Let’s start with what we are not: none of the women and men who founded START> has ever been elected, or even stood in an election. Far from demonstrating a lack of experience, this is a choice and an advantage: when you see what has resulted over the last 30 years from the “experience” of political professionals…
We are European nationals and we are people who assert our diversity. We are typically the type of English, Scottish, Welsh, French, German (etc.) people -Europeans, in fact- who would like things to change but who until now were waiting for someone else to do it for them, because we had no time to “do politics” and have decided to stop waiting. The world has become complicated and dangerous, and Europe still has values shared by the majority and is prepared to defend them. Europe continues to show its solidarity through difficult times and we have lost all confidence in our existing leaders’ abilities to meet this century’s challenges and to forge a better world for our children.
We
are the people who have
not voted for far too long, or who go to vote AGAINST the Europe that is being
proposed, and who would so like to go and vote FOR something… the people who reject the destiny of a technocratic Europe that is too abstract for its citizens; who reject a political Europe whose institutions seem incomprehensible, operating in a way that puzzles citizens; who reject the lack of social cohesion and an economic policy that lacks ambition. The recent migrant crisis has exposed (once again) Europe’s inability to establish a common social policy. Unfortunately, we could cite many more examples.
We
are the people who think that if the populist parties are making progress in
Europe, this is not so much due to support for their ideas or their programme, but often to a rejection of the existing national
political class, and a profound disappointment with the policies, in particular
the European policies, pursued for more than 30 years. We are the people who reject the idea that “we get the policies we deserve”, and who can no longer put up with most of these incompetent, sometimes dishonest men, who have done nothing good for Europe in 30 years.
We
are the people who know that Europe’s diversity is a great strength. Although migratory flows must of course be controlled, the populations that result from immigration are bursting with talent and are a driving force for political renewal. We believe that immigration can only be controlled on a global level, at the very least on a European level, by addressing the problem at its source: helping developing countries to manage their populations through female-friendly policies (as Bangladesh did within one generation), and helping them with their economic development to ensure that their young people have a future at home.
We
are the people who would like politics to inspire us, motivate us to be
involved in the life of our country and of Europe, make us think and make us
proud. We are the people who expect our elected representatives to actively fight the dangers threatening our planet. We are the people who, until now, did no more than talk about it with our friends, or had resigned ourselves to no longer talking about it at all, who were waiting for the saviour to appear. From now on, we are the people who represent a new
momentum for Europe and a new generation of young reformers, who are creating
something different: a European political start-up (of French origin) ... to put an end to the practices of the past and the professional politicians that have existed for so long, too long.
