Democracy demands the people have a say.

At the moment the only times we get a chance to vote is at a General and Local Election or on the rare occasion the government allows us a referendum.

At GEs there are a growing number of people who have concluded their vote makes little difference as once elected governments simply ignore their wishes. Some would argue Party manifestos have little value and they can certainly be influenced by events but they do at least give an indication of the general policy direction of the government however I believe there is a real problem when a government proposes an action that has no democratic mandate at all.

Such a situation has arisen with our PM's decision to spend £1.3 billion, which I'd remind you is our money, on supporting Ukraine and as this offer has come completely out of the blue the government has absolutely no way of knowing if we approve of this policy. While I assume parliament will have to approve this spend does anyone seriously believe that the majority of our 650 MPs will not 'virtue signalling' their good intentions by approving this without any serious analysis of the real value of such a decision - after all it is only our money.

We are the paymasters for all governments and should be consult on such important matters and I would suggest that Blair would not have been allowed to take us into Iraq, for while he may have duped parliament, I'm not so certain he would have duped the public.

Our fourth demand 'The People's Consent' allows the people, if enough of us want it, to demand off the government that they hold a referendum on such issues and if agreed by us thus giving the government a democratic mandate to act.

For those concerned that this would open the way for government by referenda it is important to understand that the procedures we envisage being met before any referendum could take place would naturally restrict the number that took place.

However, the vital point about our fourth and also fifth demand is that the government has no money except that which they collect from us and in any democracy worthy of that name we should be allowed a say on how it is spent.

A phase I often use is that our politicians should be our servants and not our masters and I'd be very surprised if anyone seriously disagree with that sentiment. 

Finally I'll leave you with this thought - Why should a mere majority of 650 MPs be able to pass legislation that has no legitimate democratic mandate without asking for the opinion from the electorate of 47.6 million? 

 

Why we need a People's democracy.

 A point I feel worth making over and over again, given the general decline of our country and competence of our governance, is that we have clearly entered the 'Age of Decadence' as described by Sir John 'Pasha' Glubb in his essay 'The Fate of Empires'.

The reality I fear, as we never learn from history, is that nations once in decline are unable to arrest the fall until they hit rock bottom when they can start the slow process of rebuilding.

One of the prominent recurring features during the 'A of D' is the complete incompetence of those in power which is why I've been promoting our six demands with its central aim of making our politicians our servants instead of our masters.

For those who think the 'People' cannot be trusted with extra powers over their politicians and only they should make decisions I would point out three things.

First, if a jury made up of men and women is considered good enough to pass judgement on the guilt or innocence of a person on trial then they possess the necessary common sense and ability to pass judgement on the competence of their politicians, which we can currently only do at elections, and it is a big mistake to judge people on those selected for vox pops.

Second, it is clear that elected politicians so often pass into law poorly drafted and debated legislation influenced by small pressure groups which do not reflect the wishes of the public at large.

Third, while minority views should be supported and protected it is the views of the majority that should prevail in any country calling itself a democracy.

So finally it is now my strong conviction that the more sortition we introduce into our system of governance the better governed we will be.

THA's reason for being is to create a 'People's Democracy' and check out our new website.

https://theharrogateagenda....