Apparently, Brian May is “seriously considering” standing as an independent in the 2015 UK election. This is according to his spokesperson who had said that the singer, who is currently touring Europe with Queen and Adam Lambert, that he hopes to run for office as part of his Common Decency Project.
This initiative did not come out of nowhere, for he has been seen to be turning more and more towards political activism.
He had been particularly vocal about animal rights, opposing the government’s decision to cull badgers, and had set up an animal sanctuary and charity called “Save Me”. It is apparently based in his Dorset estate, where he had also ironically employed a deer stalker to kill 23 of the young and healthy deer . I find it slightly pretentious when meat-eating people claim sympathy for cute animals, particularly when they themselves seem to have no qualms about killing cute animals when they prove to be some nuisance to themselves personally. Perhaps he was impassioned by the sheer scale of the badger cull? Who knows, but he has the makings of a politician already.
He has been speaking about his new campaign to his fans on YouTube, claiming that he was frustrated with the MPs from big parties who were wasting taxpayers’ money. He hopes that his Common Deccency initiative would allow online communities to encourage disillusioned Brits to use their vote. This would change the landscape of British Democracy, though to what end is unknown.
In a video he released in January, he said “I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty, we have an opportunity in the election coming up – it doesn’t have to be this way.”
His spokesman for the Common Decency project confirmed his schedule between the tour and the election. According to May, he used to vote Tory in his youth but was an “apolitical person”. This world-view however was apparently shattered after the badger cull and he learnt that the conservative part of the party was trying to revive blood sports. Energized, he became a fierce critic of David Cameron and has often lobbied for animal rights issues.
So, what’s Common Decency? It is an initiative that Brian May had launched, in response to the domination of the two large parties that dominated parliament. Instead of two behemoths that were easy prey to corporate parties, he hopes to see many smaller parties or independent MPs come to the fore. He hopes also to launch the website within the next month, but the movement already has a Facebook page with a growing community of supporters.
Whilst the welfare of cute furry animals is a noble cause, I think the declining standard of living amongst the middle and working classes of the UK since the implementation of ‘austerity’ and ‘quantitative easing’ needs to be urgently addressed. I would like to stand as an Independent candidate on the single issue of the broken housing market which has robbed an entire generation of young Britons from ever owning their own home. It seems to be the elephant in the room that none of the mainstream parties want to talk about. No wonder so many people feel disenfranchised and say they have no stake in the country. The possibility of achieving ownership of one’s home was the one thing that motivated people to succeed, but when the average home is now more than 10 times the average wage, that dream has been completely extinguished for most adults under the age of 40.
I suggest, that since the property market in the UK was artificially manipulated and allowed to overheat by the last Labour government, and kept overinflated by the economic policies of the current government, then we should artificially slash all property prices by 50%. By also writing off 50% of the loan amounts outstanding on mortgages, and doubling the interest payable on the remainder, a stasis could be maintained mathematically. The benefit to the economy would be huge in that it would give a generation of citizens the chance to own their own homes, and it would also give a boost to the home furnishing industries.
I fully support Brian May in all his activist animal rights. Im hoping and would like to get the message to him to please do something about the illegal dog meat slaughtering. Please Brian lead the way. Xx