2006 September

Initiative, Referendum and Recall newsletter  

IR+R NEWS
Citizens' Initiative, Referendum and Recall
of elected officials and politicians

ITEMS

§ Public debate on-line, at the House of Lords!

§ I&R~GB's Assessment and Plan

§ Call for co-operation to organise democracy courses and workshops

§ New campaign for direct democracy in Britain
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§ Public debate on-line, at the House of Lords!
Stimulated by the Power Inquiry and its report "Power to the People" an
on-line public debate about british democracy and governance has been
launched at the parliamentary House of Lords, see http://takingpower.org/

The forum is called Taking Power, chaired by Lord Paul Taylor, a liberal
democrat.

We (I&R~GB) have already contributed to debates in Taking Power arguing
for direct democratic reforms.
http://takingpower.org/index.php/debate-1-whats-the-problem/
http://takingpower.org/index.php/power-executive-summary/questions/

An introductory talk was "SkypeCast" by the leader of the Liberal
Democrats, Menzies Campbell and tomorrow (11 Sept) an interview is
promised with Michael Meacher MP, a former Labour government minister
and one of the very few MPs who have "come out" in support of DD.

§ I&R GB's Assessment and Plan 2006 see http://www.iniref.org/plan2006.pdf
Excerpt
"We have shown that low public and elite knowledge about direct
democracy, hostility to the prospect of genuine citizen empowerment by
its effective tools plus confusion about how our governance works all
hinder the emergence of a stronger movement for “more� democracy in
Britain. Campaigners must recognise these problems and respond to them."
Despite these difficulties we argue that a "moment of opportunity" for
supporters of direct democracy has arrived and go on to show how the
campaign may grow and progress.

§ Call for co-operation to organise democracy courses and workshops
Direct Democracy Schools and Courses
We plan to offer opportunities to learn about and discuss direct
democracy and how to promote its development.
Formats may be Day, Week-End and Week-long courses, seminars and workshops.
Location of these events is not finally decided. Britain, Germany and
Switzerland are the most likely places.
This programme will be designed for citizens and residents of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland. The language will usually be english.
Depending on resources, translation from another language may sometimes
be possible.
Candidates, partners are sought who can or are willing to prepare to
lecture or lead and moderate seminars on one or more aspects of direct
democracy and campaigning strategy. More at
http://www.iniref.org/DDcourses.doc

§ New campaign for direct democracy in Britain launched see
http://www.our-say.org/
From their presentation: "Based on the recent Power Commission, OUR SAY
has developed a proposition that would allow citizens to trigger
referendums on any national or local issue.

Each year, on Referendum Day, people would be able to vote on issues of
concern, both national and local. To trigger a referendum on a
particular topic, 2.5% of the electorate would need to sign a petition.
This would mean that, for national issues, a million signatures would be
required to trigger a ballot. For local issues affecting, say, a
district council, this would require around 4,000 people to back the
proposition. Referendum Day would be held on the same day as the local
elections."

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IR+R NEWS
Citizens' Initiative, Referendum and
Recall of elected officials and politicians

is a service of

Citizens' Initiative and Referendum I&R http://www.iniref.org
a campaign for direct democracy in Britain

Contact: info AT iniref.org