A World to Win | Campaign | Rights for a 21st century democracy

We the undersigned believe that the existing system of government fails to represent the interests of the vast majority of people. The current political system is democratic in name only. A market state has replaced the welfare state and parliament’s role is reduced to a farce. The state’s primary purpose is to promote global business and financial interests to the detriment of ordinary people. In Britain, these commercial interests are championed by New Labour.

This state operates in an increasingly authoritarian, lawless and tyrannical fashion, from the invasion of Iraq to the suppression of democratic rights and civil liberties in Britain. Pressure and even mass protests are simply ignored. Under the impact of corporate-driven globalisation, key public services are converted into sources of profit for big business. At the same time, the existing state has proved incapable of tackling the ecological crisis that threatens our very existence. Under these conditions, our hard-won right to vote is undermined and the mass of people are effectively disenfranchised. We therefore support the campaign for a written constitution for a truly democratic, republican Britain. This constitution could create the conditions for:

More of your views

it has not yet become totally fascist, but there is little doubt where it is heading, nor about the progressive side-lining of any real form of democracy in the country. We may not have much longer for this sort of campaign to succeed
Chris

The demand for a written constitution highlights the creeping elected dictatorship being perpetrated by Blair. This government are experts of Orwellian double-speak, where war is peace, dictatorship is democracy. You do wonder sometimes whether they realise we have memories & we do remember what they say? It is also important to remember that words by themselves can be empty. The American Constitution was written by the wealthy and they never intended that its rights extended to ordinary people, women or slaves! So the need for a written constitution has to be seen in the context of the current market state which commodifies everything and its replacement by a truly participatory process which recognises the rights to be different and disobedient, to free health & education, to employment & combination within a society based on cooperation, sharing the fruits of society to all, rather than corporate greed.
Stuart

I'm angry at those "anti-terrorists" laws which are the beginning of a police state. NO to blair's attacks on democracy and civil rights Personal experience: I now need two passports to enter Britain where I've lived for 35 years to prove I'm a resident. My actual passport and the previous one. OR pay either £250 0r £375 to have my proof of residence printed in my actual passport. I wont. It will only go to pay for more illegal wars, tortures, appalling deaths of innocents (always the first victims) and break-down of fragile democracies
Louise

specifically to forest gate; and to the continued assault of mohammed kahar after he had been shot; it is my firm belief that every policeman who was present and witnessed what was happening yet did nothing to stop it is guilty of a crime and should be charged as an accessory as to the growing list of innocent victims of police shootings - read <http://psywarrior.blogspot.com> on my own experiences of the attack on my human rights; that history speaks for itself; and is probably not a subject matter for 'polite society'; but we do need to take back our society from those who are exploiting us; and it is reaching the point where we should be using every means available to us; when i returned to this country the first thing i did was question each political party about its position on a written constitution; none of them had one ; my response to bethany's comment is that at least with a written constitution individual citizens have the power to take organisations and government departments to task; and frankly; we 'the people' need anything we can get; to redress the increasing social imbalance pervading our society
Maik

Well, it is the way to be going isn't it? Having a constitution that people are able to act on and alter should get people's attention. Our Dormant political companions!
Alan

Is a written constitution really going to help democracy, community, or sanity that much? After all, it's America that's famous for having one... (power and bad politics can always twist anything into worse than nothing...) enough said?!
Bethany

Big things can change, eg. slavery was abolished
Angelica

Things need to change
David

The anti-union laws have had a big effect on disputes, and I remember the USEC used to make a lot of that. But my experience over last ten years makes me think people's lack of (easy) access to revolutionary ideas has been far more important in maintaining capitalism, and in preventing the coalescence of a working class party.
Phil

We are in the ENRON stage of capitalism.
Megan

Everything is about money & so much choice as to whose pocket we put our money into, but no choice where it counts i.e. where our taxes go, having a true voice that is heard by this sham government of ours. Our rights are being eroded daily on a UK & world level. A climate of fear is being engendered as this very conveniently allows government to remove more of our rights under the guise of our protection. The only thing really being protected is big business, the power of the multi national etc. This is the kind of material I rap about in performance.
Heather

Rights and constitutions are vital symbols, especially in the current political climate - but in the end the value of rights is practical. It's practically that ground is won, and livelihoods are saved. The erosion of rights isn't uncontested - but we need to turn localised resentments and anxieties into a concerted, purposeful response to it. This means challenging capitalism, sure - but also challenging the more 'petty'-seeming ways in which managerial culture, commodification, and instrumental rationality have colonised everything from education to healthcare to the treatment of asylum seekers. That's the link between tuition fees, foundation hospitals and the abhorrent, unchallenged political culture around immigration and asylum in this country.
GC

I am deeply concerned about the gradual (and, it seems, uncontested) erosion of our civil rights, particularly the right to peaceful protest (for instance, the SOCPA section 132 laws criminalising protest near Parliament and the increasing police presence during marches & demonstrations) & our right to privacy, now under threat from surveillance of e-mail & telephone communications, as well as the mushrooming of CCTV cameras in our towns & cities. The breakdown of the welfare state and health system, to be replaced by private companies whose main ethos is profit-making rather than care and welfare is also a disturbing feature of the UK today, as is the increasing 'us & them' viewpoint in political discussions recently, marginalising the young, the poor and/or the immigrant/non-white community.
MLC

