £14,458.50 based on 252 working days of 7.5 hours per day at £7.65), and automatically adjusted in line with that figure.
+The minimum wage should be set to the same value as the living wage[^living-wage], and should be automatically adjusted in line with that figure.
+
+[^living-wage]: As of May 2017: £15,970.50 (£8.45 per hour) outside London,  £18,427.50 (£9.75 per hour) in London. Based on 252 working days of 7.5 hours each.
 
 ## Taxation
 
@@ -26,6 +28,8 @@ Tax laws and the tax system must be simplified. Much tax avoidance happens becau
 
 As a general rule of thumb, tax policy should focus on simple direct taxation (such as income tax, corporation tax and land value tax) for the bulk of revenue raising, and use minimal indirect taxes to discourage certain activities (such as fossil fuel use, drug use, and so on).
 
+Enable greater decentralisation of taxation by enabling local authorities to set tax rates according to local needs, keep those revenues and spend them according to local need. 
+
 ### Income Tax
 
 The personal income tax allowance will be set at the level of a full time living wage and will rise in line with the living wage. This means that someone working a normal full-time job at the minimum wage would not pay any income tax.
@@ -38,6 +42,12 @@ The rate of Asset Tax for individuals will be harmonised with the rate of tax on
 
 All goods categorised as non-critical, non-staple and non-utilitarian will incur a luxury goods tax. All other goods are to receive exemptions. For example: beer, chocolate, furniture, basic data retrieval and internet services, etc will be exempt from Luxury Goods Tax. However for the purposes of this tax, tobacco & modes of transportation shall be categorised as luxury goods.
 
+#### Remove Tampon Tax
+
+Tampons and other basic hygiene products[^hygiene-products] should not be considered luxury items for tax purposes and should not be subject to VAT, in the interests of public health.
+
+[^hygiene-products]: e.g. toilet paper, soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and perhaps deodorant.
+
 ### Financial Transaction Tax
 
 Introduce a tax on financial speculation, commonly known as a "Robin Hood Tax". We will do this by joining the proposed [EU Financial Transaction Tax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_financial_transaction_tax) system, which is planned to start in 10 countries across Europe during 2016 (including France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Estonia). We would also work with international organisations to broaden such a regime beyond the EU.
@@ -82,6 +92,12 @@ All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same trans
 
 [^secret-contracts]: *"Stop Secret Contracts"*: [http://stopsecretcontracts.org/](http://stopsecretcontracts.org/)
 
+Stimulate innovation on the demand side by requiring that 5% of Government Procurement comes from companies meeting 2 of the following 3 criteria:
+
+  * Fewer than 20 employees
+  * Established within the last 3 years
+  * A spin-out of UK University technology
+
 ## Public Sector
 
 In order to stimulate adoption of the living wage, and act as a good example, all public sector organisations and [National Infrastructure Organisations](infrastructure.html) will be required to pay employees at least a living wage.
@@ -92,6 +108,12 @@ All public sector organisations will have to use open source software and servic
 
 We will instruct HM Treasury to produce a roadmap for the future of currency and the role of central banks in a world with non-state-issued digital currencies, such as Bitcoin.
 
+Actively facilitate wider use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to create greater heterogeneity in monetary supply and therefore greater resilience to future financial crises.
+
+Encourage development of local/regional currencies to reduce food miles, stimulate local economies, create greater transparency between producer and consumer; and encourage greater sense of community.
+
+Potentially facilitate mechanisms to link the aforementioned cryptocurrencies and local currencies so that economic gains in one local currency can readily be used in  another area too. Thereby creating significant parts of the economy that run in parallel but importantly would be isolated from contagion of any toxic financial products created in the mainstream banking sector.
+
 ## Land Ownership
 
 Follow recommendations regarding transparency in the [Lyons Housing Review](http://www.yourbritain.org.uk/uploads/editor/files/The_Lyons_Housing_Review_2.pdf) - "To ensure greater transparency in the land market, the Land Registry should open up land ownership

education.md

@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ We believe that education is the keystone that makes all other longer-term strat
 
 ## Funding
 
+Our schools must be funded properly. We will halt any planned school funding cuts, and introduce a so-called triple lock for investment in state schools, where their annual funding must increase at least at whichever is greater of:
+
+* the rate of inflation
+* average wages
+* 2.5%
+
 Funding for Sure Start children's centres is to be restored, and any closed children's centres are to be reopened.
 
