Jay Dias from Twickenham, standing for FPC
Dec. 5th, 2016 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cosmolinguistWhat's your name, where are you from, and which committee(s) are you standing for?
Hi, my name is Jay Dias and I am running for the FPC.
Are you standing for the first time or restanding? If first time what new thing do you bring that nobody else could; if restanding, what about your record are you most proud of that you think should make us vote you back in?
This is my first time standing; I am a newbie having joined in June this year. What do I bring that is different?
I have gained a unique insight into various parts of the business lifecycle through my experience at PwC; turnaround consultancy in Asia; as CFO and COO at a tech start-up which was sold in 2015; my current role which is running my own investment fund. These experiences provide me with a broad spectrum of views enabling me to provide insight into policy making for all business stakeholders.
In addition, I helped write the Sharing Economy white paper for the government in 2014 led by my previous CEO. This experience coupled with my own passion acted as a catalyst for me to complete an Executive Masters in Public Administration (EMPA) at the London School of Economics (LSE) in June 2016. This programme provided an insight into the latest frameworks for policy writing which combined with my practical experience places me in a good position to help create policy which drives the right behaviours in the 21st Century.
My final but certainly not last unique position is that during my education I studied at Private, Grammar and State schools. When I was younger the system didn’t work for me and resulted me leaving school at 16 years old and finding my own path. I then went on to gain some of the best education the world offers at such institutions as London Business School. I regard myself as one of the lucky ones, and therefore passionate to drive initiatives throughout our educational system so we can build a structure that works for all.
Are you standing for any other committees, if so which ones; and if elected to more than one how do you plan to divide your time?
No
Are you an active member of any SAOs, and if so which ones?
I am active in my Lib Dem Entrepreneur group and in my local ward, Twickenham Riverside.
If someone asked you on the doorstep, the hustings or on TV to sum up in one or two sentences what the Lib Dems, uniquely, stand for – and then why anyone should vote for us – what are your answers?
The challenges we face as a society today are no longer about ‘left’ or ‘right’ politics, it is about being ‘Open’ or ‘Closed’. People in the UK have more allegiance to their Brexit position rather than to their party. We are the only party that continues to stands strong on this and truly represents the voice of the “48%”. From this we are building policy which ensures that we have the right structure for all of us as Europeans.
What is your view on diversity quotas for committees? Should they be extended to cover more than just gender, scrapped totally, kept as is or something else?
As someone who is from an ethnic minority, I believe everyone should be elected on merit however we are still on the journey of seeing an unbiased society. Irrespective of ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation we need wide representation across the party from all groups so that a holistic view can be considered. However, I believe that we should find the right person to represent each group and as a party we should be open to the possibility that this could be by someone who is not part of the minority group.
Secrecy rules prevent the party knowing what committees are doing. What will you do to communicate with members; and in what circumstances is confidentiality justified?
I believe that confidentiality is justified when a clear strategic direction is unclear however I will obviously abide to the current committee rules in any of my interactions.
In terms of ideas on how to engage our party members better I want to do two things:
i) Use social media as a tool to gather various research, highlighting member’s specialist knowledge from their comments and inviting them to provide evidence to the relevant groups when appropriate;
ii) Work alongside the Party’s communication’s team so that all members and part groups are clear on the current policy areas which are receiving high levels of press coverage.
If you had the power to do so unilaterally, what one party (not government) policy would you change, and what would you change it to?
I would change our current approach to tackle tax avoidance; our 2015 manifesto) states that we would introduce general anti-avoidance rules, which would typically take the form of penalties. I believe our approach needs to have both carrots and sticks which will influence the behaviour we want rather than simply issuing penalties which are defined by cross border treaties. A potential option is to create a policy which looks at the ultimate ownership of companies and enforcing a new tax for Non-UK companies based on the revenue they generate in the UK outside of VAT and other duties. This is bold and obviously needs more discussion, however as shown by the great work completed when we were last in parliament we are the most sophisticated country in the world when it comes to company ownership information, and we should capitalise on this expertise further.
What is your view on electoral pacts? Should the party make them, and if so, who with?
Electoral pacts can be beneficial to provide balance within Government; however, our position needs to be managed in a clear manner. We should not form unilateral positions with other party’s policy when it does not fit our position. There are instances when we may need to compromise or even give way, but this should only be agreed in situations where the positions are in line with our manifesto or gets us closer to achieving our manifesto position, ensuring our promises can be kept.
It is hard to anticipate who in the current climate we should partner with, however at this moment in time the only two parties I can see us partnering with are the Green Party and The SNP (subject to them removing any further discussions around independence). I would also potentially agree with other parties should they move more towards enabling an Open, Tolerant and United country.
