OTHER DEMO

CRATIC REFORMS

ESTABLISHING AND ENTRENCHING FAIRNESS, TRANSPARENCEY, AND GENUINE DEMOCRATIC ACCOUNTABILITY — 'IN THE DETAIL' AND AT EVERY LEVEL.

OTHER DEMOCRATIC REFORMS — AT A GLANCE

GENERAL ELECTIONS

  • Election-Time Coverage To Cover The Parties' Whole Manifestos.
  • Non-Party Organisations Prohibited From Making Political Statements During An Election Period.
  • A Complete Ban On Opinion Polls During The Election Campaign.
  • All Votes To Be Cast In Person At Polling Stations.
  • General Elections Held At Weekends Over Two Days, Rather Than Mid-Week On A Thursday.
  • Ballot Papers To Be Printed In Colour and Ticked Not Crossed.
  • Electoral Constituency Boundaries Abolished.
  • Prisoners Disenfranchised For The Duration of Their Sentence.
  • Electoral Registration Made Automatic and Change Of Address Procedures Reviewed
  • General Election / Referendum Days (and the following day) Made National Holidays.

THE EXECUTIVE'S POWERS

  • All Quangos and Agencies Abolished.
  • All Government Contracts To Be Short-Term.
  • Simple, Non-Contentious, Meaningful Names For Government Departments.
  • Simple, Meaningful Names For All Public Offices.

THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

  • The Electoral Commission To Fact Check The Top 10 Parties Manifestos, Websites, Public Pronouncements and Press Releases.
  • The Commission Will Have The Power To Demand Immediate Retraction By The Party Concerned.
  • For Paricularly Blatant Infringements By 2nd To 4th-placed Parties, The Party Concerned Will Lose The Right To Hold Their Referendum.

COMMISSION FOR EQUALITY OF ACCESS TO PUBLIC SERVICES

  • The Commission's Remit Will Be To Ensure That Government Has No Favourites When It Comes To Service Provision.
  • The Commission Will Work Towards Ensuring Uniform Nationwide Access To All Publicly-Provided Services For All Voters Regardless Of Where They Live.

REFERENDUMS

QUESTIONS IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM

  • The Voting Age Increased To Either 21 or 25 (Subject To Approval In The Constitutional Referendum).
  • The Franchise : Anyone Who Is Currently Resident and Who Has Been Legally Resident For More Than 10 Years Allowed To Vote Or Stand For Election (Subject To Approval In The Constitutional Referendum).
  • Ages Of Consent For Driving, Marriage, The Consumption of Tobacco/Alcohol, etc.

YOUTH REFERENDUMS

  • School Referendums — Allowing Pupils To Determine The Form Of Some Significant Aspects Of School Life — For e.g., What Sports Are Played At Their School.
  • City-Wide Youth Referendums — Allowing 11-18 Year-olds From All Schools Within A City To Determine Significant Aspects Of Local Council Provision Of Youth Services — For e.g., The Games, Sports and Services Available At The Local 'Youth World' Megacentre.

SPORTS REFERENDUMS

  • Football Fans Given The Right To Determine The England Football Manager.
  • Subject To Their Being Sufficient Demand For It, Supporters Of Other National Sports — Such As Cricket and Rugby — Will Be Extended The Same Right.

DEVOLUTION

SCOTLAND AND WALES

  • The Present Arrangements For Devolution In Scotland and Wales Respected.
  • For Clarity of Accountability, The Respective Legal Competences Will Be Adjusted So That For ALL Areas, Laws Are Made EITHER By The Devolved Parliaments OR By The UK Parliament.
  • Any Scottish / Welsh Referendum Result Calling For More / Less Independence Will Be Respected.

ENGLAND

  • All English 'Regional' Bodies and Areas of Administration Abolished.
  • The London Assembly Replaced With A London City Council.


