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Stories and training. Christian Payne writes, consults & runs multimedia workshops

Natalie Bennett – Leader of The Green Party

Natalie BennettEarlier this week I found myself ranting once again at something David Cameron said.

There is almost no space now between these episodes and when he threatens the fundamental workings of the the internet and our human rights in one fell swoop… Well it’s just another day at the office for Camoron. I’m sick of shouting at screens. I find it almost impossible to believe that whomever advises the PM on matters of communications infrastructure, does so with a straight face. They must be trying to bring him down from the inside. The internet is awash with page after page explaining way better than I could why Cameron’s plans to outlaw strong encryption are pure idiocy.

So anyway. I felt like doing something positive. Volunteering my time instead of just getting angry. I’ve volunteered for political projects in the past. With Brown, Clegg and Cameron.

This time though I’ve decided to volunteer to assist The Green Party in something.  Anything.  They have some smart people saying and doing smart things.  I was keen to see if it was for real. They have also been getting a raw deal.  Especially when it came to media coverage.

So a couple of days ago I connected with Natalie Bennett via Twitter. We arranged to meet in Cambridge. Between the tweet and the meet things went crazy for The Green Party.  In a good way.  Party membership overtook that of UKIP and is still climbing. And Cameron decided that regarding a TV debate, he didn’t want to look like an idiot next to the other one.

In between BBC studios with her phone ringing off the hook, Natalie honoured her appointment with me and we met in a coffee shop in central Cambridge.

Although we were there to talk about how I might be able to help, we captured this small part of our conversation and I was really pleased we’d got the chance to connect.  Listening back I hope that it’s a freudian slip at 06:10 and Natalie wanted to say “Lets start with the Bankers.”

Off tape, when I asked her opinion on Cameron’s crusade against secure communications, we talked at depth. Natalie was honest that she needed to study up on the intricacies but saw it more as a human rights issue than anything else.

There is still hope.

I’m not here to tell you how to vote.   Just to take a closer look. I have to believe we still have a democracy.  It may look a little dilapidated, but given the choice, brick in hand, to throw or build.. I’ll take the latter.  Democracy is built through open societies that share information.

And I’m sharing what I can, while I can.

Should you want to take a closer look at what the Green’s stand for, here is a link to their website. GreenParty.org.uk

I’m @Documentally on twitter

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Christian, wow what a great interview! She’s very articulate and clearly states her party’s position. Your question about how to ‘stay clean’ once in politics was excellent. Her response of the very strong democratic processes in place within the GreenParty is encouraging. But yet… I still wonder how, over the long haul, party members maintain their cleanliness given all the lobbyists and special interests that come with full armies of skilled “influencers”.

    re: secure communications – I tend to believe that new ways and new media with ciphers/encryption will continue to be effective. As old ones are broken/opened, new ones will emerge. At least history would suggest that e.g. Caesar Cipher, Bletchley Park, just a couple of examples that pop into mind. The harder governments push to crack/remove encryption, the deeper the encryption goes. Kind of a never-ending cat and mouse chase. Just my obversations/opinions. I believe privacy/encryption continue to win the war albeit perhaps losing intermittent battles from time to time.

    Kudos to a great opportunity to interview Natalie Bennett and an outstanding 11+ minute conversation.

    p.s. Who took the picture of you two sitting? Do you have a full crew now? Or as I suspect, did you get someone to volunteer? Great shot all the same!

    • Hi Jeff, Thankfully Natalie Bennett’s partner was to willing to take a photo. And I agree what you say about encryption surviving. For me the main frustration lies in our very own PM thinking any of this is even viable. Bad policies and greed for all of time have got us here. More laws and less human rights will not get us out.

  2. Can I recommend that people should vote for policies they like, rather than parties? Try the website http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/ which has lots of policies but doesn’t say whose they are. Choose the ones you like, and at the end, find out whose they are! A huge number of people have been surprised to find they are Greens. I’m biased, as a party member, but please give it a look, and publicise it if you like it.

    • Thanks and great link. You are totally right of course but I feel it also takes a person of principle to lead a party well. I’m a huge fan of the work of Tom Watson and yet I don’t see his grasp on society and it’s needs reflected in Labours policy. I’m looking forward to seeing how the conversations pan out.

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