Public must have real say in Britain in Europe debate
David Cameron's commitment to an in/out referendum is welcome, but the public must play a central role in the EU treaty negotiations as well.
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We very warmly welcome this proposed bill; it is potentially a game changer, after years of deadlock. At a stroke, its authors have changed the debate from ‘how can we afford this?’ to ‘what funding system should we have?’.
"We need an urgent and more wide-ranging debate about what other institutions, rights and freedoms should be constitutionally protected in law.”
We should not be overly concerned about the actions of any single individual. The real issue here is not whether Peter Cruddas and other party fundraisers flouted the law, but the extent to which political parties depend on a handful of ‘premier league’ donors for their campaign war chests and the access to policy makers that many donors appear to get in exchange.
Leaving aside the party games, the fact remains that deferring boundary changes until the new registration system has had a chance to bed down is a good, practical and democratic decision.
The Committee is correct to say that not only should local government be given more powers but those powers should be protected in some way and not subject to the whims of central government. Unlock Democracy believes that the best way to guarantee this is through a written constitution.
David Cameron's commitment to an in/out referendum is welcome, but the public must play a central role in the EU treaty negotiations as well.
Overall, this is a far cry from Nick Clegg’s early promise of the ‘biggest shake-up of our democracy’ since 1832. The coalition government still has a chance to make a number of significant political reforms over the next two years if it can stop its destructive infighting and focus on what it can achieve.