Your blogs: Charitable representatives in the Lords

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Your blogs: Charitable representatives in the Lords

16.10.2009 // by Guy Aitchison

Andii: The 'Taking Power' consultation didn't offer radical-enough alternatives. We were asked whether we prefer appointment, election or a combo of some kind. Of course I felt this too restrictive. If we were to have a more proportional system for the Commons, which I'd hope for, then we should perhaps recognise that a different kind of system for the scrutineering chamber could be helpful and still somewhat democratic but with a different kind of constituency. I suggest that part of the democratic crisis we face is about the way that single-issue politics is more intuitively meaningful to many people and the problems with 'broad church' parties is that the favoured single-issues or perspectives can be compromised out or never reach the top of the pile for consideration. My favoured option /solution to this democratic deficit would recognise that single-issue politics is quite important to many people and that engaging the voluntary sector could be very healthy. So I propose that any organisation with charitable status and more than, say 20,000 members, should be able to elect and send to the ‘Lord's' one representative for every multiple of the threshold. That way we get expert advice and advocacy in the scrutiny process from Help the Aged, Churches, Greenpeace, etc etc on a basis that empowers and encourages the voluntary sector and allows their hands-on expertise to be part of the process of legislation. Not sure if that's election or appointment; a bit of both really.

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