Power2010 is a high profile UK “campaign to give everyone the chance to have a say in how our democracy works for us.”
It’s funded by the Rowntree Trust and is supposed to be about us deciding how to change our politics.
But the one massive assumption implicit in the whole campaign is that our politics have borders.
It’s no surprise then that the “29 ideas to transform British Politics” to come out of the two-day deliberative process are so small that they’re unlikely to change much at all.
Sure it’d be nice to have proportional representation (No. 23 “Changing the Electoral System to allow for Proportional Representation”) but are things like more classes about politics (No. 15 “Having compulsory politics lessons at school”) and changing the day of the election (No. 6 “Scheduling Election Day on a weekend”) really going to affect the things we most care about?
What are the issues that get people onto the streets? Are there any progressive politics in these proposals at all?
How will the people of Gaza be affected by these changes? How will those facing rising sea levels from our excessive pollution be affected? How will those migrants imprisoned for seeking a better life be affected? How will the extreme poverty that leads to a child starving every six seconds be affected?
Not at all.
We need radical change.
Of the kind that gives equal voice to everyone affected.
You can’t talk about British politics while ignoring the rest of the world we’re part of.
Power2010 may be about making things slightly better at the national level, but we have to realise if we really want to solve our problems ofclimate change, migration, poverty and war, we need to think about democracy beyond our borders.
he only certainty at Copenhagen is failure – either a bad deal or no deal. This is because of the fundamental disconnect between those affected by climate change and those with the power to address it. Unless people have an equal say in the issues that affect them, we will never achieve just or sustainable agreements for global issues. We need democracy
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he only certainty at Copenhagen is failure – either a bad deal or no deal. This is because of the fundamental disconnect between those affected by climate change and those with the power to address it. Unless people have an equal say in the issues that affect them, we will never achieve just or sustainable agreements for global issues. We need democracy
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