Liberal Democrats call for better governance

12.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 19th Sep 2007

Conference this afternoon debated the Better Governance Policy Paper - For the People, By the People. Conference agreed that there is a serious crisis in British democracy, marked by low - and declining - turnout in elections, widespread disillusionment with politics and politicians, a sense among the electorate of powerlessness to achieve change and public alienation from the political process, particularly among the young and ethnic minorities. Conference welcomed the Green Paper from the Government, The Governance of Britain. Conference noted that major changes both to the structure and personnel of government took place in June 2007 with no recourse whatsoever either to Parliament or to the people.

Conference also agreed that the UK now requires a comprehensive new constitutional settlement, embodied in a written constitution, whose ownership will be with the people, which enshrines and entrenches the fundamental principles and values of democracy and freedom, and in which the power of the state is clearly defined and limited. Conference agreed that the present electoral system for general elections cheats voters and is in urgent need of reform, as it enables a minority of votes to secure a large overall majority in Parliament, renders ineffective the votes of millions of electors in 'safe' constituencies and fails both to provide a mandate for strong government and genuine representation of the range of political views in the UK.

Conference endorsed the comprehensive package of radical measures to resolve the crisis in British politics outlined in the policy paper - For the People, By the People, and specifically welcomed the following policies:

1. Establishing a constitutional convention, involving members of the public along with parliamentarians, of all parties and none, to draw up a written constitution, embodying a fresh and comprehensive constitutional settlement for the UK.

2. Entrenching in the written constitution a Bill of Rights, which will guarantee for the people of the UK their fundamental rights and freedoms and which will enable courts to rule that legislation that is incompatible with this is unconstitutional and therefore invalid.

3. A referendum in the first year of a Liberal Democrat government seeking endorsement for the principle of a written constitution and the establishment of the Constitutional Convention to produce this, as well as a referendum at the end of the process to approve the new constitutional settlement.

4. Urgent legislation to establish the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system for elections to the House of Commons in the first year of a Liberal Democrat Government.

5. Lowering the voting age to 16 and introducing fixed parliamentary terms of four years.

6. Greater use of participatory methods of consultation e.g. citizens' juries (which could examine particular areas of public policy) and citizens' initiatives (which would be able to insist that parliament examines particular issues when a petition for it has secured the support of more than 2% of the registered electorate).

7. Ensuring decisions are taken as close as possible to the people they affect, with removal of powers from Westminster and quangos to accountable, decentralised government across the UK.

8. Replacing the House of Lords with a wholly-elected Senate, with all members elected by STV in thirds every four years, for a single non-renewable term of twelve years.

9. Placing clear limits on political donations and on spending by political parties outside elections, introducing limited public financing of political parties to encourage local campaigning and making contributions by trade union members subject to a clear and transparent process linking the intention of the member to the destination of the donation.

10. Insisting that a new government, following a general election, only takes office when the House of Commons approves its programme.

11. Giving select committees greater involvement in the delineation of departmental responsibilities and priorities, with cross-examination of new Secretaries of State by departmental select committees before they take office.

12. Vesting in Parliament powers currently exercised by the government under the Royal Prerogative, such as the power to make war.

13. Ensuring genuine transparent and open government by removing unnecessary exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act and resisting further exemptions.

14. Strengthening the protection of individuals against the misuse of personal information held about them by government.