NORTHERN IRELAND

  • Subject To Agreement By The Northern Ireland Assembly, The Northern Ireland Electorate Offered A Referendum On Whether To Continue With The Present Arrangements Under The Good Friday Agreement Or Opt For The Following Set Of Proposals :




-N. Ireland To Become Part Of Ireland In The Year 2040

-From 2030 onwards, N. Ireland MPs To No Longer Sit in the House of Commons

-Compensation Measures For Loss Of Homeland — With All Northern Ireland Citizens Awarded A Lifetime 50% Reduction In Tax Payable To Either The Irish Or UK Governments.

-Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Court Established To Punish All Outstanding Criminality On Both Sides By Sentencing At 25% Of The Usual Term With Guilt Or Innocence Established By The Civil 'Balance of Probability' Standard.

-If At Any Time The Northern Ireland Assembly Is Suspended, Direct Rule Not Used To Push Through Controversial Measures.



COMMISSION FOR TRUTH IN PUBLIC LIFE

  • A Culture of Truth-Telling Established In Public Life — With The Commission To Assess All Politically and Culturally Significant Doctrines For Factual Accuracy.
  • The Following Doctrines To Be Assessed : The Evolution Theory, The Global-Warming-Caused-By-Man Theory, The Age of The Earth Theory.

THE NATIONAL LOTTERY

  • State-Run.
  • Minimum Age Of Entry Increased To 21.
  • All Stake Money (Minus Admin Expenses) Paid Out In Prizes.
  • The Policy On Rollovers Decided By A Lottery Ticket Referendum.

OTHER MEASURES

  • National Censuses Limited To A Few, Essential, Non-Controversial Questions.
  • The National Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages To Be Easily Available Online.
  • Counter-Protest Marches Prohibited.
  • Damaging Political Party Posters Prohibited .
  • Christmas Time International Aid Phone Poll.

OUR POLICIES

GENERAL ELECTIONS

Election-Time Coverage To Cover The Parties' Whole Manifestos

At election times, each party and the media required to spell-out their entire manifesto—so the public truly know what they are voting for, and to avoid the absurd anti-democratic coverage that spends 2 weeks of a six week campaign focussed on some misleading piece of trivia — e.g. 'Jennifer's Ear' etc.


Non-Party Organisations Prohibited From Making Political Statements During An Election Period

At present, organisations which do not themselves contest elections are permitted to denigrate individual candidates or parties, thereby allowing parties to circumvent the proper spending limits on election material.


A Complete Ban On Opinion Polls During The Election Campaign

Many of the opinion polls currently conducted and given such widespread coverage during an election campaign are of highly dubious accuracy and invariably are many percentage points out compared to the actual vote. They can be used to try and 'stampede' voters — many of whom don't want to vote for the 'losing side' — and so tend to manipulate the democratic process itself (e.g. the US Presidential Election 2004).


All Votes To Be Cast In Person At Polling Stations

The recent widespread use of postal votes has shown it to be a voting system susceptible to widespread electoral fraud, and one that allows domineering people to pressure other family members to vote a certain way. Digital voting too undermines confidence in the outcome of elections due to the inherently insecure and easily altered nature of any digital voting and counting system. Also, politics is ultimately a serious business and voting itself is both a privilege and a responsibility, so the voting system should reflect this fact.

General Elections Held At Weekends Over Two Days, Rather Than Mid-Week On A Thursday

Most countries with higher voter turnout than the UK, have weekend voting. With all votes needing to be cast in person, it is even more important that people are allowed sufficient time to get to the polling station without needing to reorder their entire day.


Ballot Papers To Be Printed In Colour and Ticked Not Crossed

The colours chosen by political parties are usually of great significance and form an essential part of party identity. This is particularly true for newer parties seeking to declare their broad appeal to voters. The current policy of only permitting black and white on ballot papers therefore suits the established single-colour parties rather nicely thank you — since it removes a 'Unique Selling Point' from the competition. Whilst in the past, monochrome printing was significantly cheaper then full colour, with modern digital printing techniques this is no longer the case. We will accordingly remove this source of anti-new party bias from all future elections.


The current practise of putting a cross against the party you agree with and think is the most 'right' is also perverse. In every other area of life a cross means 'wrong', not right. Ballot papers will therefore carry the instruction to 'tick' the party the voter agrees with.


