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Votewise Now! Helping Christians engage with the issues

Author:	Rose Lynas (ed)
Published By:	SPCK (London)
Pages:	128
Price:	£8.99
ISBN:	978 0 281 06192 1

Reviewed by Julian Reindorp.

This is an excellent introduction to the key issues we face as we approach a general election. As a Labour supporter, I wondered if it would be left wing enough!

It is radical and relevant, whatever your views. It contains ten concise chapters, written by experts in their field - the economy, criminal justice, health care, education, the environment, international order, nationhood and immigration, tax and benefits, employment, and housing. The book concludes with a Christian MP from each of the main parties responding to the question, “Why should a Christian vote for your party?”

With an introduction that tackles the question of faith and politics, a forward by Joel Edwards and a final chapter, How do I respond? beginning with Vaclav Havel writing about hope, it raises the key questions we should ask of prospective MPs and of ourselves, e.g. can we, will we, accept limits to our economic growth?

Biblical perspectives abound, the facts are clearly laid out, not least that the gap between rich and poor has stayed remarkably consistent and the UK remains one of the most unequal countries in the world. It is full of provocative remarks, such as economist Paul Williams: “Capitalism wants the biggest cake, socialism is concerned how the cake is divided, but Christianity is interested in how the cake is made.” Each chapter has clear sub headings, a conclusion, and suggestions for further reading.

There is of course a bias to the rich in so much of our activity - “Growth via massive debt creation has an inbuilt bias to the rich because it is the wealthy who can access debt the quickest, in the largest quantities and at the lowest cost” (p.21).

And then there is the popular perception and the reality. Daily Express readers believe 21% of the population are immigrants - in fact just 7% are. We lock up more children than any other Western European country, even though the number of crimes committed by children is falling. Studies show that even the strongest community today is weaker than the weakest community a generation ago.

“Think global, act local” might be the motto of this very informative and highly topical book as we seek to put our cross in the right box.