Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected Dictatorship
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You will
notice that, since New Labour came to power, not a single
leading Cabinet member or party 'heavy hitter' has appeared
on the programme (BBC's Question Time). 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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Tory
blitz on school bureaucrats 'could save £5.7billion a year'
by
James Chapman, Political Correspondent - Daily Mail, September
6, 2004
The
Conservatives pledged yesterday to save £5.7billion a year
from the education budget by cutting back on bureaucracy. They
unveiled plans to axe thousands of civil servants, prune back
local education authorities and abolish seven quangos.
The
party said the move would free up more than £1billion a
year for front-line schooling - the equivalent of £158 for
every pupil in the country. The average school could use the money
to hire up to seven extra teachers or buy more than 100 computers.
The rest of the savings would go to buildings, equipment and maintenance.
The education plans are the boldest so far in the Conservative's
on-going review of Government spending and waste. So far, it claims
to have identified savings of more than £10billion.
The
plans are being drawn up on the advice of David James, the businessman
brought in by the Government to sort out the financial catastrophe
at the Millennium Dome. His appointment by Michael Howard was
seen as something of a coup.
The
James Review's proposals for the Department for Education include:
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Axing 2,700 civil servants out of 4,500.
*
Reducing the scope of local education authorities as schools become
self-governing.
*
Streamlining the Ofsted inspection regime.
*
Abolishing seven education quangos.
The
Tories say Ofsted inspections should focus on struggling schools
and carried out less frequently at schools which perform well.
Almost 900 of the 2,400 inspectors would be axed, saving £73million
a year.
Unveiling
the proposals, Shadow Chancellor Oliver Letwin said: "The
Education Department typifies the fat and bloated bureaucracy
that Labour has created. These proposals will remove vast swathes
of unnecessary Government control over education spending and
put large sums of extra cash in the front line where it belongs."
The
promises came on top of the extra money the party has already
pledged to schools under spending plans announced last year. These
would give schools an extra £15billion a year by 2009 on
top of Labour's planned education budget. Under Tory education
policy, schools would control their own budgets. Mr Letwin said
an extra £158 a year per pupil would give the head of an
average secondary school of 950 pupils an extra £150,100
to spend. With this money, between five and seven more teachers
could be recruited or more than 100 computers bought.
A
head in an average primary school of 225 pupils would have an
extra £35,550 to spend every year - which could be used
to hire an extra three or four teaching assistants or buy up to
30 computers. He added that there was the potential to put more
than £1billion into front-line education because of the
size of the projected savings, Detailed plans would be formulated
in the run-up to the General Election.
Tory
education spokesman Tim Collins said: "It is essential that
more money should go to front-line schools to help teachers and
less on paying for bureaucrats who simply harass them. Our public
spending plans already envisage increasing funding for schools
by a third over four years - a rise of £15billion a year.
The savings recommended by the James Committee would enable more
than a further £1billion a year on top of this to be made
available for schools. There can also be little doubt that few
will miss the quangos, bureaucracies and paper-shuffling empires
which we will sweep away as part of these changes."
Mr
James said: "When we began the James Review, Michael Howard
was insistent that the object was to improve the quality of public
services and not just to cut costs. I do not think we have achieved
any better example of this than the proposals we are submitting
for education. The huge savings proposed will have the effect
of streamlining education administration at the deliver end and
will remove an immense amount of dead weight in unnecessary bureaucracy."
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.
