[Second version tweaked]

There’s been considerable discussion today and this has come out of it:

Website

1.  This will be launched, without fanfare, on November 11th, at 11 a.m., an appropriate point to start from.

2.  We have reserved three domain names and I’m writing to some people tonight to see which is best to go with.  I need replies by tomorrow morning from them as we start the ball rolling then – it’s going to take two days to get ready.

3.  It will use [pay] Wordpress as the themes and editing facilities are better and we can’t risk a Blogger troll spuriously flagging us for site abuse and having us closed down on spec.

We can’t afford [£££] virtually any money at this stage until we know how we go.  Initially, I’m covering the costs of having it set up.

4.  It comprises a static front page with what we’re about and many links, many back pages and one forum – no java, no complications, a block on auto-save and anything else which will take up database space.  The theme will be simple yet elegant and be appropriate to our aim.  KISS is the principle all the way.

5.  The forum can be read by all but can only be commented on by signatories to our declaration, the wording of which we’ll put up for discussion.  You’re not a member, you’re a signatory.

Once the declaration is in place, it’s not a matter of consensus but agreement with what it says.  It will not say anything except getting us out of Europe at this stage.

6.  The theme is irrelevant because we can change it with one click if we wish.  Let’s keep this simple for now and not get bogged down in trivialities.  We can poll people later about these matters.

The Alliance

1.  We need to walk before we run – let’s take it step by step  Picture  a tree growing [H/T my mate].  We have roots, a foundation which we’re all  agreed on – we want Labour out and we want out of the EU a.s.a.p.

That’s our starting point.

If we drag anything else in at this stage, we’ll fracture because we’re a big tent, encompassing many shades of opinion, which will become an issue after we achieve our primary objective.

We really must strictly stick to this in order to prevent early fracturing.

2.  We are essentially a pressure group which would operate in a grassroots way e.g. someone will write to his MP and ask if he’s a signatory to  Albion Alliance [or whatever we finally call it] which calls for Britain to have a referendum within 12 months and be out of Europe in 24 – something like that.

3.  It works on coordination of all the word of mouth and correspondence we do.  I write to all my connections, you write to yours, we all write to MPs [email is fine], word gets about, people start coming in to the forum, MPs start looking in to see what this thing is about and so on.

4.  It works on virtually no cost.  Everyone stays within their own party, the parties do the groundwork and cash outlay to get their man or woman in, we simply have the signatories on record.  Therefore, within Westminster, there are a significant number of MPs who are aligned with this.

No party sign-ups, no fees, no pack drill.

5.  We might become a party, we might disband, we might do anything – let’s not pre-empt but just go with the flow for now.  If we become a party going for government, good; if we eventually disband, we won’t cry over it.

Albion

The connotations are that it is the Roman name for Britain but it is also England and the Celts feel it has relevance to them as well.  It is a poetic, ancient term for Britain which avoids the West Lothian for now and a host of other issues – it’s a short, romantic word which suggests what we’re about without fully spelling it out and at the same time, suggests that we’re deadly serious.

There was thought put in to adopting this as the header name.  The tagline can come after that, as a result of forum discussion.

Webmaster

1.  For the first few days, I’m just webmastering. This is not James Higham’s coalition in any way – if it were, it would not be worth becoming a signatory.  It needs grassroots input from many people.  When it becomes obvious we need a professional, e.g. when the signatories get up into the tens of thousands, they’ll take over the running of the site.

2.  We need a small group early, let’s not call them a committee, of people with no ego who will run the site – maybe three people.  We should have no issues in the early stages except for  blocking and deleting trolls and spam.

Themes – try these

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight

Questions

Until Wednesday, please direct them here, after that – at the new site.

Filed under: Life issues & people, Politics & economics