Electoral Constituency Boundaries Abolished

With a system of national PR in place, constituencies would no longer be necessary. Their abolition would also bring an end to the endless boundary revisions that inevitably favour one party or the other.


Prisoners Disenfranchised For The Duration of Their Sentence

Recent government proposals plan to implement a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights granting some prisoners a vote. Yet serving a prison sentence is precisely about making amends by going without life's normal civic rights. Should the traditional ban on prisoners voting ever be lifted, we will reinstate it immediately.


Electoral Registration Made Automatic and Change Of Address Procedures Reviewed

The UK is one of a small number of developed countries that does not make registration on the electoral role automatic. Automatic registration increases voter participation, so we will introduce this easy and significant democratising measure.

At present, voters changing address without notifying their local council remain on the register until a future occupant of the property in question completes the annual electoral register return. At election time, this can result in Official Election Poll cards for both current and previous occupants being sent to an address raising the possibility of multiple voting by the current occupants.


General Election / Referendum Days (and the following day) Made National Holidays

This will emphasise the importance of the electoral and democratic process and allow everyone to vote in a relaxed way and at a convenient time.

DEVOLUTION

Immediately upon taking office, New Labour set about implementing the EU-policy of breaking-up the powerful nation-state of Britain into dependent regions. As a consequence, within a few short years, the UK was increasingly governed as a collection of semi-separate countries and non-descript regions, each with legislatures with varying degrees of power and varying degrees of public support. To make matters worse, Scotland and Wales simultaneously elect Members of Parliament to both a national assembly or parliament as well as to Westminster — in Scotland, this has created the so-called West Lothian question whereby Scottish MPs at Westminster can vote on English-only matters, even though English MPs do not have a reciprocal right to vote on Scottish-only matters which are now decided by the Scottish Parliament. Lines of legislative accountability are further blurred by Westminster and Scottish Parliaments sharing responsibility for some policy areas and by several Whitehall departments being responsible for the same issue. What a mess!

Whilst English, Scottish and Welsh cultural differences have been rather seized upon and talked-up by those arguing for independence from Westminster-rule, in some areas these differences are significant and the respective electorates of Scotland and Wales have spoken — expressing a desire for more political independence by voting for their own assembly or parliament in recent referendums. The Fair Britannia Party will respect those cultural differences, that desire for political independence and those referendum results.



SCOTLAND and WALES

Any Scottish / Welsh Referendum Calling For More / Less Independence Will Be Respected

Whatever devolution settlement the Scottish and Welsh people decide is most appropriate for them will be accepted by a Fair Britannia Party government — whether the desire is to transfer more powers from Westminster to the Scottish or Welsh Parliaments or reduce devolved powers, or even abolish the devolved parliaments and return to full government from Westminster.


However, in the case of any proposed settlement other than full independence (when the Scottish / Welsh governments would decide ALL arrangements for themselves) we would apply the following – essentially democratic – conditions :

  • that any new devolution settlement proposed by the Scottish / Welsh administration has been approved by a national referendum of the Scottish / Welsh people, and that the referendum was held after a full, fair and honest debate.
  • that in the interests of transparency and the maintenance of clear lines of democratic accountability, all competences in distinct areas of policymaking (such as employment, welfare benefits, policing, etc.) should be 100% exercised EITHER by the devolved government OR by the UK parliament at Westminster — so that ALL confusing and ambiguous shared competences are abolished.
  • that taxation keeps in step with any new political constitutional settlement — such that the devolved administrations would be expected to fund all policies for which they are responsible, from taxes that they themselves raise on the Scottish / Welsh people.
  • that political representation keeps in step with any new constitutional settlement — such that the devolved administrations would have a reduced right of representation in the proposed fully proportional House of (National) Senators. For e.g., if the settlement was that 50% of Scottish / Welsh laws were to be made by a devolved government then representation would similarly be reduced by 50%. In the House of (City) Councillors, representation is one (opposition) councillor per city area, so representation here would be on the same basis as for England.

