open Democracy News Analysis - What will Gordon Brown do now?, Anthony Barnett - Comments

skorda@hol.gr on "What will Gordon Brown do now?"

skorda@hol.gr — Tue, 29 May 2007 13:44:15 +0100

We (the world) should count ourselves lucky that the American constitution is already written. I sometimes wonder what it would contain if it were to be penned today through a "democratic process" (with an electorate that voted for Bush twice).

douglas-jones on "What will Gordon Brown do now?"

douglas-jones — Fri, 18 May 2007 01:03:04 +0100

I wonder why no mention of the media, the arm of democracy that so deceived those who do not read more widely? Would our little men have gained their following without the aid of the media? How was fear so not only pervasive but so rapid in its spread? Was it because we still in lazy fashion believe Governments? After all Friel and Falk in analysing the role of a paper the New York Times, found it to be unquestioning in its repeating of the Government spin.

How do these people seeking a meaning for life at the expense of others come to power?

We have in Osama and the New Religious Right in America and of course the worship of consumption as meaning.

Is such charismatic emotionalism sufficient to drive out any thought of law?

Thus these creatures who have variously trashed killed or otherwise harmed proclaiming their God driven endeavours, go free? These spoilers of the latest attempt at controlling war are to be praised?

dave.feickert on "What will Gordon Brown do now?"

dave.feickert — Thu, 17 May 2007 20:21:36 +0100

a fair analysis of some of the constitutional issues facing Gordon Brown - he is hinting at re-assessing the crown prerogative. Getting rid of it altogether would bring a semblance of democracy to the UK parliament for a start. However, no previous PM has wanted to give up such power. It seems that GB could only contemplate doing so if he turned out to be the kind of democrat his father probably wanted him to be. This we don't yet know. In any event this is not the most immediate problem facing the incoming PM. In my view there are two quite different ones. First, how to shrug off British imperial thinking (so deep within Tony Blair's Fettes education it seems) - it was only some years after living in the english part of this country that I realised that all my friends had been taught a different version of British imperial history than I had in one of the former colonies. We were taught a slightly irreverent variety, otherwise not dissimilar. The Scots we learned were very active imperialists, as soldiers, engineers and explorers as well as administrators and land owners. What variety is inside the new PM's head? Will GB shrug off the blair variety, especially as he emphasises Britishness the more votes the SNP wins. He has made a good start with his concern for the developing world and dropping the debt, aslong as it is not a new version of 'the white man's burden'. Wedon't know that yet but British historians would do him a favour by re-interpreting British imperial history in describing as close to the truth as they can get what actually happened when the Brits ruled Iraq, Palestine (and the rest of the countries they dominated in that region) and what happened in Afghanistan. By the way what did the Brtish do in china. What role in the Opium Wars, in repressing the Taiping rebellion. Why do the Chinese refer to Brits as 'the red barbarians'? How can this inheritance be overcome - not by staying in Iraq, it would seem. The second aspect is quite different, but it relates to more recent history. As globalisation changes the natureof work (especially technology and the export of manufacturing to developing countries) - a theme close to GB's heart, what does this mean for working folk here. The Chancellor seems to have become as 'worker blind' as his neighbour at no 10. Yes, he knows and occasionally meets some trade union leaders. Surely there were social democrat workers in his area as he was growing up who advised the young man. Surely he must have some younger working class friends or acquaintances who can give him some guidance. I suggest he goes out of his way to spend some time each month with working people, challenging them to say what they want to see happening in the world of work. How they and their children are experiencing the flexible labour markets of which he is so proud. Leave the Guildhall behind, leave the CBI dinners alone for a while and talk to ordinary folk - not about family credit but about the workplace.

maurice.carder on "What will Gordon Brown do now?"

maurice.carder — Sat, 12 May 2007 13:04:05 +0100

In a recent survey of EU countries I discovered that the UK is one of the only ones where there are severe restrictions on postal voting for those living in an EU country other than their own. The Labour government reduced the time-frame from 20 years down to 15 years for such people, i.e. 15 years after you have left the UK you no longer have the right to vote in UK elections. This compares badly with almost all the other countries in the EU, where you can vote for the rest of your life for national elections in your own country from another EU country.

The first past the post system can also not be seriously considered as being democratic and representative.

So, two areas to reform.

paul.carline on "What will Gordon Brown do now?"

paul.carline — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:50:59 +0100

Just a few off-the-cuff remarks on Anthony Barnett's excellent article:

- the model we need to use is not the German 'Basic Law', but the new Constitution of Zurich. Despite the express affirmation of popular sovereignty in the German federal constitution, there are still no rights of participation at the national level. Rights of initiative and referendum now exist at the state (Laender)level everywhere, but these had to be fought for (primarily by the 'More Democracy' movement).

The Zurich Constitution (which I'm currently translating) is a wonderful model.

- drafting any constitution must not be left to the political elite (or even constitutional experts alone). There must be a constitutional convention which includes members of the 'general' public with expert knowledge (theoretical and practical).

- the first article of the constitution must state the founding democratic principle of popular sovereignty (as do most of the constitutions of the countries of Europe; the illegitimate claim of Parliament to national sovereignty must be rejected.

- a crucial element of any written constitution must be Freedom of Information provisions with real teeth: it might then be possible to show that the 'war on terror' is based just as much on lies as the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq.

- there needs to be some public control of our security services. The role of our MI6 in the false-flag terrorist outrages in Europe (cf. Daniele Ganser's book on "Operation Gladio") needs to be exposed (it is not in doubt), and questions asked about the posible complicity of our secret services in more recent 'terrorist' attacks.

Paul Carline

What will Gordon Brown do now?, Anthony Barnett

Fri, 11 May 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Tony Blair has left to his successor as Britain’s prime minister a country in urgent need of democratic renewal, says Anthony Barnett. openDemocracy's founder and pioneer of the OurKingdom blog sets out what the constitutional agenda must contain. Read the rest of this post...