Political Reform Policy
The Homeland Party believes in self-determination for our people but the current electoral system does not achieve this. We believe radical reform is required in 3 main areas:
- End the First Past the Post system and replace it with Proportional Representation
- More power to local people through council reforms
- Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
The need for Proportional Representation
First Past the Post (FPTP) has led to a system that is dominated by two main parties, both of which are internationalist, therefore cannot represent the interests of the people. The people vote for the one they feel is least harmful. If we implemented Proportional Representation (PR) both parties would lose their stranglehold on Parliament.
We are the last country in Europe to still use FPTP and one of the last in the world, it is an outdated model which doesn’t accurately represent the public will. A party may be popular enough to gain millions of votes, however this does not translate to seats and representation; thus our people lose heart and give up on politics.
When PR is adopted, opinions that are commonly held by the public, but not represented by the current politicians and the media, will have representation in parliament so will be heard.
More power to local people
A parish or community council is the tier of government closest to the people, they are responsible for representing the views of the local community. There is a stark contrast between the community councils in Scotland and the parish councils in England in regards to their authority and powers. English parish councils have the power to:
- Change how much council tax you pay (the parish precept)
- Own and manage assets & funds
- Give grants to local bodies
- Employ staff
- Borrow money
Community councils in Scotland do not have these powers. This needs to be rectified so that local councils have equal power and authority to better serve their respective communities. There are rural communities which have little to no representation, as everything is handled by a unitary authority based in a large town a great distance away. Barriers that hinder people from setting up councils in unrepresented areas should be abolished. This is particularly relevant in Wales where there are significantly lengthier processes needed to establish a council and the people are disillusioned by these difficulties.
Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties
‘Short money’ is a scheme where opposition parties in parliament are given money to support their activity, which is not available to new parties who do not have seats. As it stands now Labour, Liberal Democrats, SNP and Green parties all levy public funds. This is on top of the lavish salaries and expenses that are provided to the MPs and their staff. This is how much they will take in 2023-24:
| Labour Party | £7.7 million |
| SNP | £1.3 million |
| Liberal Democrats | £1 million |
| DUP | £229k |
| Green Party | £211k |
| Plaid Cymru | £121k |
| SDLP | £121k |
| Total | £10.6 million |
Is it any wonder that new entrants into politics can’t compete? This corrupt system ensures that the winners keep winning; the more seats they have, the more money they get. Their dominance is artificially inflated whilst new parties have to compete on an unequal playing field. We feel that parties should be funded by popular support and not act as parasites on the public purse. We call for an end to this little known, corrupt system.