Party of the Week: Pirate Party UK

Today the Pirate Parties International starts a new series on its website called "Party of the Week". Each week we will present one Pirate Party from one country, ask questions, publish the answers, promote their website, twitter accounts etc.

We encourage everyone to promote the link to the Questions and Answers, link to the website and Twitter account of the Party of the Week and publish the questions/answers on your website/blog, on your Facebook page or print it out and show it to your friends. Each week a new Party will answer to the questions and give you the opportunity to get to know more about their aims, their message, inner structure, or simply if and where you can join or donate.

Get to know Pirate Parties from all over the world!

The series starts with the Pirate Party UK (Twitter), which on May 6th will participate for the first time in national elections.

Tell us why the Pirate Party of the United Kingdom is participating in the current elections?

Recent events have shown UK politics has changed, and in doing so has become a disgrace.

Politicians have been abusing their expenses system, all the while being lobbied by special interest groups with near-unlimited funding, culminating in pushing through poorly consulted legislation such as the Digital Economy Act (DEA). All this, combined with MPs generally ignoring their constituents - except for a few weeks once every 5 years - has led to a widespread feeling of disenfranchisement among the electorate.

PPUK aims to modernise our copyright and patent laws (regarded as some of the worst in the world), uphold personal privacy and government transparency, and campaign for freedom of speech, communication and information - all the while listening to our constituents. The passing of the DEA is proof that lobbying is simply not enough and PPUK provide a tangible way for the electorate to tell the major parties exactly what is important to them.

What is the message?

To us, Pirate politics is fundamentally a civil rights question about liberties which were hard-won in past ages and - shamefully - need to be defended again in a Digital Age. Copyright is simply one facet of this - the attempt to enforce 19th Century concepts of copyright and "intellectual property", by 20th Century business interests in the 21st Century result in a direct clash with people's freedoms to communicate and share information.

The Digital Age has enabled every citizen to distribute data at the touch of a button, and connect directly with any other citizen, both in Europe and worldwide - for little to no additional cost. We live in an age of change, with methods of distributing intangible goods and services from our own rooms, at a fraction of the cost than was previously possible.

We believe in the transparency of government, the protection of individual privacy, and our freedom of expression and freedom to spread, use, and develop human knowledge and culture. We support these aims because we believe that they will lead to an even greater future - for the collective good, and the enrichment of our now worldwide culture.

The possibilities offered by new technology allow this on a truly unprecedented scale, and need to be embraced rather than feared.

Tell us more about the inner structure of PPUK

PPUK is managed by a National Executive Committee (NEC) consisting of five officers elected by the members - including the Party Leader - and are responsible for running the Party and the necessary related legal responsibilities. Some members of the NEC have appointed deputies to help with their duties.

The Party's policies have been developed by three Policy Working Groups - taking each of the core policy areas - and the work of these groups was refined and improved upon to form a draft manifesto. The manifesto was then voted on, and ratified, by the members - something rarely seen in other political parties.

Press releases and media requests are handled by the Press Office which is manned by a group of volunteers. Releases are written, proofed and edited by several members of the Press Team concurrently using browser-based software, until an agreement is reached on all aspects. Finally, the Party's web presence is managed by the Web Team, which includes running the website, forums and various social media accounts, such as YouTube, Twitter and the assorted Facebook pages.

If you think 5 years ahead, what will be different compared to today's situation?

Within the next 5 years there will be another national election. In this election, the Pirate Party will contest a much wider range of seats than we are this year. There will also be a European Election in 2014 - an election the Party agrees will be the first it truly fights. The election this year is very much a learning experience, and we will certainly learn from any mistakes. We will also field as many candidates as possible in local and regional elections (Scotland, Wales, and London), while opposing legislation against Pirate doctrine, all the while working with our namesakes in other countries through the Pirate Parties International.

Where can I donate?

Only those registered to vote in the UK are allowed to donate to political parties, as such, no foreign individuals or organisations can donate to PPUK. For those eligible, there is a donation button on the front-page, and you may also donate while purchasing items from the Pirate shop.

Can foreigners become members of PPUK?

Currently it is not possible for foreigners to be party members. This does not however mean they cannot be members of our community, and you are most certainly welcome to spend time on our forum and in our IRC channel (#ppuk on PirateNet).

---

• Pirate Party UK Website: http://www.pirateparty.org.uk
• Pirate Party UK on Twitter: PiratePartyUK
• Pirate Party UK on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/piratepartyuk