Unlock Democracy welcomes PM’s call for participatory decision making
Article posted by Unlock Democracy
Unlock Democracy has welcomed Gordon Brown’s call for a raft of measures designed to increase participation in government policy development. In a speech to the National Council for Voluntary Organisations today, the Prime Minister announced the establishment of a series of citizens’ juries to discuss major issues such as crime and health, a broader citizens’ summit to develop a British statement of values, a new concordat between local and national government and a Speaker’s Conference to agree on proposed measures on voting reform.
Commenting, Director of Unlock Democracy Peter Facey said:
“Gordon Brown’s speech today shows that he remains committed to giving people a greater say over government policy and revitalising Britain’s democracy. We particularly welcome his plans for a wider citizens’ summit to develop a British statement of values. Unlock Democracy sees this as a crucial first step towards developing a British Bill of Rights that the wider public has a sense of ownership of.
“However, the Government does still need to be clearer with regard to how exactly these mechanisms will feed into the decision-making process. To what extent will Ministers be expected to use these mechanisms to guide policy making, rather than merely noting their conclusions? If they have no tangible influence, then they are merely another consultation exercise going by another name. It is essential that the wider public has a role to play in developing policy, not just a few hand picked individuals.
“The experience abroad is that while deliberative tools such as these have enormous potential, but Governments must be clear about outcomes and prepared to let go of the process, even if they go in challenging directions. We remain committed to campaigning for a Citizens’ Convention to examine British governance in a wider context and are optimistic that Gordon Brown can be persuaded of the merits of this in the months to come.”
September 4th, 2007 at 4:20 am
If Gordon Brown were seriously “committed to giving people a greater say over government policy and revitalising Britain’s democracy.” then he would allow the British people a vote on the proposed EU Constitution as was promised in Labours 2005 election manifesto.
Patently.. he is not even one little bit serious.
JO
September 5th, 2007 at 11:55 am
This is waffle. A HUGE problem for years was Goldsmith as attorney general. Time after time he took prosecution decisions “in the public interest” which were no such thing. None of that could have happened if we still had the grand juries which were abolished in 1933.
Give us back the grand jury, one of the lynchpins of the English common law.
That would be a REAL citizens jury.
September 14th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Genuine community involvement is particularly needed in our response to climate change and sustainability. (1)
Citizens’ juries, even if hyped up as ’summits’ (summit of what?), have, as Peter points out many limitations. As the Phillis report (2) (January 2004) said, we need continuous dialogue. We also need a way for genuine community involvement in local decision making and even trans national conversations. Solutions exists to help with all of this. Unfortunately not only governments, but also establishment civil society and NGOs, mostly ignore them. See also “Will Gordon Brown be remembered for fiddling with community involvement while the planet burns?”, on the Sustainable Community Action wiki (3)
This comment/article was first published on the Sustainable Community Action wiki.
(1) Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, September 13 2007, http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/environment__food_and_rural_affairs/efra_pn62_070913.cfm
(2) http://archive.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/gcreview/News/index.htm
(3) Sustainable Community Action wiki http://sca21.wikia.com
Will Gordon Brown be remembered for fiddling with community involvement while the planet burns?
http://sca21.wikia.com/index.php?title=Forum:Will_Gordon_Brown_be_remembered_for_fiddling_with_community_involvement_while_the_planet_burns%3F&t=20070812165421