Party Correspondence
For completeness, here's the mails that have been sent/received between myself and the parties. When viewing the Party Responses to each of the questions, please bear their covering letter in mind to provide full context.
Original email requesting information.
Initial response from the Liberal Democrats
The original email to the three main parties.
Here's the original email that was sent on 23rd June 2004...
Dear Sir/Madam,
Like many thousands in this country I'm a floating voter but am alarmed at the level of voter apathy.
I've tried to compare the parties against each other but the manifestos are either not clear, can't be compared on a like for like basis or simply didn't cover the issues that mattered to me.
I appreciate that you can't realistically answer every individual's questions so I've created a website to help floating voters decide which party is most aligned to their needs.
I'm asking each of the major parties in the UK a set of questions. The website will show the parties' answers to these questions side by side and will also have a tool to automatically identify which party matches the potential voters viewpoint. A demo of the tool is available on the website which can be found at www.partypicker.co.uk.
I'd like to believe that this will be a very useful tool for a) helping people decide which party to vote for, b) helping people to distinguish between the parties and c) persuade more people to vote.
Obviously it is in yours, mine and the voters' interests that you respond - I will be publishing each parties' responses and if yours are not on there then the voter cannot decide to vote for you.
Once the deadline for response has passed, I will promote the site through the usual channels (news sites, papers, web).
To keep things simple, there are a set of rules:
1. Although all questions have been designed as closed questions (yes/no), there is a limit of 50 words per answer for any qualifications you may wish to add.
2. I will interpret each response as a yes or a no for the party picker tool.
3. I will show your unedited response (except where the 50 word limit has been breached) alongside your rivals. I will not alter or modify your response in any way.
4. You have until the 27th August 2004 to respond. If I have no response by then I will simply mark on the site that you have not responded and place that comment alongside your rivals responses. If I receive a response after this date I will publish your responses as soon as I can.
Apologies for being patronising, but it is worth stating that the clearer your response, the more likely you are to get your message out to the masses.
The questions asked have been collated from a number of like-minded friends and colleagues from varying backgrounds.
The questions are as follows:
[Questions as shown in the responses section.]
Many thanks in advance for a swift response and for helping the electorate choose the party that's right for them.
Kind regards,
Matt Dyson
Email received from Christian Moon, Head of the Policy Unit at the Liberal Democrats on 27/8/04 (i.e. on time):
Dear Matt Dyson,
Thanks for inviting us to participate in your Party Picker exercise. I attach a set of responses.
I need to make a few comments.
1. I have not found it possible to give a yes/no response in every case. Whereas there are some questions where it is easy (eg. should the death penalty be brought back), there are others where it really doesn't make any sense at all. These are in three main categories:
a) The question is susceptible to different interpretations. For example, your question Should cloning of humans be allowed? This could refer to either reproductive cloning ultimately aimed at creating living adult clones, which we completely oppose, or cloning in the context of stem cell research for therapeutic ends, which we support.
b) The question covers a broad spectrum of possibilities. For example, Should cosmetic surgery be allowed under the NHS? There are cases where people have suffered terrible disfigurements in which there is a strong case that such treatment should be on the NHS, but obviously there are also less compelling cases.
c) The question is unreal in some way. For example your last question about how to spend £100 million as between five options - the Government never has to make a decision on this basis, it is always part of a wider picture. Another example would be your question about people being taxed more heavily on second than first homes, which is difficult to answer in that form because it assumes the continuation of a property tax on first homes (Council Tax) that we would abolish.
If you interpret answers as yes or no to make your picker-o-matic tool work, I would still be grateful if you would not attribute yes/no responses on those questions to the party, for example in the party responses area of your site.
2. The Liberal Democrats operate a federal policy making structure, in which the Scottish and Welsh Liberal Democrats are fully responsible for setting policies at the devolved level. These answers therefore reflect the UK policy of the Liberal Democrats on UK-wide issues (eg. foreign policy, social security), but only policy for England on subjects where there is devolved responsibility (eg health).
3. There seem to be a few factual/language errors in the questions. For example, in the question 'Should class 1 drugs be given out under the NHS in controlled environments?' I assume you mean Class A drugs.
Please get in touch if you wish to clarify anything or refine any of your questions.
Best wishes,
Christian Moon
Head of the Policy Unit
Liberal Democrat HQ
Concept, Name and Text (c) Matt Dyson 2004