ENGLAND

All English 'Regional' Bodies and Areas of Administration Abolished

The regionalisation of England is the application of the EU-policy of breaking-up powerful nation-states put into effect. It is a policy that spawned unelected Regional Chambers, unelected Regional Development Agencies and Regional Government Offices, all without a meaningful public debate, let alone public consent. The idea of regional government has also been proven to have no electoral support even in the North-East (chosen by the government as the first area to be offered a referendum on a Regional Assembly, presumably because they believed it to be the most likely area to say Yes), and the geographical regions themselves — unlike countries, counties and cities — are largely meaningless to the vast majority.


Although most regional bodies have now been abolished, we will ensure that all vestiges of these anti-democratic contrivances within the administration and bureaucracy of government (national and local) will be rooted out and trashed. Under Fair Britannia Party policies, in England, ALL government powers will be exercised in one of only two places — either nationally at Westminster or locally by city councils.


With representation reduced for Scotland and Wales in proportion to the percentage of law-making powers transferred away from Westminster to devolved administrations (please see our proposals for Scotland and Wales above) the 'West Lothian question' is resolved (albeit indirectly) and without resorting to separate sittings within the Houses of Parliament for English-only legislation. In this regard, The Fair Britannia Party does NOT support calls for ANY form of a separate 'English parliament'. THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT IS THE WESTMINSTER PARLIAMENT.

THE LONDON ASSEMBLY REPLACED WITH A LONDON CITY COUNCIL

Whilst acknowledging the unique nature of London, granting it a full-blown Assembly was completely unjustified on administrative and domestic political grounds — the Assembly primarily being established as part of the EU-driven, break-up-Britain policy of regionalisation. The London Assembly will be abolished at the earliest opportunity and replaced with a London City Council (sitting in the same building) making local government arrangements in London identical to the rest of the country of which it is part.

NORTHERN IRELAND OFFERED A REFERENDUM ON A NEW DEAL

Whilst Northern Ireland has mercifully enjoyed many years of peace, significant tensions remain, with many describing the peace that has prevailed as more a sullen truce than real peace.


This party respects the devolution deal and in government would make no changes without the fully informed explicit consent of a majority of the Northern Ireland electorate by way of referendum.


In government, this party's approach would be to seek resolution to this very difficult, intractable issue by :

  • doing what it can to put right the mistakes of previous UK governments
  • by ensuring that the democratic process in Northern Ireland offers no place for terrorists and criminals
  • by seeking resolution for victims and reconciliation for society on the only true basis that makes it possible — that of bringing terrorists and criminals to justice for their crimes
  • and of holding out the hope of a brighter, settled future by drawing a line in the sand at a definite point in time.

SUBJECT TO AGREEMENT BY THE N. IRELAND ASSEMBLY, THE N. IRELAND ELECTORATE WILL THEREFORE BE OFFERED A REFERENDUM ON WHETHER TO CONTINUE WITH THEIR PRESENT ARRANGEMENTS UNDER THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT OR TO OPT FOR THE FOLLOWING SET OF PROPOSALS :

N. Ireland To Become Part Of Ireland In The Year 2050

It is suggested that the partition of Ireland in 1921 into separate sectarian regions was an understandable but ultimately mistaken policy. Provided strict non-discrimination laws are in place, we will therefore seek to undo this historical mistake and bring the political administration of N. Ireland into line with both majority Irish opinion and geographical realities by setting a date for the handover of N. Ireland to Irish democratic governance.

From 2040 Onwards, N. Ireland MPs To No Longer Sit in the House of Commons

As an expression of the long-term policy of handover, and as a preparatory measure, from 2040 N. Ireland would no longer elect MPs to Westminster.


Compensation Measures For Loss Of Homeland

Whilst many citizens of N. Ireland will be delighted with the proposed handover arrangements, many amongst the unionist community will naturally be appalled. In return for being asked to give up so much, this party therefore believes they should receive significant lifelong compensation for their sacrifice as follows :

- All N Ireland citizens to pay only half Eire income tax rates for life (Subject To Agreement By The Irish Government)

- All N. Ireland citizens retain to full UK passports and to only pay half UK income tax rates for life (should they emigrate to Britain).


Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Court

It is suggested that a major cause of the tensions that remain are the unresolved issues surrounding several decades of largely unpunished criminality — on both sides. In government, this party would therefore seek to work with the N Ireland assembly and the Irish Government to establish an all-embracing Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Court, with a view to the court implementing the following measures:

- Anyone even suspected of involvement in serious sectarian violence to be brought before the court

- Guilt or innocence determined on the reduced civil standard of proof of 'balance of probability'

- Offenders found guilty to receive a reduced-tariff sentence — the reduction in sentence applied reflecting the fact that the acts were committed in a civil war context and offenders have been found guilty on a reduced standard of proof. Sentences of approx. 1/4 the usual severity might be an appropriate basis for sentencing, with identical provisions to apply to both sides.

- Offenders found guilty to receive an automatic lifetime ban from holding any political office in both N. Ireland and Irish politics — to minimize as much as possible any sense of terrorists-in-government developing within the communities of the victims.

- Regardless of a finding of guilt or innocence, the victims and all members of their immediate family would be compensated by a lifetime tax-free status for both UK and Irish income tax (subject to agreement by the Irish Government).



Direct Rule Not Used To Push Through Controversial Measures

In addition, if at any time the Northern Ireland Assembly is temporarily suspended, the ensuing period of direct rule would be made more accountable — and not used as a convenient time to push through controversial measures lacking popular support amongst the N. Ireland electorate.

THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

The Electoral Commission To Fact Check The Top 10 Parties Manifestos, Websites, Public Pronouncements and Press Releases

The Commission's remit will be widened to include a fact-checking role. The habitual practise of truth-twisting, statistics-misrepresenting and bare-faced lying to win electoral support MUST be made a thing of the past.


The Electoral Commission to publicise any significant inaccuracies or misleading statements found and require immediate withdrawal by the party concerned. In particularly blatant cases, the party concerned will lose its right to their referendum (for those parties placed 2nd to 4th in the general election).

COMMISSION FOR TRUTH IN PUBLIC LIFE

A CULTURE OF TRUTH-TELLING

Unproven theories with potentially significant implications for rightly understanding the nature of human origin, the history of the planet, present-day political policymaking, industrial processes and school and college education should not, must not, be just allowed to just 'do the rounds', misinforming and disinforming one and all.

Similar to the new enhanced role of the Electoral Commission in relation to purely political pronouncements, a new Commission for Truth in Public Life will therefore assess all politically and culturally significant doctrines for factual accuracy.


The Commission's first 3 areas of scrutiny will be to assess the factual accuracy or otherwise of :

- The Evolution Theory

- The Global-Warming-Caused-By-Man Theory

- The Age of The Earth Theory


Its findings will be widely publicised and programmes and school and college courses purporting to be factual required to support its findings.


COMMISSION FOR EQUALITY OF ACCESS TO PUBLIC SERVICES

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT MUST HAVE 'NO FAVOURITES' WHEN IT COMES TO SERVICE PROVISION

Similar to the new enhanced role of the Electoral Commission in relation to purely political pronouncements, a new Commission for Equality of Access To Public Services will be established. The Commission's remit will be to

ensure that the party of central government :

  • does not favour particular areas with additional funding or favourable procedures or regulations without good (and publicly-defensible) cause.
  •  works towards uniform nationwide access to all publicly-provided services for all voters regardless of which part of the country they happen to live in.

The Commission's work and findings to be widely publicised.


REFERENDUMS

QUESTIONS IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM

The Voting Age Increased To Either 21 or 25 (Subject To Approval In The Constitutional Referendum).

With a truly democratic political system of referendum democracy in place, voters will have significantly more power than ever before. We believe this fact should be reflected by an increase in the minimum voting age.


