“My vote won’t make a difference”. How many times have you heard this? This week we saw new research suggesting this feeling is the number one reason why people aren’t planning on voting this May. The sad fact is, it’s hard to blame people. Democracy in Britain is pale imitation of the real thing. Westminster isn’t working – and it’s warping our …
Continue readingAs the self-styled ‘home’ of parliamentary sovereignty, Britain has commonly been assumed to have a system of government is rational, ordered and organised with sufficient checks and balances. Yet as Brexit has drawn more attention to daily parliamentary goings-on, we have found that it is, in fact, wrapped up in pageantry, ritual and confusion, with even the participants unsure of …
Continue readingFor some the abolition of universal credit will stand out, for others the Green New Deal will mean the most, for others it will be health and education that are most important. But in the section on Tackling Poverty and Inequality you will find a commitment on the Constitution. Not everyone will turn to this as a matter of priority, …
Continue readingThe prorogation saga has shown up Britain’s constitution for the undemocratic mess it is. And now trade unionists – there are over six million of them in the UK – are speaking up for a democratic overhaul. At the ‘Politics for the Many’ fringe at TUC conference earlier this month, the Unite union’s Assistant General Secretary Howard Beckett made a …
Continue readingA week before the court case over prorogation reached the Supreme Court, the ERS’ Dr Jess Garland told TUC Congress delegates: “Our constitution is just a set of gentlemen’s agreements, with weak parliamentary checks and balances, made worse by an unelected upper chamber. This isn’t a democratic situation.” The ‘gentleman’s agreement’ has clearly broken down. TUC Congress in Brighton saw …
Continue readingLast week, the rumours were proven true. Theresa May – who had previously said David Cameron’s Lords appointments made her “wretch” – handed some of her closest allies seats in our parliament for life. The 19 appointments included her former chief and deputy chiefs of staff. (Clearly based on merit, given how well May did with their help.) And all …
Continue readingAt Saturday’s ‘This is What Democracy Looks Like’ conference in Manchester – organised by Politics for the Many and the Electoral Reform Society – Shadow Cabinet office minister Jon Trickett called for a ‘democratic revolution’ and a new constitutional settlement for the UK, as speakers outlined a positive response to the current constitutional crisis. Around 150 activists, academics, journalists and …
Continue reading
