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While every household in the region will be asked for views on the 250-page plan, the final decision will have to be approved by Mr Prescott - and he has repeatedly demanded a big increase in housebuilding. The Deputy Prime Minister is expected to throw his weight behind the most contentious option, which calls for an extra 32,000 homes every year from 2006. This would produce a total of 640,000 new homes by 2026, 80,000 more than currently planned. The second option would be to stick with the current plans to built 28,00 new houses - roughly the amount constructed in the region last year. The final option involves 25,500 new homes a year, which is the average number of houses which have been built in the South East over the last five years. The first two options will impose a massive strain on the South East's already over-stretched public services. The assembly's director of planning and transport Mike Gwilliam admitted last night that 'billions of pounds' would be needed to expand the rail network, but extra buses and build more roads. Environmental campaigners are also worried about the impact on the South-East's water and energy supplies. And there are concerns about how local authorities will cope with the extra rubbish that will be produced. The assembly is hoping 60% of the new houses will be constructed in towns and reclaimed industrial sites - so-called brownfield land. But that means up to 40% - as many as 256,000 - will be built on greenfield sites. One of the hardest hit areas will be a swathe of land to the west of London including towns such as Reading, Slough and Basingstoke. As many as 6,000 new homes a year could be built in the area which covers Berkshire, North Hampshire and parts of South Buckinghamshire and South Oxfordshire. The proposals were greeted with alarm last night by the Campaign to Protect Rural England. Regional Director Edward Dawson said: "This will have a significant and widespread impact on the environment." The Conservatives said voters would be horrified by the scale of the househuilding proposed. Tory regions spokesman Bernard Jenkin said: "Local councils have lost control of their key role in planning to the distant and unaccountable regional assemblies. John Prescott's concreting over our green fields is not in the interests of local people and will mean the wrong homes being built in the wrong places. Local councillors who are accountable to local people should be taking these decisions."
For the health of our democracy, we, the people of the United Kingdom, must find a way to force Mr Blair to resign
Such defiance of the democratic process and the will of the majority of we people of the UK, must be exposed by voters as a matter or urgency, and not just in the two by-elections we have had this July and the European elections in June 2004. But how can this be done? The most effective way of getting our deceitful PM to resign would be to mobilise the army of Labour MPs currently in the House of Commons and get them to demand it, the loss of their seat to be a penalty if they did not. All voters in Labour-held constituencies need to write a letter along these lines to their local Labour MPs:
Simple, non-violent, protest letters along these lines on a variety of issues could be the basis for re-vitalising our democracy and increasing voters' interest and participation in politics. Download a printable copy of the above letter here. There is another way for the voice of the silent majority to be heard, a voice that made sure broken promises would not only be revealed, but punished in subsequent elections. In the year available before the General Election expected in 2005, many topics are available as ammunition, each one asking questions. A weapon for our purpose will be the results of Opinion Polls in individual constituencies using ICM, NOP, Gallop, Mori or YouGov. Questions suggested for this purpose are listed here. CAST YOUR VOTE ON A VARIETY OF OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES HERE. Current and prospective Parliamentary candidates of all Parties running for election could share a platform at public forums in every constituency. They would be presented with the results of polls on this issue expressed by the majority of voters in that constituency. The candidates could be asked if their own views and that of their Party manifesto corresponded with the polls, and if not, how they intended to represent the will of the majority of local voters. Local and National Press, Radio and TV coverage would be arranged and the results published on this web site. Here is another powerful strategy for using your vote effectively in the forthcoming General Election. Send your sitting and prospective MPs a letter defining your requirements if they want your vote. This example deals with the proposed EU Constitutional Treaty. Your letters would end: "If you do not answer this letter, I shall take it that you intend to follow the Government line. I shall act accordingly in the forthcoming General Election. Or why not create a questionnaire that you send to all the candidates in your constituency, getting them to give yes/no answers to questions of your choice, and ending it with the same paragraph(above). Download a printable example of the questionnaire. It is high time for the people of this United Kingdom to stop allowing themselves to be manipulated by politicians. We need our representatives in Parliament to genuinely reflect the view of the majority in their own constituency, even if this means going against their personal and/or their party's policy. While they may argue their case, hoping to change the minds of the majority in their constituency, they should ultimately be obliged to reflect the majority view of those who elect them. It will be argued by politicians of all parties that most voters don't have the knowledge necessary to express an opinion on important subjects at issue, and that our vote is a form of delegated democracy. We should argue that it is their duty to ensure that we voters do have ready access to such information as is necessary to form an intelligent opinion. That, after all, is one main purpose of Opposition Parties in our Parliamentary Democracy. Most important of all, such proceedings would rekindle in voters their latent interest and obligation to cast their vote, knowing that the candidate of their choice would be more likely to act in accordance with their wishes. A much higher turnout in elections would be the result. Contact your local Party Chairman. Gain his support for setting up public forums in your constituency on these, as well as any other relevant topics, well before the next General Election expected in 2005. You should then, depending on the integrity of the candidate of your choice, feel fairly certain that your view on any subject being debated in Parliament will more accurately be reflected by your representative in that assembly.
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