Universal Credit should be a safety net, not a punishment for being poor
The idea that people on benefits aren’t trying hard enough to find work feels like a tired old trope. Most people want to be employed and contributing, not stuck relying on the state. Instead of making the process more punitive, we should be asking why so many people are in this situation in the first place. Is it lack of skills, caring responsibilities, mental health issues, or just a complete failure of the job market in certain areas?
If we want to help people get back into work, we need to invest in actual support. That means funding good quality retraining programs, providing accessible childcare, and offering genuine one-on-one guidance from people who aren’t just trying to hit targets. Tying payments to some vague notion of "activity" just sounds like another way to cut costs by making life harder for the most vulnerable, and it’ll end up creating more bureaucracy, not less.
Tax the billionaires who own our media
I think we should introduce a new tax on billionaire media owners to fund independent journalism and community-led arts projects. This is needed because right now a handful of rich people have way too much control over the stories that get told and the information we have access to. It's not exactly a secret that media ownership is ridiculously concentrated, and this has real consequences for our democracy.
We've all seen how certain newspapers and outlets will push a particular agenda or smear certain politicians, and it's usually the ones who challenge the status quo who get targeted. By taxing these billionaire owners, we could raise money to support independent media outlets and community-led arts projects that actually reflect the diversity of our society.
Honestly, the student debt crisis is a joke. It’s time we just made university free and stopped pretending it's fair.
It makes me so angry that we're still talking about student debt like it's some kind of personal choice or investment. It's not. It's a massive financial burden that hangs over us for decades, forcing people to pick careers based on potential earnings just to pay it off, not on what they're passionate about or what society actually needs. I know people who are genuinely putting off starting families or buying homes because of it, and it feels like the government just expects us to be grateful for the privilege of being in crippling debt.
This whole system is just another way to reinforce existing inequalities. If you're from a wealthier background, you might not even need a loan, or your parents can help you out.
Scrap Tuition Fees Already
What's the point of having a supposedly free education system if you're just going to saddle students with a load of debt the minute they graduate, I mean it's not like we're made of money or anything. My proposal is to scrap tuition fees altogether, it's not like it's a radical idea or anything, plenty of other countries manage it.
The current system is just a way of pricing out working class kids from getting a degree, and that's not exactly what I'd call fair. If we want to create a more equal society then we need to start by making education accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford it. It's not like the government can't afford it, they just choose to spend their money on other things, like subsidizing big businesses or whatever.
I know some people will say that scrapping tuition fees will just mean that taxpayers will have to foot the bill, but I think that's a pretty short-sighted view.
Seriously, can we just tax the billionaires and fix the planet already?
It absolutely drives me mad seeing the endless reports about climate disaster while the same corporations that caused it get bailed out or get tax breaks. It feels like we're being asked to recycle harder while they're literally drilling holes in the ozone layer for profit. This whole "net zero by 2050" thing is a joke when we're still subsidizing fossil fuels. It's like telling a drowning person to just swim a bit more efficiently.
We need a radical wealth tax, like, yesterday. Not just a tiny percentage, but a serious hit to those hoarding obscene amounts of money. That money should be immediately redirected into massive, state-funded green infrastructure projects. Think solar farms on every available rooftop, a truly integrated and free public transport system across the country, and massive investment in insulation for every home, especially social housing.
Scrap the railways for people not profit
I'm so sick of delayed trains and overpriced tickets it's honestly ridiculous, I've got a part-time job in a bookshop and I'm barely scraping by as it is, let alone trying to afford a season ticket to get to work on time. The railways are a mess and it's all because they're being run for profit not for people.
I think we should take the railways back into public ownership, it's the only way we can make sure they're run for the benefit of everyone not just shareholders. I mean I've read about how other countries do it and it seems to work out pretty well for them, so why can't we do the same. We could have a publicly owned railway company that's accountable to the people not just to its shareholders.
The current system is just a joke, trains are always delayed or cancelled and when you try to complain about it you just get fobbed off with some corporate speak about how sorry they are but nothing ever changes.
Diplomats for the People
I think the current system of appointing ambassadors and senior diplomatic staff is a joke, it's all about who you know, not what you can do. We need to take the power out of the hands of politicians and put it in the hands of the people. This means involving civil society organizations and community groups in the selection process, not just the Foreign Office.
The original proposal suggests using external, independent evaluators to assess candidates, but I think this could just lead to more of the same old faces being appointed. Instead, we should be looking for people who have a track record of working with marginalized communities and promoting social justice. We need diplomats who are going to challenge the status quo, not just maintain it.
A more democratic approach to appointing diplomats would also involve greater transparency and accountability.
Police reform starts with defunding and giving power to communities, not more internal reports
Remember last year at that climate protest near Piccadilly? The cops were everywhere, like an army, pushing people around just for sitting in the street. Meanwhile, I know people who’ve had bikes stolen or harassment reported, and nothing ever really happens. It just makes you wonder what they’re actually there for.
The idea that police leadership just needs an "ethical reset" is so patronising. It implies a few bad apples or a lack of moral compass at the top, when really the whole institution is built on systems of control and upholding power structures. More training or internal reviews aren't going to fix that. It's like asking a fish to climb a tree, it's just not what it's set up to do, but yeah.
What we actually need is a total re-evaluation of what public safety even means. We should start by reallocating significant portions of police budgets.
End Private Prisons Now, They're a Moral Catastrophe and a Waste of Money
We need to abolish private prisons immediately. These companies profit from locking people up, which creates a perverse incentive to keep prisons full and sentences long, regardless of actual justice or public safety. It’s a fundamental conflict of interest that makes a mockery of the justice system.
The existence of private prisons is a stain on our society. They are driven by profit, not rehabilitation or fairness. Reports consistently show they cut corners on staffing, healthcare, and programming to boost their bottom line, leading to worse outcomes for inmates and staff alike. This isn't about improving society; it's about lining the pockets of shareholders.
Transitioning away from private prisons means bringing them back under public control.
What do you think?
Vote on individual policies, adapt them, or write your own alternative. Good ideas should be tested.