After months of the government making key decisions about Brexit behind closed doors, we’ve found a way the public can have a say.

Unlock Democracy is part of the Centenary Action Group, a new coalition. 

What you need to know about the Withdrawal Bill as it heads to the House of Lords. 

Just before Christmas we shared the biggest political scandals of 2017, and what a list to choose from! Now, as we prepare for the year ahead, here’s 5 of our hopes for the change 2018 can bring.

In the wake of the government’s major defeat on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, many myths have arisen that have wrongly attributed both motivations for why Parliament made the decision it did, and what the consequences of that decision are. We thought we’d shed some light on what is actually going on and clear up the main myths that have come out of the debates.

A debate which saw the government defeated for the first time on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill saw an engaging and thoughtful discussion amongst MPs that raised a number of questions, like: where should decisions making lie? What does a ‘meaningful’ vote look like? What should the balance of power be the between Parliament and Government?

In terms of politics, 2017 has been a bumper year for scandals. We think the abundance of scandals is a fair indicator of whether or not our political system is working well. So we thought we’d reflect on the biggest blunders and disreputable deeds of the last twelve months.

The EU (Withdrawal) Bill as drafted undermines the hard-won devolution settlements that have brought stability and peace to the UK’s people. We’re calling on supporters to #StopThePowerGrab of Westminster ministers and support our current devolution settlements.

Unlock Democracy has joined with nearly seventy organisations from across civil society in the UK, with millions of members, to call for new rules that put democracy, scrutiny, and transparency at the heart of trade.

The Paradise Papers have shown that the elites aren’t contributing their fair share to society by avoiding taxation through different (legal and illegal) mechanisms. The UK government has failed once again to tackle this important problem. In a time in which whilst cuts and austerity hit harder the most vulnerable in our societies, we need to ask ourselves: why?

David Davis announced that a new bill will be introduced to give Parliament a vote on implementing the withdrawal agreement. The initial reaction has been s to call this a ‘massive concession of government’, but is it really?

As the EU (Withdrawal) Bill heads to Committee Stage in the House of Commons, Malene Bratlie from the Repeal Bill Alliance explains what Committee Stage is and what we can expect. 

The government is plagued by scandals, and the Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel may be the second minister to fall in just a week.

The Lord Speaker’s Committee on the size of the House of Lords recently published a report on its findings and recommendations. While the report proposes long-needed reforms and is a step in the right direction, it only offers a piecemeal approach to reforming the second chamber rather than offering the radical, wholesale solutions we need to make the chamber fit for a twenty-first-century democracy.

The government will soon publish it's Trade Bill. So let's talk about the current trade system we have in the UK, why trade democracy matters, and how our system needs wholesale reform to put parliament front and centre.

On the 30th of October the House of Commons considered an e-petition relating to proportional representation.  The overwhelming majority of speakers supported a change in the voting system. Here a summary of what happened.

What exactly have Nissan, UBS, and countless other corporations been told by the government, that would give them the confidence to make such bold public reassurances in times of such great uncertainty? What deals have been done, or promises made?

Last week former MP Graham Allen visited Unlock Democracy to talk about all things relating to written constitutions - what are they, why doesn’t the UK have one, how we would benefit from having a codified constitution, and how we would get there.

On the 10th October Catalonia’s President, Carles Puigdemont, declared independence for the region, only to suspend it seconds later in order to negotiate with the Spanish government. This is part one of a two part blog series exploring what is going on with the process of independence in Catalonia.

On the 10th October Catalonia’s President, Carles Puigdemont, declared independence for the region, only to suspend it seconds later in order to negotiate with the Spanish government. This is part one of a two part blog series exploring what is going on with the process of independence in Catalonia.