A Christian Democratic Venture in Great Britain

July-August 1997

An Interview with Alan Storkey

LONDON—[Sitting in the warm sunshine with Alan Storkey on the patio of his home on May 30, James Skillen and Michelle Voll asked him about his unsuccessful quest for a parliamentary seat in the latest British election. Storkey, who heads the Movement for Christian Democracy (MCD), which is not a political party, decided to run his own campaign as a Christian Democrat in his home district of Enfield-Southgate.]

PUBLIC JUSTICE REPORT: What is Christian about a Christian Democratic approach to politics?

ALAN STORKEY: The Christian content of politics is central, definitive and principled; it involves submitting to God's ways of justice and love. It will not be marginalized.

The Christian faith of Tony Blair [newly elected Prime Minister who heads the revitalized Labor Party] comes from a long tradition of Christian socialism going back to R.H. Tawney and others. Others in Great Britain have put a vaguely Christian moral gloss on a laissez-fair market approach. Very often the faith has stayed churchy, failing to engage with political issues. In other cases, faith has simply been a matter of private conviction and good standards of conduct.

The approach I want to take is different. I want to change the impression that Christianity can do nothing more than adapt itself to current political opinions and ideologies.

PJR: What do you mean that the content of Christian politics should be distinctive?

STORKEY: Christianity does not fall outside the stuff of politics. The Bible is filled with words and deeds of justice, nationhood, peace and war, and economic order as well as judgments of rulers and empires. When you have dealings with God, you do it on God's terms.

All too often in the 20th century, mixed soups of political Christianity have been dished up: Christianity with state socialism or individualism. Many citizens have heard the offer: "Would you like God with Mammon?" Christian Democracy wants to allow the faith to shape the full political agenda. The six principles of MCD are: 1) respect for God-given life; 2) social justice; 3) reconciliation; 4) wise stewardship; 5) active compassion; and 6) empowerment of the weak.

In my political campaign I have tried to submit to these principles in opposing the arms trade, working to strengthen marriage and the family, and fighting poverty by supporting a wealth tax and progressive taxation.

PJR: There is not much talk these days in the United States about the arms trade. What did you say in your campaign?

STORKEY: The arms trade is a worldwide curse and a waste of vast resources. It should be ended. Great Britain's contribution is one-fifth of the total. America's is much larger. Among other things, we are helping to create and uphold military dictatorships in various parts of the world.

NATO could take the lead in creating a new post-Cold War order where it can use its military weight to stabilize and demilitarize trouble spots throughout the world.

PJR: What about poverty and taxes?

STORKEY: Poverty is a deep problem for about a third of us. The richest one percent of the population have twice as much marketable wealth as the whole of the poorest half of the population. I proposed a wealth tax of one percent on annual personal net wealth over $400,000 [using roughly equivalent dollar figures], two percent on wealth over $1 million, and five percent on wealth over $2 million. This would be used to give each person entering adult life a grant of about $20,000 to help them establish themselves.

Moreover, our tax system should be changed because at present those in the top 20 percent income bracket pay only 36 percent of their income in taxes, while the poorest 20 percent pay 38.5 percent in taxes. That is blatantly unfair.

PJR: You stress family and marriage. What do you propose politically?

STORKEY: Marriage law should define standards of love and commitment, setting down procedures for mutual support and reconciliation, and making divorce a more rigorous process. I oppose embryo experimentation and euthanasia because human life is God-given and sacred. In the long term, abortion should be illegal and adoption encouraged for the childless. Public Child Benefit should be substantially higher for stay-at-home parents than for those in two full-time jobs.