Over the next few weeks I thought I'd go back to the basics and review each of our six demands in turn.
Our first demand 'Recognition of our sovereignty' is the key to the other five and at its simplest lays down that in the final analysis it should be with the people and not parliament where ultimate 'Power' lies.
The word democracy, from the Greek word demokratia, is made up of two parts demos meaning 'people' and kratos 'power. The trouble is, as I pointed out the other week, our democracy, while developing since the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215, that's 803 years ago, has still not yet delivered the type of democracy in accordance with its true meaning.
Currently the only real power the people have is at the time of a general election when parliament gives up its power, briefly, to the people until the new government is elected. Once elected the people have absolutely no power to change anything whether they see their MP, petition Downing Street or hold a rally in London. If the government of the day wants to ignore the people they can until the next election when they will again try and dupe us into voting for them.
The evidence that people are unhappy with the current state of affairs is that at general elections a sizable number don't bother to vote knowing that who ever is elected nothing much will actually change whatever the people say or do. Once the political elite get back the reigns of power they can literally do what they like, while accepting they do need to get any new legislation through parliament, which with an overall majority is seldom a problem.
In the last election, in 2017, from a voting population of 47 million as many as 15 million didn't bother to vote which is the same number as voted for the Conservatives (12.5m), Liberal Democrats (2m) and Greens ( 0.5m) combined.
The arrogance of our elected politicians, that only they know what is best for us, is simply not sustainable in the future and I'm of course a strong believer that the collective will of the people is a far better gauge as to how we wish to be governed that the collective thoughts of our liberal or should that read illiberal elite?
If you believe in the true meaning of the word 'Democracy' then there can only be one logical move that is to progress our governance, after 803 years, towards the 'People' having real 'Power.'
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