I support this!
Bob Hughes
No One Is Illegal, UK

I think that we are daily being suppressed, Our views are totally disregarded, The government and politicians are vastly overpaid and will do anything to keep their fatcat salaries to the detriment of the whole country, they are a complete farce.
AB

I read the last update from AWTW, can't believe that Straw was sacked he wasn't really a soft liner but that can't be a good sign compared with Iran! Here I can't say if it's worst or not but Chirac's end of reign is just far too long & painful for many!!!!! The Clearstream affair smears so many politicians the prime minister the most & still he stays in control!!!

That in itself advocates for action, indeed it demonstrates how corrupted even a so called democratic system can end up, democracy is in danger & real crisis & that should open many people's eyes...(At least before the world cup)! Democracy can't be just a matter of technological improvement it needs it has to be social too! Revolution can't be just technical it has to be social too! No violence of course but united as much as possible!

Bravo for the campaign for a written constitution that would make a real change!!!! Such a campaign is revolutionary in itself I guess...
Loic (France)

Yes something must be done.Oherwise we shall start paying for the air we breathe
Lillian

We live in a unified world, where technology offers opportunities to give everyone what they need to live a decent life. What prevents us from achieving this next stage in human social development is the global capitalist system of exploitation for private profit, which uses technology for the opposite outcome - starvation, disease and the destruction of the environment. Our government and other governments exist only to prop this system up and use mass media to indoctrinate us it is the only possible way humans can live. Having this call for a written constiution that enshrines human and social rights is a direct challenge to that, and I support it wholeheartedly.
Penny

I believe that Blair's Labour Party is a crucial part of the global trend towards limited democracy and partial citizenship. This is manifested in a gradual privatisation of service provision, a narrowing of political choices and growing inequality. As citizens we must reject this model and work towards truly democratic alternatives.
Dermot

Time to stop watching TV and take back responsibility for what happens
to us, thanks for keeping the resistance going
Adele

Student loans - one way of tying young people to the state by way of burden and debt
Darren

Our rights are totally ignored. As Christians we see every religion but ours matters. We live on an Estate run, supposedly, by the Corporation of London who ignore each and every complaint made to them about everything and anything. Political correctness rules everything and has totally undermined every standard and value this country stood for. The attitude is to pay for everything several times over. For instance, we pay for public services, but the so called service is useless, across the board. Despite this, you are legally obliged to pay taxes which would have seen our ancestors up in arms. If you dont like what is happening, you complain and nothing is done. Then you have to pay for legal assistance, quite beyond the means of most ordinary people. The contempt politicians have for the public can be clearly seen in the ID legislation, the illegal war in Iraq, and the imprisonment of at least one air service doctor who stood up to them, the totally inadequate provisioning of our troops, which needs to be compared to Cherie's £7,000 hair do. The spin doctors replace truth, integrity and professionalism and public service. On our own estate we have seen the change in people, which I offer as a mini indication of what is happening generally in society. The nature of people has become meaner, more demanding of others, but showing no responsibility themselves. Those who want what they want, ignoring the effect their actions have on others, neighbours, the community in general, drown out any and all critics. Our quality of life is zero. We no longer have hopes or ambitions or anything to live for. You need money to do that! Michael Howard spends more money than I on cosmetics. As a species I might be human, in reality I am transparent to all forms of local and central government.
Miss JH

Yes, I support a written constitution for the UK, which is now the only way out of the impasse you describe so well.
Pat

Eloquently put as always and I can only add that if there could be any reasonable doubt remaining then it is shredded by The Government's raw thrust for the imposition of the I.D. Card, a frenzy of abandonment of the Public Good. Destined to 'point-score' each unfolding life and under-written by the sole and singular aim of squeezing every last drop of revenue for the Exchequer, it will progressively peel from us every veil of privacy until we are exposed beyond intimate retreat.

There can be no justification whatsoever for linking this item to a national register save that it serves the purpose of plotting an audit trail through our entire lives, an eventuality the easy provision of technology and absolute guarantee of nature - any man who will not recognise this intent is a deliberate liar, a deluded fool or a simpleton - any woman is simply not a man. There can be no worse exploit than to give enfettered licence to the primitive drives of male-nature and this greed-driven, fear-fuelled pursuit will draw to the bastions of Power a level of influence and control over the majority population to finally quash all hope - if there is not a thunderous backlash before then, an increasingly likely event (I pray).
David

Democracy is slipping through our fingers in favour of global capitalism and elitism, fuelled by ignorance, consumerism and power-hungry bureaucratic institutions. Citizenship is brought seriously under question through a lack of accountability in such a regime, and our rights should be further protected - not eroded to protect human kind and the planet as a whole. I support a written constitution for a truly democratic Britain, and furthermore support such a protection of rights globally.
Anish