Local Groups Newsletter - August 2002

Democracy - The Next 50 Years
Local Groups' News
Have your say!
Charter88 News
Dates for your diary

Democracy - The Next 50 Years

With our director in tow, Charter88 has started work bringing a clear focus to Charter88's purpose and priorities. A staff/executive away day, discussion at local groups' conference and a day-long seminar set in motion two main proposals. Firstly, we need to bring more focus to the Citizen's Constitution, outlined in 'Unlocking Democracy', through the many issues that we currently campaign on. Secondly, there is widespread concern about the state of our democracy which has manifested itself in different ways. Charter88 can be instrumental in building a coalition for democracy covering a number of different areas.

'Unlocking Democracy', published in 2000, outlined the ambitious idea of a Citizens Constitution. Discussion with Charter88 local groups, executive, council and staff confirmed our common purpose of campaigning for a Citizens' Constitution but that seems to have been submerged over the last two years by responses and campaigns around individual issues. Once again the time has come for Charter88 to draw the issues together. We will continue to persuade the public and politicians over the need for the individual reforms but we need to draw more attention to the written Citizens' Constitution as outlined in 'Unlocking Democracy'. The Citizens' Constitution should be the thread by which all our proposed reforms are drawn together.

How we go about doing this is a matter still up for discussion but the first steps have been taken to draw all the facets of Charter88's agenda together.

In June we organised a day-long seminar 'Democracy - 50 Wasted Years?'. Discussions took place on four broad topic areas - democracy and freedom, participation, institutions, and priorities. The seminar drew together ideas from across the political spectrum and was the initial stage in planning the public conference which will take place in November. Contributions to the seminar have been published on our website and we will be producing a summary of the contributions and a pamphlet of the general ideas that came out of the seminar over the summer.

'Democracy - The Next Fifty Years' is a major public conference that will take place in November at Imperial College in London. We will be bringing together a wide range of speakers and people from different organisations to discuss a variety of democratic issues. As well as Charter88's traditional areas, the conference will include sessions on global democracy, Europe, identity and public services. Further information about the conference will be in the next copy of 'Citizen'.

Local group input to our thinking at this time is crucial. Please do let us know what you think about where Charter88's priorities should lie, campaigns we should be running and ideas about how we can go about campaigning for a Citizens' Constitution. We also need local group help to publicise what will be a stimulating, vibrant event around the country. If there are any local groups in your area with email lists that could publicise the conference or any websites that have events listings that you know about or if you have any other ideas for publicising the conference in your area please contact Araba.

Discussion at this conference may help us to decide what our priorities should be and what Charter88 will be campaigning on at all levels including grassroots level - your contribution in terms of discussion, publicity and attendance will help to make it a success.

Local groups' news

Norwich Group - Clarke answers to constituents
To mark a year since Charles Clarke was elected to serve as the MP for Norwich North the Norwich and Mid-Norfolk Charter 88 group held a meeting on 14th June entitled "One Year On" for the public to question Mr Clarke. About 50 people attended the meeting in the Council Chamber of Norwich City Hall, chaired by Stephen Platten, Dean of Norwich, and the questions ranged over local and national issues. The organisers were pleased to see a mix of people including a number who had not attended a Charter 88 meeting before.

Mr Clarke gave his support to new legislation to increase monitoring of e-mail communications, a proposal withdrawn the following day by Mr Blunkett. In discussing local government he was positive about the benefits of PR for local government (STV being his preferred system) but does not support PR for national elections. Although stating that the principle underlying his view is the need to maintain the constituency link he then diverted further discussion by outlining different forms of PR. He stated that he believes that local council's ability to raise funds is not in balance with the extent of their powers. It was unclear in his answer whether he was therefore advocating increasing their ability to raise funds locally or decreasing their power, however after the meeting he confirmed that he had meant the former.

