Rescuing Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected Dictatorship

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

WWW silentmajorityspeaks.com

The lonely bobby

PC's beat covers 25 villages and 52 square miles - and had to patrol a town of 6,000 folk on his own

by Colin Fernandez, Daily Mail - August 118, 2004

Britain's over-stretched police service was exposed yesterday by a constable who was left to patrol a town of 6,000 people on his own. PC Chris Sadler broke ranks to tell how he felt 'demoralised' by the pressure of taking sole responsibility for the safety of Halesworth, Suffolk.

Risking the wrath of his superiors, he criticised the Government's obsession with performance targets, saying it failed to put old-fashioned bobbies on the beat. The 43-year-old officer who has been in the force for 19 years, said: "I felt deserted and more than a little demoralised. We have about 1,350 police officers in my force - an all time high. But we seem unable to put a couple of them in every small town on Friday and Saturday night. While senior managers are trying to satisfy politicians with statistical information on numerous performance indicators, they - and the Government - are failing to satisfy the public."

PC Sadler, a former chairman of Suffolk Police Federation, claimed senior officers are switching man-power from rural areas into nearby towns which have higher crime rates, such as Lowestoft. He was moved from his rural community officer beat on a Friday a fortnight ago and found himself alone on duty in Halesworth. "It would only have needed a couple of incidents such as a fight in one part of the town and a burglary elsewhere to leave me struggling," he said. "You don't normally get constables speaking out, but I felt I had to. Our senior police officers are removing police officers from rural areas and putting them in places like Lowestoft so they have an effect on statistics. I cover 52 square miles and 25 villages in rural Suffolk. The total amount of crime in one year does not match Lowestoft in one week, so of course the chief superintendent says officers should be in Lowestoft so they have more of an impact on the targets. That means the average citizen in villages sees a police officer once a week instead of every other day. Senior police officers have to be slaves to performance indicators."

PC Sadler said he recognises the only way to meet performance targets is to put officers in the county's four main towns. "I would do the same as the chief superintendent," he said. "It's the nature of the game that I'm having a go at, not the police officers there." He claimed performance indicators are used as a political tool to 'hoodwink the public to believe that substantial changes have been made'. He added: "The public goes on about more bobbies on the beat, but the Government sets targets that do not really mirror that. It's all about crimes against property that they can detect."

Yesterday, Halesworth town council chairman, Dr Bill Pagan said: "Up until recently it was quite rare to see any policeman on patrol at all in the town. I realise the police have a difficult job to do - but last year the lack of obvious policing got so bad that we had growing problems with vandalism and graffiti. It was almost a state of anarchy on our streets, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. But things have improved with the appointment of a new inspector to the area. Police patrols in the town, particularly in the evenings, have increased a lot in recent months and crime is now down by 50%."

Simon Stevens, spokesman for Suffolk Police, said the force has tried to increase the number of patrols carried out by officers, to provide reassurance to the public. "Critical to that success has been the recruitment of extra police officers, but making sure they are based in the places they are most needed," he added. "It's important to remember that the patrol officer is one type of officer on duty. At any one time, there are CID officers, traffic officers, firearms officers, dog teams and all of these can be called on to certain areas at any time."

A spokesman for the Home Office said it had done a lot to reduce the amount of bureaucracy and red tape in police forces. He said targets are there for a 'good reason' and enable comprehensive policies to be drawn up, drive up police performances and ensure the public is informed on how taxpayers' money is used.

DAILY MAIL EDITORIAL COMMENT:

Police constable Chris Sadler is surely not alone in feeling 'deserted and more than a little demoralised' as he patrols 52 square miles of countryside with not another uniform in sight. Aren't the citizens of rural Suffolk entitled to feel exactly the same.

In a courageous cri de coeur, Constable Sadler reveals that his beat covers no fewer than 25 villages. In one, with a 6,000 population, he found himself the only officer on patrol. The thin blue line is so stretched that country people seldom see a policeman. And it has nothing to do with lack of numbers. The Suffolk force is at full strength. But local police chiefs prefer to concentrate their officers in towns, where crime is higher and it is much easier to meet Government targets.

A sensible use of resources? Maybe. But with three police stations closing every month, this withdrawal of a visible uniformed presence from whole swathes of Britain is a worrying trend. When people feel abandoned, the consequences can be disastrous, as became tragically evident in the case of Norfolk farmer, Tony Martin.

PC Sadler may have done his career no good by speaking out. But with mounting unease over policing priorities, doesn't he reflect the public mood far more accurately than any number of chief constables or their target-setting masters in remote Whitehall.

Do you agree that policemen are needed to be on the beat - like teachers are needed in classroom - making community support officers redundant? Agree strongly Agree Disagree Disagree strongly Don't know Don't care Please click one of the links above to cast your vote Current results

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."

Blair's defiance of the will of the majority of we, the people of the UK, over the invasion of Iraq 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:

Here's one to get Tony Blair to resign:

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.

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.