A personal view on why politics matter by James Hall which doesn't represent any one else's view, necessarily.

1. Politics matters to me because:-
My grandfather fought in the First World War believing (like many at the time) that he
was defending democracy and the right to choose;
My grandmothers were able to vote in free elections like my grandfathers because of
the sacrifice of the suffragettes over a century ago;
My parents and I, as non-conformists, were able to attend one of the UK's top
universities - previously barred to all but those belonging to the state Church - the
Church of England (until the middle of the 19th Century - no- I'm not that old!);
As a non-conformist Christian (i.e. someone who doesn’t go to a state church
with the Queen as its head), I am now free to practise my faith anywhere whereas my
forebears met in fear of their lives from state persecution;
Our second son has received world class medical treatment in Wales which would
have cost us more than the value of our house several times over in a free NHS dreamt
up and delivered by a visionary Welsh politician against huge opposition from those in
power;
I am free to dissent, not to bow my knee to any monarch (if I so choose) and still have
a right to employment or benefits or both (I am a citizen and not a subject - in law);
I work in very disadvantaged communities where some are suffering appalling
poverty, where the use of foodbanks has grown enormously in recent years, where
employment is often hard to find or reach - and this in the same country with the highest
number of billionaires per capita in the Western world, many of whom have just been
exposed as tax dodgers.
We have a choice! Let's use it! No - no politician is perfect! Neither am I!
All views are my own!