 Education should be freely available to all to first degree level or equivalent. Tuition fees for university students should be abolished, as university education is of general benefit to society, and should be covered by general taxation.
@@ -16,7 +22,7 @@ All primary school children will receive free school meals, removing the stigma
 Individual school uniforms for every school will be replaced with a single national uniform, provided by the local education authority to every pupil at no cost.
 
 ## State funded, state run
-We will end academisation and return all state-funded schools to Local Education Authority (LEA) ownership and control. No school will be permitted to be state-funded without being under the ownership and control of the LEA.
+We will end academisation and the funding of free schools, and return all state-funded schools to Local Education Authority (LEA) ownership and control. No school will be permitted to be state-funded without being under the ownership and control of the LEA.
 
 Academy sponsors will be compensated for any land or property used for educational purposes at market rates, except where that land or property was gifted, or sold at below market rates, to them by any tier of government or government agency.
 
@@ -40,6 +46,10 @@ Religious education (R.E.) will be replaced by Philosophy and Comparative Religi
 
 Scottish authorities will no longer be legally obligated to appoint unelected religious representatives to school boards. Instead, elected councillors will be appointed by a vote of the full council.
 
+## Private Schools
+
+We will remove the charitable status from private schools, and make fees subject to VAT, as private schooling is most certainly a luxury.
+
 ## Discrimination in Physical Education
 
 Under current law, schools are allowed to discriminate between genders and/or sexes via segregation; we consider this unjustified and discriminatory, and would end this practice. As an optional alternative for schools that insist on segregation, we would propose sporting brackets based on age, and/or height, and/or weight and/or proven strength (for example: this could be proven in rugby by picking exercises that affect major muscle groups and counting repetitions of the exercises to form an overall rank). This would be a purely pragmatic option for schools, as these elements play a very real part in things such as contact sports.

elections.md

@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ The Electoral Commission should record all campaign materials produced by politi
 
 Given each EU member country has the right to select the electoral system they use to elect their own MEPs, the Open Party List system (using the "most-open" method) will also be used for elections to the European Parliament.
 
+## Overseas Voters
+Change the 15 year restriction for overseas citizens to a vote for life. Allowing british citizens who care about what happens in the UK, and whose rights abroad are dependent on their citizenship, to have a say in UK democracy.
+
 ## Democracy Research
 
 Investigate the feasibility of direct digital democracy - using online tools to gradually replace representative democracy with increased direct participation in the legislative process by all electors.

health.md

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ Examples:
 
 ## Parking Charges
 
-Parking charges in car parks serving NHS facilities will be outlawed. Only in cases where there is a serious, demonstrable abuse of parking by motorists not using the facilities will any regimes be permitted to curb such abuse, but these must never include a parking charge.
+Parking charges in car parks serving NHS facilities will be outlawed for patients or visitors to the facilities. Only in cases where there is a serious, demonstrable abuse of parking by motorists not using the facilities will any regimes be permitted to curb such abuse, but these must never include a parking charge.
 
 ## Mental Health
 

index.md

@@ -14,10 +14,12 @@ We believe that government should be:
 
 We believe that individuals should:
 
-* Be treated equally by the law, regardless of gender identity, sex, romantic orientation, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, perceived ethnicity and/or race, age, religious and/or spiritual belief, occupation (current or previous), status of union membership (including the type of union and what union), marital status, or disability.
+* Be treated equally by the law, without discrimination[^discrimination], and be entitled to equal protection of the law.
 * Be free to act in any manner that does not harm another individual, and does not infringe upon the rights of other individuals.
 * Enjoy a fundamental right to privacy from the state or their agents.
 
+[^discrimination]: On the basis of gender identity, disability, sex, romantic orientation, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, perceived ethnicity and/or race, age, religious and/or spiritual belief, occupation, union membership, marital status, or any other status based on the group, class, or category to which a person is perceived to belong.
+
 In short, we wish to ensure government remains open and transparent, whilst individuals retain liberty and privacy.
 
 We believe that we are heading towards a better future, and that government has an essential role in taking us there. We also believe that as a country, we can self-govern *better* in the future, and will create policy that hopes to re-engage citizens in our democratic process.