Peter Whittle rightly picked up on the pathetic, politically correct censorship of the CPA's advert yesterday. But the fact that it gave the CPA some of the only media coverage its mayoral campaign has had - although I acknowledge the frustrating media regulations small parties have had to deal with - leads me on to a question that has been niggling me for a while. This post will therefore be a little longer than normal!
When Michael Gerson was over here meeting various conservative thinkers a few weeks ago he also spoke at a lunch with a number of London-based Christian leaders. When asked about the role that Christians play in British politics they all expressed frustration at the tendency of some to retreat into Christian political groups instead of playing a positive role in mainstream politics. The main example being the Christian Peoples Alliance. What does it achieve?
I think the problem is that many Christians don't realise that whilst religion and politics fuse together to form a worldview they should be approached very differently. They moan that none of the main political parties match up with all of their values, but that's what their Church is for. Taking a purist, dogmatic approach to theology is appropriate because it's about seeking and sticking with eternal truths. Taking the same approach to democratic (as opposed to theocratic) politics guarantees you permanent residence on the fringes as strategic compromise is the name of the game.
That is emphatically not to say they should dilute their beliefs, but it does mean they should be willing to work with people who don't share them all. Change comes from within. Which strategy do you think is more effective: sending an email to your MP about something you consider unjust, or being on a party selection committee and having a say in what kind of person becomes your MP in the first place?
By all accounts Alan Craig (who incidentally has a blog) is a thoroughly decent and principled man who has devoted much of his life to helping others. That I have respect for him is why I'm trying to give him some advice here - he would feel very much at home in David Cameron's Conservative Party and he would be able to make a real difference if he chose to make it his home. He is in exactly the same mould as Conservative candidates like Philippa Stroud and Shaun Bailey.
The BBC has a useful profile of his candidacy which is worth analysing in part:
"He has got no problem with businesses, which he says can be "creative and positive", but says they should contribute to their local community."
Boris' plan for a Mayor's Fund surely epitomises this approach. He spoke to the BBC just last night about urging those lucky enough to have "stonking quantities of dosh" to give more to the poorer communities around them.
"He says it is "perfectly valid" to try to help single parents, but by doing so "we have actually financially disadvantaged marriage"."
Mr Craig clearly has form on this issue having talked about marriage when it was unfashionable to do so, but its chief cheerleader is now David Cameron so that can no longer count as a USP.
"He would like to see more use made of voluntary sector faith groups - such as street pastors in Kingston and Peckham who talk to youngsters out on a Friday and Saturday night who he says are making a "real difference", as they are non-confrontational."
The Conservatives have long been critical of such biases against faith groups and throughout their time in opposition senior Conservatives have regularly spent time with them. Just taking the Street Pastors he mentions as an example, Michael Howard went on a well-publicised night patrol with them when leader, and David Cameron has openly praised their work.
"If you talk about our pro-life, pro-family issues you will think us right wing - that's valid on that issue. But our issues on social justice, about tackling issues of poverty and deprivation and what do we do at the town hall in Canning Town, that puts us on the left."
Not anymore. That's becoming recognised as a false dichotomy now. The Conservatives under David Cameron have largely embraced the principles of the And theory that this site long banged on about, and the work of the Centre for Social Justice has shown that the values of "right wing" moral conservatism actually plays an important role in achieving the "left wing" aim of social justice. On Monday Iain Duncan Smith described this as a root cause, lifestyle-oriented approach to tackling poverty rather than the superficial money-oriented one the Government favours.
"Mr Craig has made a name for himself as a leading opponent of plans to build a 12,000 capacity mosque in the heart of the East End - a battle that provoked one person to make an "obituary" video to him and his family and put it on YouTube."
This may be the strongest justification for his mayoral candidacy. The Mega Mosque is a big issue that the main parties have shied away from, and if Saudi-funded Muslim Supremacists post a death threat to you on YouTube than you must be doing something right.
Overall though it seems to me that if the CPA exists to advance the principles espoused by Alan Craig's campaign they should recommend their supporters vote for Boris Johnson as a second preference.
And in their post mortem of the mayoral campaign they would do well to reassess their indulgence in the discredited "politics of identity" that Ken Livingstone so revels in. I fear they're wasting their time, money and goodwill.