The list of all candidates who have answered can be found here.
Hi, my name is Jay Dias and I am running for the FPC.
Are you standing for the first time or restanding? If first time what new thing do you bring that nobody else could; if restanding, what about your record are you most proud of that you think should make us vote you back in?
This is my first time standing; I am a newbie having joined in June this year. What do I bring that is different?
I have gained a unique insight into various parts of the business lifecycle through my experience at PwC; turnaround consultancy in Asia; as CFO and COO at a tech start-up which was sold in 2015; my current role which is running my own investment fund. These experiences provide me with a broad spectrum of views enabling me to provide insight into policy making for all business stakeholders.
In addition, I helped write the Sharing Economy white paper for the government in 2014 led by my previous CEO. This experience coupled with my own passion acted as a catalyst for me to complete an Executive Masters in Public Administration (EMPA) at the London School of Economics (LSE) in June 2016. This programme provided an insight into the latest frameworks for policy writing which combined with my practical experience places me in a good position to help create policy which drives the right behaviours in the 21st Century.
My final but certainly not last unique position is that during my education I studied at Private, Grammar and State schools. When I was younger the system didn’t work for me and resulted me leaving school at 16 years old and finding my own path. I then went on to gain some of the best education the world offers at such institutions as London Business School. I regard myself as one of the lucky ones, and therefore passionate to drive initiatives throughout our educational system so we can build a structure that works for all.
Are you standing for any other committees, if so which ones; and if elected to more than one how do you plan to divide your time?
No
Are you an active member of any SAOs, and if so which ones?
I am active in my Lib Dem Entrepreneur group and in my local ward, Twickenham Riverside.
If someone asked you on the doorstep, the hustings or on TV to sum up in one or two sentences what the Lib Dems, uniquely, stand for – and then why anyone should vote for us – what are your answers?
The challenges we face as a society today are no longer about ‘left’ or ‘right’ politics, it is about being ‘Open’ or ‘Closed’. People in the UK have more allegiance to their Brexit position rather than to their party. We are the only party that continues to stands strong on this and truly represents the voice of the “48%”. From this we are building policy which ensures that we have the right structure for all of us as Europeans.
What is your view on diversity quotas for committees? Should they be extended to cover more than just gender, scrapped totally, kept as is or something else?
As someone who is from an ethnic minority, I believe everyone should be elected on merit however we are still on the journey of seeing an unbiased society. Irrespective of ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation we need wide representation across the party from all groups so that a holistic view can be considered. However, I believe that we should find the right person to represent each group and as a party we should be open to the possibility that this could be by someone who is not part of the minority group.
Secrecy rules prevent the party knowing what committees are doing. What will you do to communicate with members; and in what circumstances is confidentiality justified?
I believe that confidentiality is justified when a clear strategic direction is unclear however I will obviously abide to the current committee rules in any of my interactions.
In terms of ideas on how to engage our party members better I want to do two things:
i) Use social media as a tool to gather various research, highlighting member’s specialist knowledge from their comments and inviting them to provide evidence to the relevant groups when appropriate;
ii) Work alongside the Party’s communication’s team so that all members and part groups are clear on the current policy areas which are receiving high levels of press coverage.
If you had the power to do so unilaterally, what one party (not government) policy would you change, and what would you change it to?
I would change our current approach to tackle tax avoidance; our 2015 manifesto) states that we would introduce general anti-avoidance rules, which would typically take the form of penalties. I believe our approach needs to have both carrots and sticks which will influence the behaviour we want rather than simply issuing penalties which are defined by cross border treaties. A potential option is to create a policy which looks at the ultimate ownership of companies and enforcing a new tax for Non-UK companies based on the revenue they generate in the UK outside of VAT and other duties. This is bold and obviously needs more discussion, however as shown by the great work completed when we were last in parliament we are the most sophisticated country in the world when it comes to company ownership information, and we should capitalise on this expertise further.
What is your view on electoral pacts? Should the party make them, and if so, who with?
Electoral pacts can be beneficial to provide balance within Government; however, our position needs to be managed in a clear manner. We should not form unilateral positions with other party’s policy when it does not fit our position. There are instances when we may need to compromise or even give way, but this should only be agreed in situations where the positions are in line with our manifesto or gets us closer to achieving our manifesto position, ensuring our promises can be kept.
It is hard to anticipate who in the current climate we should partner with, however at this moment in time the only two parties I can see us partnering with are the Green Party and The SNP (subject to them removing any further discussions around independence). I would also potentially agree with other parties should they move more towards enabling an Open, Tolerant and United country.
The list of all candidates who have answered can be found here.