Remaking Democracy Alliance takes off

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A number of organisations and campaigners have come together to form the Remaking Democracy Alliance that will, as the name suggests, work for a remaking of the institutions of the state and the redistribution of power of at national and local level to create a new democratic governing framework that reflects the sovereignty of the people. RMA founding members include Assemblies for Democracy, Unlock Democracy, the Sortition Foundation, Involve, Compass, Make Votes Matter, Republic, Left Unity, Graham Allen, former chair of the Commons select committee on the constitution, Graham Smith from the Centre for the Study of Democracy and Independent Constitutionalists. At present, the RMA is working on a funding bid for a series of events around the UK in 2019 that will, as one of the aims, build grassroots support for a citizens’ convention on the constitution.

 

Assemblies for Democracy mourns the death of Mehmet Aksoy

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Mehmet Aksoy

Mehmet Aksoy

To Mehmet’s family and friends, the Kurdish community and editors at The Kurdish Question:

We at Assemblies for Democracy London have been deeply saddened by the news of the killing of Mehmed Aksoy.

We would like to send our sincere condolences to the family, friends and to the Kurdish community of London and the UK.

Mehmed was an eloquent and devoted defender of the Kurdish People’s struggle and a great champion of real democracy. We were very fortunate to have him speak at our Re-Imagining Democracy event in March 2015. We were touched by his passion and knowledge.

We send our deepest wishes of sympathy and solidarity,

Assemblies for Democracy, London

P.S. There is a 27-minute film of Mehmet speaking at the above link

Hope and courage lost

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A letter by Malcolm Katz

Last week in this ‘green and pleasant land,’  and with a single stroke of the pen [as it were],  all but 13 extraordinarily courageous members of The Commons surrendered any  hope for a Parliament following their own Act in holding themselves  subject to a five-year, fixed term of office, with the Conservatives calling a snap election Continue reading →

The People’s Plan

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The People’s Plan – an exercise in participative democracy: 15th November 2015

By Rashid Mihar

The People’s Plan for Manchester is an ambitious learning exercise in how to listen and understand the views, ideas and priorities of as many people as are willing to share them with a view towards changing what’s going on around us.

This is democracy in action, by contrast with the flawed version of devolution which was dressed up as an offer but has essentially been imposed on Greater Manchester by the government without even a semblance of consultation.

This is a region where the conversation of identity, destiny, autonomy and democratic vision had already begun before George Osborne stepped in with the so-called Northern Powerhouse, which local authority leaders fell over themselves in their unseemly haste to sign up to. Continue reading →

The Charter of the Forest: its importance for today

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By Julie Timbrell, of The New Putney Debates and Occupy London

Celebrations to mark the 800th anniversary next year of the Charter of the Forest get underway next month in preparation for some big events next year. While the Magna Carta of 1215 is now much more famous, the Charter of the Forest of 1217 at the time was certainly as important, maybe more so, because it gave commoners rights, privileges and protection against the abuses of the king, his sheriffs and the encroaching aristocracy. Crucially it allowed people to subsist and have access to the commonwealth, in the forests, chases and heaths. Continue reading →

‘WHY THE NORTH WILL NEVER LOOK BACK FROM SELF DETERMINATION’

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Guest blog from Robin McAlpine, Director of Scottish think tank Common Weal

I don’t live in the North of England. In fact, sometimes I have to remind myself that it is a place and not just an event.

Because every time the BBC produces a documentary about Britain over the last 40 years, it seems to me that ‘the North’ is treated as something bad that happened in 1985. The pattern is consistent – pictures of places in the South of England looking a bit run down (that’s the 1970s), pictures of people in the South of England suddenly buying new things in the shops (that’s the start of the 1980s), picture of city traders in the South of England waving wads of money at the camera (that’s Thatchers economic ‘miracle’), pictures of miners and other poor people in the North of England suffering horrendously (that’s the unfortunate side effects of Thatcher’s miracle, or 1985 as people in the South seem to see it), pictures of young people in the South of England taking ecstasy and dancing in fields (thank heavens ‘the North’ stopped happening in time for rave culture). Continue reading →

Greater Manchester, democracy and the People’s Plan – November 22nd 2016

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Devolution is coming to Greater Manchester – or is it? The government has imposed a ‘super mayor’ to rule over a combined authority and what is clear is the absence of democracy in the process. This is the case both in the way the original decision was made as well as how the new structure is planned to work. Continue reading →

Report on Constituting Democracy

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“Our democracy would look like a creeping, crypto-oligarchy to the ancient Greeks – and many today may be coming to a similar conclusion.”
Paul Cartledge, Professor of Greek Culture, Cambridge.

Reconstituting British democracy, a personal account by Dr Chris Forman, of the “Constituting Democracy” event organised by Assemblies for Democracy.

On Saturday, 16th  July 2016, a diverse group of British citizens gathered to discuss how the entire population of the UK could contribute to, and legitimize, a new constitution for the UK. The event, held at Southbank University in London, was organised by Assemblies for Democracy in response to the growing corpus of individuals in the UK who are deeply unsatisfied with the fundamental relationship between citizens and the state in the UK. Continue reading →

Time for a citizens’ convention on the constitution – letter to the Guardian

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The EU referendum has raised important questions about where power lies and where it should lie, which won’t be seriously addressed without creating an independent process for change. There is a widespread perception that our political system is broken. Many feel that key decisions are made in the interests of corporations, banks and the super wealthy. Increasing inequality and an antiquated voting system, which has produced a majority government with the support of fewer than one in four registered voters, add to a growing discontent.

At the heart of this social disquiet lies our uncodified and somewhat mysterious constitution, whose essential features date back to the end of the 18th century. We have to take democracy into the 21st century, tackle the underlying problems of trust in our political system and address the constitutional issues about how countries within the UK relate to each other.

That is why we are supporting the proposal for the creation of a citizens’ convention on the constitution. This has to be an open, transparent and independent process, because those who hold the levers of power have too much of a vested interest in preserving the status quo. A citizen-led process could refound the UK on the democratic principle of popular sovereignty, where power truly does rest with the people and decisions are made in the public interest.

Neal Lawson Chair of Compass
Anthony Barnett Founder, openDemocracy
Natalie Bennett Leader, Green Party of England and Wales
Alexandra Runswick Director, Unlock Democracy
Michael Mansfield QC
Michael Sheen Actor
Klina Jordan Facilitator, Make Votes Matter
Stuart White Fellow in politics, Jesus College, Oxford
Nick Dearden Director, Global Justice Now
Corinna Lotz, Assemblies for Democracy

Published 2 July 2016