Planning, Nukes, Democracy
I&R ~ GB
"The new planning process is already controversial and will become more
so once it swings into full operation next year. Decisions will be taken
quickly and once made cannot be overturned by ministers (a point the
Conservatives intend to change). There are promises of consultation, but
no right of veto for local people on big projects."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/10/ed-miliband-nuclear-energy-policy
I&R ~ GB replies:
Not only is there NO right of veto for local people, there is no right
of veto for the electorate. The British people have no democratic means
to block a bad law or government policy.
We give away our vote to a party and candidate once every five years and
after that we have nothing to say about what the government does. Sure,
after five or so years we can "throw the blighters out" but it is
likely that in many policy areas the new lot will follow very similar
lines.
If We The People took for ourselves the right to referendum, then we
could veto unwanted policy about specific public issues. This type of
partial direct democracy has operated for many years in Italy,
Switzerland and more recently in all Lands of Germany. A reasonably
large number of voter-endorsements must be collected in order to trigger
this procedure.
Generations to come will be affected by a decision to massively build
nuclear power stations. The public must be informed about previous
nuclear disasters at Calder Hall, Harrisburg, Chernobyl and elsewhere,
and about the technical and environmental problems which for new
installations remain unsolved. It should be possible to call a
referendum on this and for instance, on new laws which give greater
powers to central government.
More about citizen-led democracy may be found via
http://www.iniref.org/carta.htm
http://www.iniref.org/index.enter.html