Direct Democracy (from their latest report): Localism was the common theme that ran through David Cameron's closing speech and indeed through much of the party conference itself. From local government and policing to schools and the health service, Mr Cameron's emphasis was on public services accountable to the people who use them rather than to the Whitehall departments responsible for them. As Mr Cameron quite rightly pointed out: "As in our private lives and our work lives we get more and more control and more power to do what we want. When we look at our democracy, we are still stuck in the dark ages. When it comes to politics we just have to take what we are given and put up with it."
Nick Herbert, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, outlined the Conservative's localist approach to democracy and constitutional change and how, under Labour, people have been shut out of decision-making, even over issues which are most local or personal to them such as the future of their local hospital, local schools and how their neighbourhood is policed. He made a specific pledge to replace the damaging Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights, a move that we strongly advocated in our Localist Paper: Open Politics. We would also urge Mr Herbert to consider enshrining the primacy of British law within that Bill of Rights. He also hinted at the prospect of the Conservatives adopting what David Cameron later described as an "elegant solution to the West Lothian question". Submitted by Sir Malcolm Rifkind to Ken Clarke's Democracy Task Force, an English Grand Committee would be established comprising solely English MPs who could vote on England-only issues with an unwritten assumption that the House of Commons would not overrule its decisions. We await with interest further details of these proposals.
Ken Clarke further expounded on the work of the Democracy task force in a rousing speech to the Conference and laid out his views on how to rebuild trust in British politics.
