Why I'm standing in Manchester Central

Loz Kaye Loz Kaye raises the pirate flag in Manchester Central

During this year's local elections, there was one thing I heard time and again from people I spoke to, whether on the doorstep, in their flats or on the street:

I don't vote, because it doesn't change anything.

It's this sense of powerlessness over the forces that shape our lives and the space around us that is so worrying in Manchester and the UK today.


There are plenty of problems.

We are constantly scrutinised, whether it is by Europe's biggest array of surveillance cameras or by companies like ATOS to check we are ill enough. In a country of physical barriers, many find that the online world is a virtual place to reclaim some freedom. But here too we are increasingly to be watched, restricted, subject to arbitrary arrests like the #TwitterJokeTrial, while government and courts gather powers to disconnect us, block websites and monitor what we say and do.

Our governments have created a state where the default answer is 'No', even when it is something as innocent as a nine-year-old blogging about school dinners.  In this 'No' culture it's not surprising that people in Bradford ward or Ardwick feel that nothing can change. This is, more than anything, what I want to address. People know the Pirate Party best for talking about digital rights, yet at the heart of our politics is the right for everyone to share knowledge, innovate and prosper. That is the way to take control over the world around us.

We are in the grip of the worst economic crisis in decades. When it comes to holding those who caused this mess accountable, the boot is on the other foot. Lets stop passing the burden of corporate mistakes to the taxpayer; we need the tools to make sure that the same mistakes are not made again. The banks' management must be liable for their actions, something this government wants to stop short of doing. But why we would think the answer is to bring back the same bunch that failed to make the right decisions in the first place is beyond me. Labour's failure to act marks the heart of our city.

And solutions...

I don't accept that Manchester, or the country at large, is a helpless victim. This constituency is also the home of the Hacienda, the Etihad stadium and the University that discovered graphene. The solutions to our problems, and inspiration to really make the kind of Britain we want are right here.

The hackerspace Madlab and Miles Platting's Sharp centre show that small and imaginative is the way forward for jobs, industry and culture. We can't tax cut our way to growth, or expect that a cheque from Vodaphone will magically provide it. We have to invent our way there. We need to get out of the mindset that business is something just Tories do, we need many vibrant small businesses, that is after all where the jobs are. Education and training shouldn't just be about 'work' experience, but 'creating your own job' experience.

A Metrolink tram moves through the centre of Manchester. Photograph: Christopher Thomond Snazzy city: A Metrolink tram glides through the contested Central ward. Photograph: Christopher Thomond

Let's encourage the technology sector, not burden it with irrelevant tasks like trying to be copyright cops. Let's get rid of laws that hamper start-ups. I've been at meetings where Manchester business leaders have despaired about their Internet connectivity. Instead of wasting £2 billion on a 'snoopers' charter' surveillance system, let's invest in the infrastructure we need to boost growth. Let's have a digital economy that creates jobs and includes everyone. Some of the greatest technological and industrial advances came in a period where innovation was supported, rather than protected, lets get back to that.  The hackers, data geeks, rebellious artists and entrepreneurs that tumble in to Common Bar hold the seeds of recovery, not faceless corporates or a command economy 2.0.

I want to help build a society which breaks the feeling of powerlessness.  We need to start young. Inspiring projects like the work Contact Theatre does with young people and Reclaim's challenging of stereotypes, are the way forward. Instead of demonising youth, we should oppose age discrimination in the benefits system and scrap the demeaning 18-20 bracket in the minimum wage regulations. Let's encourage people in to education, not put them off, freezing then scrapping University tuition fees must be a priority. Let's not write anyone off, there should be a personal investment allowance for all to allow people to return to education and training. Investment in education is after all, an investment in our future. 

The ideas are right here, they shouldn't come from pure ideology, dogma or think tanks. Every policy is just an idea, a way to do it and evidence that it will work. Everybody can get involved in that, everyone has something to contribute. That's why I'm standing. To help bring those ideas out, share them and work to have them implemented. I've done enough teaching and work with young people to know that isn't easy, I'm not naive. The test will be to see if the same voters in years to come feel they really can change something.  


The Guardian Northerner would be very pleased to receive posts from other candidates. Email us at northerner@guardian.co.uk.

You can read Kate Hudson of Respect's post here.

You can read Peter Clifford of the Communist League here.