In this regard, the minimum voting age is not about determining the age of rights of individual self-expression, but about setting the age at which someone can responsibly and in an informed way, play a part in determining the rights of others (through electing law-making politicians to power). This degree of maturity and awareness of life's issues takes time to develop, as it requires an inner 'feel' for the real-world implications of the decisions taken by politicians. This inner feel does not come overnight as it requires several years experience of living through the challenges and frustrations of the world of work, living independently from parents and of paying taxes.


With so many young adults now going to college and university, this level of life experience is very often not acquired until the age of 25, which is also the approximate age at which the adult personality is fully 'set'. We therefore believe this is the age to which the minimum voting age should be increased — to maximise the likelihood that only sensible parties with sensible policies get elected. It is appreciated that this policy will be most unpopular with some, but allowing young people who have minimal life experience and with their heads full of whatever they happen to have been taught in school or by the TV, to elect those making the laws for everyone else to obey is not merely irresponsible, but nothing short of ridiculous. In this regard, political parties in recent years calling for an ever-younger voting age (for e.g. down to age 16) have done so, probably not so much in the belief that age 16 represents a sensible voting age, but with the blatant intention of increasing the pro-EU, anti-democracy, anti-nation-state, lefty-liberal vote — believing that the vast majority of young people freshly 'instructed' by their propagandist school and college courses, will vote as 'programmed'. George Orwell's 1984 anyone?


However, as this change represents a significant increase from the present age of 18, we will offer a referendum question offering a choice between three possible minimum voting ages — of 18, 21 or 25.


The Franchise : Anyone Who Is Currently Resident and Who Has Been Legally Resident For More Than 10 Years Allowed To Vote Or Stand For Election (Subject To Approval In The Constitutional Referendum).

At present Commonwealth citizens knowing little of this country's traditions or culture are allowed to almost immediately stand for election to the highest political law-making body in the land — this cannot be right. It is surely a simple principle of good governance that anyone wishing to play a significant part in the law-making process for an entire nation of people should first be expected to have demonstrated both an in-depth familiarity with the issues and culture and a commitment to living in that country. Conversely, UK nationals living abroad and completely unaffected by most of the UK government's policies continue to be allowed to vote!

We therefore favour a simplified, uniform approach to the franchise as follows :

  • Regardless of a person's nationality or formal citizenship status — whether UK, Commonwealth, EU or beyond — the right to vote and stand in elections will be extended to all who are (1) currently resident in the UK, and (2) who have been legally resident for a minimum of 10 years.


The Legal Minimum Ages For Driving, Marriage, The Consumption of Tobacco/Alcohol, etc.

Cultural issues associated with judgements about degrees of maturity can (and therefore should) be made by the adult general public — ALL of whom have THEMSELVES already passed through the same maturing process. This will also prevent the decreeing of ages of consent by little like-minded cliques of 'cultural experts' — often in pursuit of their own undisclosed cultural agendas.


In the multi-issue constitutional referendum, questions will therefore be offered to enable the electorate to themselves determine the legal minimum age required to engage in the following activities : driving cars, riding motorbikes, riding e-bikes, the consumption of alcohol, the consumption of tobacco, the consumption of legal drugs, marriage, heterosexual sexual relations, homosexual sexual relations and pornographic modelling.

YOUTH REFERENDUMS

Although youth-only political bodies already exist, these institutions tend to have only the appearance of influence for the youngsters involved and tend to encourage a youth v. the adults mentality (which hardly needs encouraging). We believe such bodies should therefore be abolished. Instead, rather than involving only a tiny percentage of 'politically precocious' youngsters, all youngsters should be involved in the political process in a small but real way — for example, through:


School Referendums

— allowing pupils to determine the nature of some significant aspect of school life — for e.g. what sports are played at their school.


City-Wide Youth Referendums

— allowing 11-18 year-olds from all schools within a city to determine significant aspects of the local council's provision of services for young people, such as the form of a new fun ride at the beach, or the games, sports and services available at the local youth world megacentre (see sports, leisure and amenities section).

It would be a limited, but real and not patronising or manipulative power for all children, and would help establish the worth and wonder of participation in the democratic process from an early age.

