[pp.int.general] Fwd: Pirate Party UK statement: Pirate Party UK enters Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election

[Jack Allnutt]

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FYI, the PPUK leader is standing in next month's parliamentary
by-election.

Wish us luck!

- -------- Original Message --------
Subject:     Pirate Party UK statement: Pirate Party UK enters Oldham
East and Saddleworth by-election
Date:     Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:34:06 +0000
From:     PPUK Press Office <press at pirateparty.org.uk>



This is a press release from the Pirate Party UK.

It is available online here: http://ppuk.it/press.
It can be downloaded in PDF format here: http://ppuk.it/6s.

****** Pirate Party UK enters Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election
******

The Pirate Party UK today announces their intent to stand a candidate
in the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election. Loz Kaye, the Pirate
Party UK leader, will campaign on a platform promoting freedom of
speech and government transparency.

    "People are fed up of politicians that promise one thing, then do
another. It is vital that we can hold our representatives to account,
and I support the rights of whistleblowers to keep citizens informed.
We are the only party which has had the courage to openly support
Wikileaks, and we will continue to fight for the freedom of speech and
of the press that are required in a functioning representative
democracy."

Laurence "Loz" Kaye (40) is a professional composer and musical
director, currently teaching at the Liverpool Institute of Performing
Arts. He has been highly critical of the 'chilling effect' that
existing copyright law has on composers' ability both to write music
that truly reflects modern society and to get their music widely heard
and appreciated.

    "Freedom of information on the Internet should be a fundamental
right in the 21st century. Sadly, the media industries continue to
push for ever more restrictive laws to combat so-called 'piracy',
ignoring the impact on the important freedoms that make our society
work. Remember how the Labour government claimed that anti-terrorism
investigation powers were to be only used against terrorists, but then
used them to spy on people who put the wrong things in their bins?
These powers to monitor and censor information on the Internet can too
easily be mis-used in even worse ways."

The Pirate Party UK, which has recently announced its support for the
'Yes to AV' voting reform campaign, is critical of the short timetable
set for the election. "This schedule seems designed to minimize voter
engagement," says Peter Brett, the Pirate Party's Campaigns Officer.
"With the shortest possible campaigning period, along with the large
overlap with the Christmas and New Year holiday periods, this
timetable will prevent many voters from hearing from candidates and
will make it hard for candidates to put forward their case for
election. Have the Lib Dems purposefully arranged for the local
student population to be out of the area?"

"We have all seen how little the coalition's much-touted 'big society'
agenda and 'commitment to electoral reform means in practice,'" states
Loz Kaye. "If they cannot even ensure that a by-election is carried
out in a fair and balanced way, their other electoral promises in this
area seem even more suspect."

Meanwhile, the Pirate Party will be continuing to press for government
transparency and accountability, and is one of the few parties afraid
of neither.


****************************

For more information on the Pirate Party, please visit our website
(http://www.pirateparty.org.uk). If you wish to receive press statements
from the Party at an alternate address, or no longer wish to receive
them, please email the Press Office.

Press Office
Pirate Party UK
http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/press

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