Duckhouses, Power and pullouts

Last night, together with thousands of Lambeth and Southwark residents, I celebrated November 5th by attending one of the three fireworks displays provided by Lambeth Council in Brockwell Park. It was more difficult than ever to enter the park because of the new traffic intersection being built at the front gates which meant that people were funneled through a narrow entrace in the middle of the road works, but we got there just as the fireworks were starting. Luckily the rain held off and the display was well worth seeing as usual.

However, it is worth considering the history of the Guy Fawkes event and its modern relevance. Clearly as every school child knows, it was an attempt to blow up James I and his parliament by a group of conspirators deeply worried about the persecution of Roman Catholics in England and the succession of a new king who was seen as even more extreme in this regard than his predecessor, Elizabeth I. This history has been used very effectively in recent years in the film V where the hero, a latter day Guy Fawkes, is battling against a totalitarian state and a parliament which has become a rubber stamp. Which brings us back to today.

Dissatisfaction with our electoral system is at boiling point. The MPs expenses row has brought things to a halt but it has also brought to the fore the issue of our broken electoral system, which the Green Party has been arguing about for years. More and more people are coming around to the view that the fall in turnout for elections and many of the problems emanating from our legislature is due to the fact that most MPs have merely become lobby fodder and that the current electoral system ensures that all the major parties need only address a handful of voters in some key marginals. while leaving the concerns of much of the electorate unaddressed. This is proving to be truly corrosive and there is a growing movement for change spearheaded by Make My Vote Count. Yesterday to mark Guy Fawkes Day they held a publicity stunt on the Thames outside parliament where they floated a raft disguised as a duck house down the river. The duck house, of course, having featured in the recent expenses expose carried out by the Daily Telegraph.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDhC9zUh6AI

There is real and crying need for change. Just how far removed the politicians and some of their civil servants are from reality was revealed last week when the Justice Dept put forward proposals for cutting the costs of the general election by limiting the number of polling stations and also possibly increasing the cost of a candidate's deposit, thus ensuring that less smaller parties would be eligible to stand. And this at a time when turnout is at an all time low. The story was carried in the The Times

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6897013.ece where it was reported that Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, was distancing himself from his own officials findings. However, who knows what this government has up its sleeve next?

In the meantime there is an appeal below from Make My Vote Count and I hope that as many people as possible will sign up to it. Unfortunately time is running out before the next general election and the Labour Party and the government need as much pressure as possible brought to bear on them from the public.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November ... duckhouses, Power and pullouts.

http://VoteForAChange.co.uk/10000

This afternoon the Vote for a Change campaign have floated a model of a duck house down the River Thames to Westminster. For those inside Parliament, the message is simple: 'you can't duck change'. There is no possibility of effective self regulation at Westminster. The fundamental questions - like how we hire and fire our MPs - can't be left to politicians. But it can be left to the voters on Election Day with a referendum on the voting system.

Today's action is one of a series of campaign activities piling up the pressure on MPs in the run up to the Queen's Speech on 18 November. Our activities range right the way from a meeting next week with Gordon Brown and one-to-one lobbying of Labour MPs; to supporter emails to a "rogue's gallery" of high profile electoral reform opponents; taking the Gravy Train to MPs of all parties who are roadblocks to reform; and getting 60 young people together outside Parliament dressed as zombie politicians for a Halloween stunt.

http://www.voteforachange.co.uk/blog

Adding another notch to our lobbying of Labour MPs and decision-makers, this coming week's edition of the New Statesman magazine contains a 32-page pullout section on electoral reform. You can pick up a copy of the New Statesman from your local news stand.

We've also set an ambitious goal: 10,000 letters to those MPs who are resisting reform and propping up our rotten political system for their own benefit. Can you help us reach 10,000 today by sending a letter now?

http://VoteForAChange.co.uk/10000

We want voters to be in the driving seat of shaping a new politics. We are excited that a new campaign - POWER2010 - is offering people exactly that chance.

POWER2010 are seeking your ideas for changing the way we run our country. Those ideas with most support will become the POWER2010 Pledge - and form the basis of major campaign activity both immediately before and during the General Election.

To add your idea - for instance on electoral reform - go onto the POWER2010 site:

http://www.power2010.org.uk/page/s/yourideas

Like I've just done, you can also sign this letter from Power2010 to the three main Party leaders telling them that the Kelly review (on expenses) was not enough ... it's now time for the people to be given a genuine say in how our democracy is run.

http://www.power2010.org.uk/notenough

Together we will change politics. For good.

Thank you,

Malcolm

Director, Make Votes Count

6 Chancel Street
London SE1 0UU
(t) 020 7928 2076
(f) 020 7401 7789
(m) 07733322148
http://www.makemyvotecount.org.uk/activismhub
http://www.voteforachange.co.uk/