SPORTS REFERENDUMS

Given the significance to so many football fans of the performance of the national team, in a new day of true democracy, it is surely time for those on the terraces to be given the right to choose the England Football Manager. A simple ballot of all valid season ticket holders at clubs playing in any national league would quickly reveal the supporters' (rather than the FA's) choice.

The same right will be extended to the supporters of other national sports, such as cricket and rugby, once sufficient demand is established.

THE EXECUTIVE'S POWERS

Recent years have seen the wholesale transfer of powers away from political — and therefore democratically accountable — central government departments, to innumerable quangos, agencies and private companies. Many such institutions have massive budgets and weak explicit public accountability. Such arrangements either undemocratically remove actual governmental powers out of the hands of the politicians and the public (at elections), or allow government to continue setting the policies and yet blame the agencies or private companies for any policy failings. Presently, too, attempts to dig deeper into areas of possible inefficiency or even corruption are hampered or made outright impossible to investigate because private companies operating public services are currently allowed to claim key contracts and agreements are not for public consumption as they are covered by 'commercial confidentiality'. Contracts with private companies for the provision of state services are also increasingly drawn-up for many years duration — making it impossible for an incoming administration to make changes where necessary. What a ridiculous and undemocratic way to provide public services and govern a country. We will therefore introduce the following changes :


All Quangos and Agencies Abolished

This would return all significant decision-making powers concerning the spending of tax-payers' and voters' money back to publicly-accountable government departments. The government would make the decisions within government departments, and the policies then implemented by private companies on short-term tightly-worded performance indicator-guaranteed contracts. The private companies would be mere contractors, so the public and media alike would once again be able to properly scrutinise the decisions of those implementing public policy in any area, meaningful debate on possible new policy options will be made possible again and those responsible for any failings would be able to be brought to account.

All Government Contracts To Be Short-Term

A fresh government with a fresh mandate from the people must be free to implement its manifesto and not be hampered by long-term — often disastrous —contractual commitments entered into by previous governments. Upon taking office, the new administration must be able to rescind any pre-existing contractual agreements of previous governments that are inconsistent with the implementation of its stated and electorally-approved manifesto. Future contracts for the provision of services should be for no more than 2 or 3 year periods, ending no later than 12 months after the date of a general election. Once established as the norm, companies bidding for government contracts would know to take this into account — if large established businesses were unwilling to bid on this basis then there would be plenty of other companies that were.

Simple, Non-Contentious, Meaningful Names For Government Departments

Recent years have seen the establishment of a plethora of new government departments with odd, several-functions-at-once names — names that mean next to nothing to practically everyone except the government itself. Ridiculous. The government is there as the servant of the people and its departmental structure needs to reflect that fact by being easily intelligible to the ordinary citizen.


Simple, Meaningful Names For All Public Offices

This will mean the abolition of all the pompous-sounding names that politicians of yester-year were so fond of — such as Lord Chief Justice no less. Such names obscure the actual role of the official and makes non-elected officials sound more important than elected politicians. So all 'Sheriffs' will be abolished too —applying such names to officials in 21st Century Britain is both ridiculous and insulting.

THE NATIONAL LOTTERY

The way the national lottery was initiated and has been maintained ever since has meant stake-money being used to fund charitable causes — often of dubious democratic merit — and with the lottery directly linked with the advertising and brand of the company that happens to have won the contract to run it.


State-Run

As an important symbol of national life, the lottery should be fully controlled and run by the democratically-elected government of the day, not a private corporation whose prime concern is maximising its profit.


Minimum Age of Entry Increased To 21

To many people there is something inappropriate about a particularly young person becoming an overnight multi-millionaire, so in order to prevent this and to remove the possibility of unfounded thoughts of easy-money taking hold in any young person's mind whilst completing studies and beginning a career, the minimum age of entry should be raised to 21.


