Gordon Brown: National Council of Democratic Renewal welcome but questions remain
Article posted by Unlock Democracy
Following Gordon Brown’s comments on this morning’s Today Programme, Director of Unlock Democracy Peter Facey said:
“Gordon Brown’s announcement that he will be establishing a ‘National Council for Democratic Renewal’ is both timely and welcome. I am delighted that he now sees the public has a crucial role to play in drawing up a new constitutional settlement and that it cannot be left to the same politicians who got us into this mess.
“A number of questions still need to be answered however. How will the council be selected? What will its remit be? Will its conclusions be ratified by a referendum? Most crucially, will the government be free to cherry pick from its proposals or will there be a presumption that the proposals will be considered as a whole? Government ‘consultation’ has become a byword for cynicism and Gordon Brown has yet to demonstrate that he is offering anything different.”
Unlock Democracy has drawn together a cross-party group of politicians to launch the Public Accountability Bill today. Douglas Carswell MP, Baroness Helena Kennedy, Norman Lamb MP and Caroline Lucas MEP will be calling for Parliament to enact this legislation at the earliest opportunity in a meeting to be held at 4pm in the Wilson Room, Portcullis House. If made law, the bill would establish a citizens’ convention of randomly chosen members of the public to look at ways to make the UK political system more accountable. Among other things, it will bring forward proposals to:
- Bring elected representatives to book when they step out of line;
- Change the way in which Parliament is run to ensure that the government is properly held to account;
- Decide on our electoral system.
Peter Facey added:
“There is a danger at this stage that politicians see this as little more than an opportunity for a bit of one-upmanship and point-scoring. This approach has undermined democratic renewal for decades. We will only make progress now if politicians learn their lesson and take a back seat in the process. The Public Accountability Bill is designed to enable this to happen.”
To attend the Political Accountability Bill launch, please reserve a place here: http://papelaunch.eventbrite.com
