Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
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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
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Just
one disruptive youngster can wreck lessons for a class of
model pupils, ministers have been warned. Teachers can be
forced to spend 75% of lesson time trying to control a single
pupil, depriving the remaining children of attention.
And
that one hooligan can send the behaviour of the rest of
the class into a downward spiral, encouraging others to
fool around, according to the teachers' union NASUWT.
Its
conference last year heard how even usually 'good' children
can then misbehave. Juanita Ward, a design and technology
teacher from Solihull, W Midlands, said: "A teacher
with a class of 30 has an average of two minutes to devote
to each child. But the might have to spend 75% of that time
dealing with just one disruptive child."
Then
the behaviour of the whole class degenerates. Mrs Ward said:
"One of the things that is really annoying is that
you can get normally quite receptive children joining in."
This
created low-level but constant disruption - which she dubbed
the 'grind' - and which left teachers feeling total 'desperation'.
Her
experience is replicated ion schools across the country,
evidence from Ofsted suggests. In 2001 the then chief inspector
of schools, Mike Tomlinson, warned that there had been an
increase in poor behaviour,
The
NASUWT has complained repeatedly of cases where heads have
tried to expel children only to seen them returned to classes
by independent appeals panels.
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You
must take expelled thugs in, the successful schools told
Sarah
Harris, Education Correspondent - Daily Mail, 19/11/ 2004
Successful
schools will be forced to admit disruptive and even violent pupils
under controversial Government plans to tackle discipline. Education
Secretary Charles Clarke said headteachers must all accept a fair
share of expelled youngsters to prevent classroom hooligans becoming
concentrated in 'sink schools'.
Last
night, there were fears the policy would result in faith schools
having to take pupils from families who followed a different belief,
and grammars being forced to admit disruptive children of lower
ability. Schools are also being ordered to admit more pupils who
are 'hard to place' such asylum-seekers and those with special
educational needs.
Privately
educated Mr Clarke was accused by the Tories of punishing excellent
schools which have managed to protect academic standards as well
as high discipline levels. And heads expressed concern that their
classes could be massively disrupted by arrival of troublemakers
excluded from neighbouring schools.
Mr
Clarke unveiled a wide-ranging set of measures designed to crackdown
on bad behaviour and improve the powers of heads to tackle malicious
allegations against teachers and threats of litigation, They include
plans to:
*Allow
headteachers to gain new powers to search for knives - even with
the use of metal detectors - and arrange surprise snap searches
of their premises by police.
*
Possibly raise the minimum age for buying knives, currently 16.
*
Reform the way allegations against teachers are investigated to
speed up the process which can be lengthy and damaging.
*
Tackle the compensation culture with plans in the New Year to
ensure teachers are not discouraged from taking children on school
trips for fear of litigation if an accident happens.
But
most controversial are Mr Clarke's plans to clampdown on popular
and oversubcribed schools - such as faith schools and, in theory,
grammar schools, which say that lack of space prevents them from
taking excluded pupils. Mr Clarke told a National College for
School Leadership conference in London that groups of schools
will be expected to agree local procedures by September next year
for sharing out expelled youngsters. He said no school would be
required to admit an 'unreasonable' number. Three or four pupils
a year could be reasonable.
Tory
education spokesman Tim Collins said: "Charles Clarke must
be the only man in Britain who thinks that putting more unruly
pupils into schools will improve discipline.."
A
Department for Education and Skills spokesman said it would be
left to local groups of schools to decide how excluded pupils
should be admitted to grammars and Church primaries and secondaries.
In practice, however, it was feared that headteachers could be
pressurized to admit disruptive youngster's whose families do
not follow the faith of the school.
The
spokesman added that youngsters would have to meet the academic
selection criteria of grammars. Some may make teenagers sit an
entrance test while others could demand evidence of their past
work and national curriculum test results.
However,
Stan Danks, secretary of the National Grammar Schools Association,
said: "It's very unlikely that people who are disruptive
in secondary schools, even if they have the wherewithal between
their ears, will have demonstrated their ability by virtue of
their disruptiveness." Brian Wills-Pope, the association's
chairman, said he believed grammars are more likely to be forced
to accept pupils expelled from other selective schools.
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:
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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:
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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.