Mr Clarke talked about the planning complications with regard to access to Norwich's new hospital and was also vocal in his support for GM foods which is a controversial subject in a constituency which includes both a leading research establishment and a strong Green lobby. He also answered questions on the situation in the Middle East and Britain's arms sales. Interestingly their were no questions on the "spin" issues which have been obsessing the newspapers e.g. Tony Blair and the Queen Mother's funeral or Jo Moore.

Mr Clarke had to leave after one and half hours to attend a Labour party meeting. The audience made it clear that they would have liked the discussion to have continued for longer. He commented on what a valuable opportunity the meeting had been to enable him to answer his constituents' queries directly - indeed the turn out suggests a repeat next year would be popular.

Mary Lenton, Norwich and Mid-Norfolk Group Co-ordinator

Fairshare for votes in Scottish local government
In July Charter88 Scotland and Fairshare held a joint public meeting as part of the consultation on the Scottish Executive published 'Renewing Local Democracy - the Next Steps' which was published in March. During the consultation period, which ended on 31st July, the Executive was seeking views of the people of Scotland on whether the Single Transferable Vote is the most appropriate voting system for Scottish local elections.

For further information visit Fairshare's website or contact Fairshare at Dolphin House, 4 Hunter Square, Edinburgh EH1 1QW, info@fairsharevoting.org

Local groups newsgroup
Local groups can now communicate with each other and Araba by email by sending an email to one address. The newsgroup will enable groups share ideas about what has worked well in their group and about what has not worked so well. It will also allow groups and activists to discuss Charter88 issues and campaigns. To sign up to the list please follow the instruction below: -

Email MAISER@charter88.org.uk with a BODY text message of: -

SUBSCRIBE localgroups

What you put in the subject header is immaterial, but you may want to insert something relevant so that replies from MAISER are meaningful for you.

You will then receive an email telling you how to send emails to the list (email localgroups@charter88.org.uk), details of how to unsubscribe, what to do if your email address changes and how to get details of other functions that are available e.g. changing the way you subscribe.

You have to sign yourself to the group; we cannot do it for you because you have to subscribe from the email address where you want emails to be sent to - it only takes a minute.

The Web as a recruiting tool
This summer we are looking to improve the Internet service to Local Groups. We have two initiatives to take this forward.

Currently on the Local Groups page of the web site is a space for local group profiles. This is a feature that allows local groups to briefly outline the kind of group that they are and the kinds of activities they specialise in. It is also an opportunity to 'sell' themselves to prospective new members. All you need to do is email Araba 50-200 words about your group and leave the rest to us.

We have also set-up an Internet working group to liase with the office on an ongoing basis to facilitate skills sharing and campaign ideas as well as acting as a conduit to improve the national web site. If you have any ideas related to this contact Araba.

Have Your Say!

Labour Party consults the public on Charter88 issues
The Labour Party National Policy Forum has produced a consultation document called 'Democracy, Citizenship and Political Engagement' which covers all areas of Charter88's agenda. The document is one of five produced this year as part of Labour's Partnership on Power process. The consultation is not internal to the Labour Party - the party is inviting thoughts and contributions from the British people. There are a series of consultation questions at the back and Labour claim that "submissions will form part of the process which will help shape Labour's next election manifesto".

Charter88 will be submitting a response to the document and we would also encourage activists and local group members to respond individually or to produce collective responses which are individualised rather than as a Charter88 local group.

'Democracy, Citizenship and Political Engagement' can be found on the Labour Party website. If you do not have access to the Internet but would like a copy of the document please contact Araba. The closing date for submissions is 3rd October 2002.

Lording it over them - the next phase
The next, and more challenging, phase of the House of Lords campaign is upon us. The composition of the Joint Committee has been announced and there will be a free vote on their recommendations in the next parliamentary session. In the coming months it will be our job to persuade the Joint Committee that the weight of opinion within parliament and amongst the public lies with a substantially elected second chamber.

