L4ND on the Brown Report
In response to the launch of the proposals of Gordon Brown’s constitutional review, Laura Parker, Labour for a New Democracy’s Political Director, said:
“Brown’s proposals are a welcome recognition that our political system isn't working and that democracy must be at the heart of Labour’s plan to modernise Britain.
“Public trust in politicians is at an all-time low. But reforms will only succeed in restoring trust in politics if everybody knows their vote counts - and that means introducing Proportional Representation for general elections.
“Polling shows a majority of people want reform of the voting system, even more than they want reform of the Lords. People up and down the country have had enough of governments which don’t represent them and clearly don’t work for them. It’s time Westminster caught up.”
The party will now consult on Brown's proposals as part of a comprehensive review of policies in preparation for the next general election. Speaking in Edinburgh during the launch, Gordon Brown confirmed that "PR was not in the scope of the Commission... that will be left to the Labour manifesto".
Labour is once again the party of democratic reform - that must include PR
Writing on Labour List, L4ND activists David Ward and Caroline Osborne welcome Labour’s return to its rightful place as ‘the party of democracy’, but argue that any constitutional reform agenda will been fatally flawed if it does not address the outdated and undemocratic way in which the House of Commons is elected.
Why PR is essential if reform is to deliver a more democratic, equal and united UK
Shortly before the historic and overwhelming vote in favour of Proportional Representation by this year’s Labour Party conference, L4ND published a report setting out in detail why democratic reform without PR is incomplete.
Drawing on academic evidence an international comparisons, Everything but the Commons shows that Lords Reform, an elected senate and further devolution will fail to create a more democratic, equal and united UK if they are not accompanied by electoral reform.