WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:10.559 Well, the All Party Parliamentary Group brings together people from across 00:00:10.559 --> 00:00:15.629 different political parties who have got a shared interest. In this case, a shared 00:00:15.629 --> 00:00:20.939 interest in promoting humanism both within parliament and of course within 00:00:20.939 --> 00:00:23.460 public policy and society at large. 00:00:23.460 --> 00:00:27.000 I think that politics and any kind of 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:31.290 activity divorced from ethics would be meaningless and I think that humanism 00:00:31.290 --> 00:00:34.380 just provides that meaning for me. 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:38.460 I have a set of values which I identify as humanist 00:00:38.460 --> 00:00:43.480 because it's a value system about my approach to society and 00:00:43.480 --> 00:00:51.100 my fellow human beings about what I see as my duties to them and to the society in which I live. 00:00:55.620 --> 00:01:00.379 I expect that most members of parliament are atheist or agnostic they certainly don't - 00:01:00.380 --> 00:01:06.160 they're not actively practicing any religion - and yet religious procedures 00:01:06.160 --> 00:01:08.420 govern an awful lot of what happens in this place. 00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:11.390 I mean, we have a state religion. 00:01:11.390 --> 00:01:18.820 We have an upper house which has clerics with reserved places within it. 00:01:18.820 --> 00:01:25.060 Every session of the parliament begins with prayers and not just praying to God but 00:01:25.070 --> 00:01:30.020 praying to a Protestant version of a Christian God. That is how we start our 00:01:30.020 --> 00:01:35.240 day which certainly excludes me and excludes many other members of 00:01:35.240 --> 00:01:39.200 parliament who are elected to represent us. There's always a danger 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:42.920 particularly when it comes to social policy, that people with religious beliefs, which 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:46.970 I respect and which they obviously are entitled to, but they have an undue 00:01:46.970 --> 00:01:52.549 influence on public policy when it comes to matters such as gender politics, 00:01:52.549 --> 00:01:57.619 sexual politics, a woman's right to choose, and issues like that, so I 00:01:57.619 --> 00:02:03.830 think those of us who aren't practicing a religion need to be wary of making 00:02:03.830 --> 00:02:07.940 sure that present an alternative to those that do. 00:02:12.640 --> 00:02:18.240 I felt that politics was the only way to have an impact on changing society, to 00:02:18.250 --> 00:02:24.790 open it up, to make it fairer for people. My mum and dad were very pro-Labour and 00:02:24.790 --> 00:02:29.530 wanted to see a different sort of world and so I joined because I wanted to 00:02:29.530 --> 00:02:32.520 change the world, and I'm still trying to do that. 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:35.200 I get the opportunity to discuss, 00:02:35.200 --> 00:02:41.560 debate things, to meet people, and to get exposure to ideas and information that 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:47.769 most people don't, so I'm extremely aware of the privileged position which that 00:02:47.769 --> 00:02:53.950 puts me. And we also have a platform both in parliament, and on the media, and in 00:02:53.950 --> 00:02:59.799 the public eye, to promote what we believe in, and, in a sense of humanism, to 00:02:59.799 --> 00:03:05.769 promote a respectful tolerant diverse society. I get a better chance to 00:03:05.769 --> 00:03:10.000 do that as an MP I guess than most humanists do elsewhere 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:14.240 and it's something I fully intend to take advantage of. 00:03:19.160 --> 00:03:23.360 I mean I think it's important to say that humanism is a credo that straddles 00:03:23.370 --> 00:03:27.180 political divides. I mean, you know, there are conservative humanists and 00:03:27.180 --> 00:03:31.120 there are socialist humanists, and all in between. 00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:33.120 There are a number of my 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:37.140 colleagues without faith in the Conservative Party who have a very 00:03:37.140 --> 00:03:46.380 developed set of values, and values which would be broadly identified as humanist. 00:03:46.380 --> 00:03:54.270 As a practical conservative approaching the problems of society from 00:03:54.270 --> 00:03:59.910 a pragmatic, not an ideological point of view, then it's on the basis of a 00:03:59.910 --> 00:04:04.590 pragmatic approach to the challenges that society face that I would see 00:04:04.590 --> 00:04:05.540 myself as a humanist. 00:04:05.540 --> 00:04:08.670 We need a strong and empowering state. We need to give 00:04:08.670 --> 00:04:15.410 people an individual freedom but we also need to ensure that our collective 00:04:15.410 --> 00:04:21.239 requirements as a society - be at a local community level or a national level - are 00:04:21.239 --> 00:04:27.000 properly organised, democratically put into effect by a government that doesn't 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:30.400 mind using its power for the common good. 00:04:35.060 --> 00:04:39.860 The good thing about being a humanist is that you, it's grounded on respect for 00:04:39.860 --> 00:04:44.040 other people. That's why I try to see the other point of view, I try to have a 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:48.000 a proper dialogue and discussion with people, and if I don't agree with people 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.050 or if they can't budge me on a point of view, at least respect their right to 00:04:52.050 --> 00:04:56.460 hold a different view, and hope that they will respect mine, so I think that makes 00:04:56.460 --> 00:04:59.380 that makes it easier to get through life.