A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute

Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only.
www.brucenixon.com
“It does not help when your job description says you have to oppose, be decisive, you cannot say things are
complex or difficult – a sign of weakness, you have to have a position and the press try to push you into a
position.”
The anachronistic rituals, procedures and layout of the Commons chamber are dysfunctional and do not
inspire confidence. The monarchy, representing a long gone age of deference and empire, although
conscientious and loved, is part of the problem. The honours system appreciates many deserving people, but
is an anachronism, corrupted by party patronage and virtually automatic honours. Benjamin Zephaniah
showed integrity in refusing the Order of the British Empire. He did not want to be associated with that
Empire.
Undermining our hard fought for liberties. The right to peaceful protest, freedom to campaign and
demonstrate, essential for democracy, has been eroded. Last year, treatment by the police of some 5,000
G20 demonstrators, the majority peaceful, raised questions about police intimidation and violence – hitting
people who were sitting down, driving people into police cordons, known as “kettling”, holding them for
several hours, taking photographs of protestors. In July, at this year’s G20 protest newsvendor Ian Tomlinson
was hit from behind and died. Obviously harmless demonstrations within a kilometre of Parliament are
banned without prior permission and face arrest. The extent of surveillance and government data collection
causes increasing concern. The Conservative-Lib Dem government will scrap the ID cards scheme and the
National Identity Register.
Equally disturbing is the growth in what are known as “private – public” areas, in private ownership and
management. They may be a threat to democracy. Anna Minton, author of “The Privatisation of Public
Space” 2006 report for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, warns the UK is "sleepwalking into a
privatisation of the public realm". She says,
“a new genuinely inclusive approach to public space and community is needed”
Privatisation of public space is becoming an integral feature of city regeneration. In Liverpool, streets have
been privatised as part of the Duke of Westminster's Grosvenor Estates Paradise Street redevelopment.
Rights of way are replaced by public realm arrangements policed by US-style sheriffs. Some see these
developments as threats to local cultural activities. Liberty called Paradise Street "disturbing," voicing
concerns about private police forces deciding who can come and go.
Human Rights and Civil Liberties Winston Churchill held human rights and civil liberties as sacred.
Immediately after the Second World War, he restored them and initiated the European Convention of
Human Rights that led to the United Nations Declaration of the Convention of Human Rights proclaimed in
1948. After the war, Labour wanted to continue ID cards, but there was considerable public opposition. The
issue was brought to a head by the efforts of a small rebellious group, the civil disobedience of a small group
of women and Clarence Harry Wilcock’s brave stance. Wilcock’s defiance led to his conviction and the High
Court comment that a measure now not justified was turning “law abiding subjects into law breakers”. The
newly elected Tory government abolished ID cards in 1951.
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