All Stake-Money (Minus Admin Expenses) Paid-Out In Prizes

Staking money in a lottery is also an act of an entirely different nature to making a donation to a charitable cause and these two fundamentally different acts should be kept separate. The transfer of stake-money to charitable causes should therefore be stopped and, instead, kept in the prizes fund for payout in winnings.


Policy On Rollovers Decided By A Lottery Ticket Referendum

After recent changes to lottery rules, multiple rollovers have now become the norm, meaning that many weeks (even months!) can elapse before a jackpot prize is actually won. Many players are not happy with this arrangement, so on a special 'Lottery Referendum Weekend' we will put several possible options to lottery players themselves in a referendum question on the tickets. The options offered to include :

  • the present maximum number of rollovers
  • unlimited rollovers
  • a maximum of three rollovers
  • the abolition of all rollovers — which while removing the lure of the massive rollover jackpots, would mean that most weeks would see many more people (approx. 30-40) winning life-changing sums of around £100,000.

OTHER MEASURES

The National Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages To Be Easily Available Online

People have a fundamental human right to know the status of births, deaths and marriages regarding the lives of estranged family members. This is particularly relevant in this era of broken family relationships. People should never have to hunt around for ages or suffer ANY degree of uncertainty regarding the reliability of the information that is available. And nobody should have to rely on either the paid services of private companies or the good graces of assorted record-keeping organisations for such basic and essential information. We will therefore ensure that an up-to-date official record is kept immediately available online at all times for all records dating back to approx. 1900.

National Censuses Limited To A Few, Essential, Non-Controversial Questions

Sadly, in recent years even the national census has been hi-jacked by those in government who feel they have the right (or perhaps 'duty') to pry and intrude into peoples' private lives whilst simultaneously seeking to obtain information useful to the cause of badgering and manipulating us in the direction they feel we ought to go. Completing the great raft of detailed personal questions in the 2021 census - under threat of a £1,000 fine for non-compliance - felt like a boundary-violating information grab by government gone bad. What a disgrace.

We will continue with national censuses, but they will be limited to just a few, essential, non-controversial questions.

Counter-Protest Marches Prohibited

The protest march is a time-honoured means for the masses to let those governing them know — in no uncertain terms — that they 'are not amused'. Recent years however, have seen the rise of the anti-protest protesters — people who infiltrate or counter-protest against the most carefully and responsibly-organised protest marches of others in order to malign or silence those who see the world differently to themselves. Such offensive behaviour is undemocratic and is a direct assault on freedom of both personal and political expression, and must not be tolerated.


We will therefore bring forward measures that will make all those counter-protesting a registered march subject to immediate arrest and 3 months civil detention (please see legal section for details). Due to the anarchistic 'look what damage I did' culture that often prevails within 'protest world', a get tough approach will be adopted after a 2nd offence (rather than waiting for a 3rd offence as is the norm). A 2nd offence will therefore mean an automatic 3 month incarceration and a criminal record.


Damaging Political Party Posters Prohibited

During the general election period it is not uncommon for politically-motivated yobbos to deface and steal the posterboards of political opponents — even when they are situated on private property, such as a front garden. This too is a direct assault on freedom of both personal and political expression, and must not be tolerated.


Similar to our proposals against counter-protests, we will therefore bring forward measures that will make anyone damaging a lawfully-erected party political poster subject to immediate arrest and 3 months civil detention (please see legal section for details). Again, due to the anarchistic attitude that often prevails anongst those engaging in 'yob politics', a get tough approach will be adopted after a 2nd offence (rather than waiting for a 3rd offence as is the norm). A 2nd offence will therefore mean an automatic 3 month incarceration and a criminal record.


Christmas Time International Aid Phone Poll

The British people have always been generous in helping less-developed countries with financial aid - both in their response to special appeals at times of international crisis and in the level of international aid given by UK governments. This fact could be acknowledged and celebrated at Christmas time, by holding a nationwide televised phone poll, that after highlighting a wide range of aid projects allowed viewers to donate simply by phoning in on a premium rate number — with the government adding, say £3 (from the international aid budget), to all donations received. This might also help remind politicians that the money they are donating is not actually theirs at all, but that of the British people.