PLAID’S PARLIAMENTARY LEADER GIVES SUPPORT TO CAMPAIGN FOR COMPASSIONATE POLITICS

Plaid’s parliamentary leader gives support to campaign for compassionate politics

Liz Saville Roberts, MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd and Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, has pledged her support to a new campaign [1] that’s trying to make politics more compassionate.

Compassion in Politics is a cross-party campaign seeking to put compassionate values and cooperation at the centre of political debate. It was launched this October by the Labour peer Lord Dubs [2], author of the ‘Dubs Amendment’, and is supported by MPs from a range of parties including Caroline Lucas of the Greens, Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson and Alistair Carmichael, Conservative Robert Halfon, and Rupa Huq, Thangam Debbonaire, and Julie Cooper from Labour. Liz Saville Roberts has become the first MP from Wales and first leader of a Westminster group to support the campaign.

Outside of Westminster the campaign counts among its supporters Professors Noam Chomsky, Paul Gilbert, and Peter Singer, Ruby Wax, Francesca Martinez, Cerys Matthews, Laurie Penny, and organisations such as Show Racism the Red Card and Action for Happiness [3].

Liz Saville Roberts MP said:

“Across the range of issues that my constituents come to talk to me about – from benefits to pensions, jobs to schools – I sense a common frustration: a lack of understanding from many at Westminster about the lives of the people they represent. Our economy is fixated on the growth of big business at the expense of our communities, austerity has hit those most in need of support the hardest, and human-driven climate change is putting the lives of present and future generations in danger in ways that we cannot yet imagine.

“This is not just the result of some misguided policy decisions – it’s happened because the values driving our politics are completely broken. We need to put kindness, empathy, and compassion back the centre of our politics and create a system which benefits us all – people and planet – and that is why I am putting my full support behind this exciting new movement.”

Co-Founder of Compassion in Politics activist and author Jennifer Nadel said:

“If we put compassion back at the centre of politics we could, in one simple stroke, change politics for good. Trump, the Brexit debate and its divisions, the refugee crisis and austerity are all clear examples of what happens to politics when compassion is edged out.

“For decades we have been sold a lie. That greed and unharnessed wealth creation are good for us all. This has led to rising inequality, overflowing jails, increasing mental illness, climate breakdown and the re-emergence of serious levels of poverty. Through a new kind of politics and with a new set of values at the heart of decision-making we can create a nation that cares for one another, improves everyone’s lives, and protects our natural world.”

Notes:

[1] https://www.compassioninpolitics.com/

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/18/british-compassion-politics-kindertransport-cross-party-movement 

[3] https://www.compassioninpolitics.com/whos-involved