British Statement of Values

Alexandra Runswick (Unlock Democracy): The USA has life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. France has liberty, equality and fraternity. What is the equivalent British set of values? Does it matter if we don’t know? Is it somehow un-British to even ask? These were just some of the issues raised in the RSA  and Heritage Lottery Fund lecture Britishness – a values based approach is not enough.

The proposed Statement of British Values has been one of the more hotly debated aspects of the Governance of Britain agenda. While there is growing consensus about the need for a Bill of Rights, response to the BSV project as it is apparently known, has been lukewarm at best. Much of the debate has focused on the government’s decision to use a deliberative process, a Citizens' Summit, rather than what values might make it into the statement.

Alexandra Runswick (Unlock Democracy): I have been more than a little sceptical about the government’s plans for a citizen’s summit on the proposed British Statement of Values. I was worried it might be like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where Arthur Dent discovers that the plans for the demolition of his house had been on display for nine months; it’s just that they were on display in a cellar without any lights, at the bottom of a locked filing cabinet, stuck in a disused lavatory, with a sign on the door saying “Beware of the Leopard." So yes, you can be engaged in the policy making process just as long as you are and-picked by a polling company, the government then determines the subject matter, how long the conversation will last and whether the conversation will be followed up by any action. 

Guy Aitchison (London, OK): There's an interesting article by Unity on the Bill of Rights debate over at Liberal Conspiracy. He argues that since all three main parties are now promising a Bill of Rights they should be clear about what it is they are proposing in their next manifestoes so voters aren't forced to sign a "blank cheque." I think this is an important point though I would add that the parties should also be clear about the process they are proposing to arrive at such a Bill. I responded to Unity's article in the comments with a few thoughts on the Government's current thinking based on my time at the Compass conference last week. I wasn't going to blog this since it's similar to other stuff I've written about the Governance agenda recently, but seeing as people are now talking about it here's a tidied up version of the comment I left which may be helpful to people:

At the Compass conference last week I attended an Unlock Democracy seminar on a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities at which Michael Wills, Minister for Constitutional Renewal, was speaking (along with Francesca Klug and Trevor Phillips). I asked the minister whether including "responsibilities" in the Bill wasn't really about "disciplining" the population (It was only half tongue in cheek when I suggested a model here might be the USSR Constitution, Articles 60 through 69 of which defined the Soviet citizen's duty to work and observe labor discipline; to protect socialist property and oppose corruption and to be "uncompromising against anti-social behaviour"). He assured me that it wasn't about this at all and that rights would not be "contingent" on the performance of duties. He implied it was partly a tactical move to keep the Right on board by emphasising that the enjoyment of rights does not absolve one of social responsibilities.

Alexandra Runswick (London, Unlock Democracy): On the edge of your seat waiting for the latest exciting instalment on how the British Statement of Values and Citizens Summit is actually going to work? No? Just as well really, as the NCVO sponsored meeting last week with Michael Wills was certainly detail-lite.

Anthony Barnett has rebuked me for not sharing the scintillating insights and fascinating public policy lessons learned from the meeting but to be brutal; there were none. All I can report is that motherhood and apple pie AKA participation and engagement are generally considered to be good things. Michael Wills, as ever, was passionate about the agenda and committed to making the Citizens Summit a meaningful deliberative exercise. I have no doubt that he personally wants the British Statement of Values to be a radical citizen engagement exercise. However I don't see how it can be when so little policy detail is available at this late stage.

Felix Cohen (London, oD): Change is afoot, both here and across the Pond. Except more literally here. The Royal Mint has announced the introduction of new coins designed by Welsh designer Matthew Dent (more on his Welshness shortly).

Jake Beavan over at Unlock Democracy tries blowing into the fog to see more clearly what on earth the government is planning.

Guy Aitchison (London, OK): Yesterday evening Michael Wills gave the annual Constitution Unit lecture to a packed out room in UCL's School of Public Policy. Its title was "Kick-Starting a National Debate on a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities" but Wills took the opportunity to speak more broadly on the whole Governance of Britain agenda. The Government, he said, recognises that debate on a British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities "can only make sense in the context of the wider debate about power in our society." And so a BBRR will form part of the ongoing "struggle" to distribute power so it "flows freely" and does not become concentrated and used arbitrarily.

This is a further report from the Popular Participation in Constitutional Reform (PPCR) 'webinar', which openDemocracy participated in, along with Lexis Nexis, Mischon de Reya and Unlock Democracy. You can watch the webinar in full here.

Anthony Barnett & Jon Bright (London, OK): Yesterday openDemocracy participated in the seminar on popular participation which Alexandra Runswick plugged on our pages the day before. It was serious, wide ranging and achieved its first aim of bringing international experience of popular democratic processes into a discussion with representatives from the Ministry of Justice working on the projected Citizens Summit.