Make this the last unjust election
Jim | 07.06.2005 14:01 | Cambridge
TIME TO BUILD A "STORM FOR REFORM"
Make this the last unjust election
At the last general election millions of people were denied an effective vote because of where they live, or what they believe
Make this the last unjust election
At the last general election millions of people were denied an effective vote because of where they live, or what they believe
Wednesday 8th June,
7.45,
Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane, Cambridge
TIME TO BUILD A "STORM FOR REFORM"
Make this the last unjust election
At the last general election millions of people were denied an effective vote because of where they live, or what they believe. More than ever the result of the election was decided by the votes of a small minority of swing voters in a tiny number of marginal seats. In two thirds of the constituencies the winner was a foregone conclusion.
But there is a storm for reform building. With something like 62% of people supporting a more proportional electoral system that's something like three times the percentage of people who voted for the government on May 5th.
Whilst there are many MPs who support electoral reform the political will for democratic change will only come with genuine public pressure for afairer system. Across the country groups are forming to create just that pressure, and Cambridge is no exception.
On Wednesday 8th June, 7.45 for an 8 pm start at the Friends Meeting House on Jesus Lane a meeting has been called to build a high profile public launch of the campaign in Cambridge. Ben Rawlings from Make Votes Count will chair and Ken Ritchie from the Electoral Reform Society and Anne Campbell chair of Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform will be there.
There will be the chance for wide ranging discussion with a focus on how to build a really successful launch in this town to get the ball rolling for a more democratic Britain.
Electoral Reform Society
http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/
7.45,
Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane, Cambridge
TIME TO BUILD A "STORM FOR REFORM"
Make this the last unjust election
At the last general election millions of people were denied an effective vote because of where they live, or what they believe. More than ever the result of the election was decided by the votes of a small minority of swing voters in a tiny number of marginal seats. In two thirds of the constituencies the winner was a foregone conclusion.
But there is a storm for reform building. With something like 62% of people supporting a more proportional electoral system that's something like three times the percentage of people who voted for the government on May 5th.
Whilst there are many MPs who support electoral reform the political will for democratic change will only come with genuine public pressure for afairer system. Across the country groups are forming to create just that pressure, and Cambridge is no exception.
On Wednesday 8th June, 7.45 for an 8 pm start at the Friends Meeting House on Jesus Lane a meeting has been called to build a high profile public launch of the campaign in Cambridge. Ben Rawlings from Make Votes Count will chair and Ken Ritchie from the Electoral Reform Society and Anne Campbell chair of Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform will be there.
There will be the chance for wide ranging discussion with a focus on how to build a really successful launch in this town to get the ball rolling for a more democratic Britain.
Electoral Reform Society
http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/
Jim
e-mail:
jimjepps@hotmail.com
Homepage:
http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/
Comments
Hide the following 4 comments
Democracy is at the heart of progress
07.06.2005 14:15
For a truly democratic society we need to do more than simply adjust existing institutions. No parliamentary system will solve all the problems of the democratic deficit in society.
However, part of fighting for a more just society is fighting for real democracy and fighting for reforms. In my view it is right to raise demands to abolish the unelected house of lords and the monarchy - despite the fact that the USA doesn't have either of these things and is still far from a just society.
In the context of the Iraq war democracy has become a real issue. Millions rightly feel powerless and ignorred by their leaders. Any cause that puts the will of the people back on the agenda is a good one.
If we look back to some of the most powerful movements in this country's history, the Suffragettes and the Chartists, they were both movements calling for electoral reform but it meant so much more than that too. In the case of the Suffragettes it was to advance women's position in society as a whole and in the case of the Chartists it was about worker's rights and redistribution of wealth.
Today the call for democracy means opposition to war, world inequality and the totalitarian tendencies of our lovely New Labour government.
Jim
Hope is a threat to tyranny
08.06.2005 01:16
“But complexity undermines legitimacy. If people cannot grasp immediately how the system works, why it is relevant to them and how they can affect the decisions it makes, they will lose interest, relegating it to that ever growing list of; ‘things I ought to know about but have neither the time nor energy to comprehend.’” pg 86 G. MONBIOT THE AGE OF CONSENT ch: We the peoples
More of these ideas and hopes can be read from Goerge Monbiot Guardian periodicals at the Guardian paper site. Is there still hope in voting for progress, if so spread the word.
LEYMAN
Leyman
Vote again
08.06.2005 09:40
Democrat
Yes please
09.06.2005 12:51
mike