Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
|
Spin, not
face-to-face confrontations with the voters, is the Government's
chosen method of communication. Ordinary
people are dangerous. Ordinary people might ask a question
which throws a politician 'off message'; the Cabinet member
might reveal himself or herself to be a human being like
us, and not a programmed android. Worse still, he or she
might tell the truth.
Ann Leslie - Daily Mail, September
16, 2004
|
|
After
a clear vote against them, we still got eight non-elected
Regional Assemblies. When we vote against the EU Constitution,
we'll get them anyway. Letter from P.Cove, Aylesbury,
BUCKS.- Daily Mail, January 31, 2005
THE
TIMES slavish support for the Government worries some
members of the paper's staff, not to mention any perspicacious
readers who are left. Political editor Philip Webster
was questioned about this when he addressed colleagues
as part of an in-house 'masterclass' exercise. Small wonder.
One of his Blair-worshipping subordinates wrote a news
story yesterday poo-pooing the row over Labours anti-semitic
poster mocking Michael Howard, saying it was merely £5million
worth of 'free publicity' for the party. Ephraim Hardcastle
- Daily Mail, Febrauary 2, 2005
|
Rise
of the quango
How
Blair spent £6.5bn on 111 busy-bodies none of us voted for
By
Jane Merrick, - Daily Mail, February 11, 2005
Labour
has created at least 111 quangos since coming to power in 1997
at a cost to the taxpayer of nearly £6.5 billion a ear,
a study reveals today. The report underscores suspicious that
the Government is obsessed with spending public funds on bureaucrats
who carry out work of questionable value.
Critics
last night accused Tony Blair of effectively creating a 'quango
state' through creation of dozens of semi-independent public bodies.
The study will cast doubt over whether the Government is committed
to slashing unnecessary waste and bureaucracy as set out in the
Gershon Review for the Treasury last year.
Research
for the Centre for Policy Studies and the Economic Research Council,
a Right-leaning think-tank, found that several of those created
did the same work as existing quangos. The Carbon Trust, created
in 2001 to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and promote renewable
energy, has overlapping functions to the Energy Savings Trust
created by John Major in 1993, yet gets £59.5 million of
public funds every year.
Similarly,
the Countryside Agency set up in 1999, costing £95 million
a year, carries out almost identical work to English Nature and
the Environment Agency. The study says: "It is not obvious
why these three public bodies with many interests in common should
not be merged and rationalised."
Others
have questionable functions, including the British Potato council
- which has a 60-strong staff and charges potato growers and consumers
to fund research and promote overseas markets.
By
far and away the most costly body created is the Legal Service
Commission, which costs $2.1 billion a year. Since its establishment
five years ago, the commission has come under fire over its running
of the legal aid system, which is routinely exploited by asylum
seekers.
There
is also a string of regional quangos, known as Regional Development
Agencies, which come under Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's
department and cost £1.8 billion a year. Next most expensive
are the Scottish Further Education Funding Council and the National
Council for Education and Training in Wales, which each cost £500
million a year to run.
The
study, called 'The Essential Guide to British Quangos 2005, says:
"It does appear that Government is preferring to create quangos
(as opposed to the Civil Service) to act as the agent of Government
policy. It is not clear that this is efficient." The report's
author, Dan Lewis, director of the Efficiency in Government Unit
which is co-sponsored by the Centre for Policy Studies, called
for a public inquiry into the billions spent on regional development
agencies.
Among
his 'nine most useless quangos' was the Football Licensing Authority.
"If a football team can afford to pay £2.7 million
for Wayne Rooney, why should the taxpayer - not all of whom like
football - be forced to fund the Football Licensing Authority
to the tune of more than £1.1 million a year?" Mr Lewis
asked. A five year limit should be set on executive quangos, bodies
which are created under law and can have powers to fine and run
their own budgets.
Mr
Lewis went on: "These quangos cost too much money, have too
much power and are really as good as answerable to no one. And
I challenge anyone to say they work for the British Potato Council
with a straight face. We have really got to do some serious analysis
on whether the cost of these quangos is bringing benefit to the
public."
The
Tories have pledged to scrap 162 quangos to make the running of
Government more efficient and accountable. The party's deregulation
spokesman, John Redwood, said he was delighted with the Council's
'lucid guide to the labyrinth of the quango state'. "Their
list of 529 quangos, 1111 established under this government, shows
just how massive this activity now is".
He
said slashing 162 quangos was 'the way to deliver lower taxes
and more democracy'. The Gershon Review last year recommended
significant cuts in public sector bureaucracy.
THE COSTLIEST
TWENTY
Legal
Service Commission ....................................................................................£2.100bn
Scottish Further Education Funding Council ........................................................
£0.500bn
National Council for Education and Training in Wales ........................................£0.500bn
North West Development Agency .........................................................................£0.400bn
Youth Justice Board for England and Wales .........................................................£0.385bn
London Development Agency ................................................................................£0.351bn
Yorkshire Forward ..................................................................................................£0.326bn
Biotechnology and Bilogical Sciences Research Council .....................................£0.268bn
Advantage West Midlands .....................................................................................£0.263bn
South East England Development Agency ............................................................
£0.140bn
East
Midlands Development Agency .....................................................................£0.120bn
South West of England Regional Development Agency ......................................
£0.100bn
National Criminal Intelligence Service ..................................................................
£0.100bn
Countryside
Agency ................................................................................................
£0.095bn
Central Police Training and Development Authority .............................................
£0.075bn
Sector
Skills Development Agency..........................................................................£0.065bn
Carbon Trust ............................................................................................................
£0.060bn
National
History Museum ......................................................................................
.£0.040bn
Re:Source
The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries ............................
£0.039bn
Learning
and Teaching Scotland ..............................................................................£0.038bn
TOTAL
COST (including the other 91 quangos) ..............................£6.5
bn
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:
|
Dear
Despite
his absolute and unequivocal assurances over the past year
of the serious risk to our security of Saddam Hussein's
'weapons of mass destruction', Prime Minister Blair
has admitted, that the threat was non-existent. For that
critical error of judgement and for his gross incompetence
in handling this very important issue, I ask you to take
immediate steps to ensure that Tony Blair does the honourable
thing and resign without delay..
I
would therefore be much obliged if you would propose and
help mobilise a Parliamentary vote of 'No Confidence' in
Mr Blair which, despite Labour's huge majority, would leave
the PM with no option but to resign.
If
I get no reply to this letter, I shall assume you will continue
to support Mr Blair as our Prime Minister. In such circumstances
I shall not vote for you in the forthcoming General Election.
Signed:
|
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.