This is the greatest opportunity we have had so far to get as large a proportion of the second chamber elected as possible so please continue to lobby your MP and members of the Joint Committee for a substantially or wholly elected second chamber. Some members of the committee will not respond to standard letters so please use your own wording.

Regions White Paper
In May the government produced their long awaited White Paper on regional government, 'Your Region, Your Choice: Revitalising the English Regions'. We have produced a briefing of the proposals outlined in the White Paper, if you would like a copy please contact Araba.

The government would like to hear the public's views specifically on the proposals on stakeholders in the White Paper. Responses to the proposals can be emailed to regions.whitepaper@odpm.gsi.gov.uk or send paper responses to: Regional Policy Unit (White Paper), Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, Zone 1/A4, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5DU. Please let them know if you wish your response to remain confidential.

Entitlement cards - highlighting the need for a written constitution
At the beginning of July Charter88 made a splash in the media in response to the publication of the Government's consultation paper on entitlement cards and identity fraud. As well as being in the national press, radio and television, local groups members have taken part in regional radio and television in the North West and South West. As a result hits on our website increased substantially and the number of new signatories and letter writers we attracted increased four fold in that week.

At the heart of Charter88's arguments against ID cards is the call for a written constitution - without one UK citizens have no fundamental protection against the progressive infringement of our liberties and rights by the Government. Other countries that have identity cards such as France and Germany have this safeguard in place. In Australia, where this safeguard is not in place, plans to introduce ID cards were successfully opposed.

Over the next few months Charter88 will form part of a coalition in opposition to ID cards. Opposition is widespread across different organisation for varying reasons. Alongside Liberty we will be producing a follow up to 'ID Cards: Arguments Against' which outlined arguments against introducing ID cards in response to September 11th and we will be writing a response to the consultation paper. You, as an individual or local group can also respond to the paper. We are producing a briefing on the consultation document which will be available on our website. If you would like a hard copy when it is ready please contact the office. The consultation will last six months and ends on 10th January 2003.

Charter News

Access All Areas - Party Conferences 2002
Plans for Access All Areas project at this year's party conferences are well under way. Schools have been contacted and venues booked. Instead of having a stand at each party conference, this year we will be holding lunchtime or evening fringe meetings. If you will be attending any of the party conferences come along to find out what it's all about. Dates, times and venues for the fringe meetings are in 'dates for your diary'.

New and improved Citizen21 website
Charter88's Education website has been completely redesigned to link it more directly to the National Curriculum. The site provides educational materials to encourage and develop understanding of the political institutions in the United Kingdom and how they work. We welcome your comments on the website itself or recommendations for additional links and/or resources.

Dates for your diary

22nd-26th September
Liberal Democrat Conference - Brighton
Tuesday 24th September - fringe meeting
Charter88/YMCA Access All Areas
12.30-2pm and 6-9pm, Ballroom, Sussex Arts Club, 7 Ship Street

29th September - 3rd October
Labour Conference - Blackpool
Wednesday 2nd October - fringe meeting
Charter88/YMCA Access All Areas
1-2pm, Adam Room, The Claremont Hotel, 270 North Parade

Sunday 29th September - Make Votes Count fringe meeting
Modernising Politics and Voting Reform
8.30pm Conference Room, Blackpool Hilton, North Promenade
Speakers: Robin Cook MP, Leader of the House of
Commons, Fiona Mactaggart MP, Martin Linton MP

7th-10th October
Conservative Conference - Bournemouth
Monday 7th October - fringe meeting
Charter88/YMCA Access All Areas
12.30-2pm and 6-8pm
Bryanston Suite, Wessex Hotel, West Cliff Road

Saturday 12th October
Democracy Talks Training Day, Manchester City Hall, Manchester

Saturday 2nd November
Democracy: The Next 50 Years public conference, Imperial College, London

Saturday 9th November (n.b. was to take place on 2nd November)
Autumn Local Groups Conference, River Street Friends Meeting House, Bristol

Saturday 23rd November
Council and Charter88 AGM, London