Jon Bright (London, OK): A lot is being written about devolving power, local democracy, and citizen's referendums. As blogged in these pages, Islington council recently balloted its residents on a "green parking" scheme, linking the cost of on-street parking to the fuel efficiency of cars. On Tuesday they announced the results: 56% voting yes in a 28.8% turnout (36,000 out of 127,500).
It wouldn't have been politics without some controversy. Emily Thornberry (MP for the area) publicly ripped up her ballot in protest against the fact that the scheme would not apply to council estates. Michael Macpherson of I & R ~ GB criticised the fact that the referendum was initiated by the council rather than by citizens themselves. But Peter Facey of Unlock Democracy welcomed the result, saying it would "hopefully encourage other councils to try similar experiments".
Councillor James Kempton, Leader of Islington Council, called the result "groundbreaking", saying: "We're the first council to ask people if they're up for meeting the challenge of climate change - the answer is yes. It shows that people are ready to make big changes to their lifestyle to tackle climate change". That's one opinion. For me it shows that only a little over 16% of the residents of Islington were "up" for anything at all. And this, while it appeared to be a tax on costly 'gas guzzlers' turns out in fact to be a small subsidy for those able to afford a Toyota Prius (at least £17,000 to you and me). Hardly a "big change".
Furthermore, it's an example of how a council with a populist agenda can score easy points by bashing a minority group (in this case owners of "Chelsea Tractors"). If and when more powers are devolved to local councils, how long before referendums on banning hooded tops, enforcing English lessons for immigrants or curfewing drug users start to crop up? (If you think that's being ridiculous, reflect on how many BNP candidates stand at each local election). Power to the people, fine, but don't forget that lots of populist, low turnout referendums could have an ugly side.
