Wednesday 15 July 2009

Political Disintegration and You

A Cornish perpective from Philip Hosking:

Dear friends

British politics is broken. Politicians have got themselves into a mess and can't be trusted to sort it out. That's why I've just written to my MP calling for them to support the Citizens' Convention (Accountability and Ethics) Bill. If made law, this Bill would set up a panel of ordinary people - like a jury - to decide how parliament and government can be made more accountable and ethical. You should write to your MP too:

[http://www.38degrees.org.uk/convention]

This isn't about yet another government consultation - the Bill would stop MPs from being able to just ignore the Citizens' Conventions' conclusions. Let's make this happen.

Thanks!

The expenses scandal might have been pushed off the front pages by BrĂ¼no and the Ashes, but the problems haven't gone away. The UK's political system is still in a mess.

Many politicians are hoping that the fuss has died down so they can get away with just passing a few minor reforms. We need to act quickly to let them know we still want our say on big changes.

We've teamed up with another campaigning organisation, 38degrees.org.uk, to call for a Citizens' Convention of ordinary voters to be given the power to propose changes[1]. Already, thanks to popular pressure, nearly 120 MPs have signed up in support. If enough of us write to our MPs now, we can swell the numbers to a point where the government will have to take action.

Click here to email your MP in less than 3 minutes, and ask them to support a Citizens' convention

By demanding a Citizens' Convention we're saying people outside Westminster must have a proper say on the way that politics works. We need to convince MPs that real reforms need real public input.

So far popular pressure is working. We have already persuaded almost 120 MPs to support the campaign. Our success so far shows that the more people an MP hears from, the more likely they are to support the campaign. Together we can get many more MPs on board.

Tell your MP to sign up in support of a Citizens Convention

Thanks for getting involved,

Peter Facey
Director, Unlock Democracy

PS Hundreds of you have already written to your MP - thanks. If your MP has given you the brush off, we have drafted a list of "frequently used excuses" to help you respond to their objections: http://www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk/?page_id=2068

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