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SubscriptionsCategory: Democracy
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Government Claims it ‘Takes Seriously Its Constitutional Role and Responsibility’ – As Another Report Raises Concerns About Britain’s Democracy
The United Kingdom Constitution Monitoring Group believes there is evidence of a desire by some politicians to wholly bypass democracy
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‘Sunak’s Government is Using a Moment of Crisis to Clamp Down on Dissent. We Can’t Let it Stand’
The Conservatives’ rhetoric and actions against the right to protest concern us all, writes Liberty’s interim director Akiko Hart.
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The Empathy Gap and a Politics of Extremes
Empathy – to be of any meaning – needs to be bolstered by a willingness to accept one’s failures, writes Iain Overton
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Time to Tackle ‘Dark Money’ in Politics – As Voters Demand Transparency Over Britain’s Opaque Think Tanks
We know very little about the funding for many of the UK’s leading think tanks – but a new report sheds some light
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What Can the UK Teach the World About AI Safety?
For all the PR of the AI Safety Summit, what is the UK Government actually doing to safeguard its citizens from the dangers of AI, data misuse and prejudicial algorithms?
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Conservative Think Tank Urges Sunak to Sabotage Labour Plans for Electoral and Political Reform
The opaquely-funded group has close links to the Prime Minister
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‘Letting Young Adults Vote is One of Labour’s Few Genuinely Radical Proposals’
The extension of the franchise could shift the character of British politics, writes Nicholas Reed Langen
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Reversing the Road to Unfreedom: The Polish Elections are Finally Some Good News for Democracy
Those in America looking for a way out of the toxic Trumpian cycle should look to Poland as a starting point
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Transparency Seems to Die a Death at the Government’s AI Summit
Why won’t the Government tell the public who’s attending – and who’s being left out in the cold?
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‘Farcical’: Disbelief as Disgraced Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is Appointed as ‘Democracy Union’ Adviser
Johnson was found to have unlawfully suspended Parliament and lied to MPs.
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‘Scrap Voter ID to Save Cash’, Democracy Group Tells Jeremy Hunt Ahead of Autumn Statement
Mandatory voter ID rules are expected to cost the taxpayer £120m over the next decade.
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Keir Starmer ‘Waters Down’ Labour Commitment to Overhauling Unelected House of Lords
Only last December, Sir Keir backed plans for a “new second chamber” which would have “electoral legitimacy”.
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How Campaigners and Charities are being ‘Gagged by Government’ as Report Issues Stark Warning
From the Lobbying Act to condemnation of peaceful campaigners by Government figures, free speech has been thoroughly degraded, the authors argue
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‘Children of Men’ – 17 Years On: A Grave Warning to a Nation Adrift
The 2006 film set in a dystopian London of the future has much to say about modern Britain – especially the ‘doom loop’ trapping younger generations, writes Matt Gallagher
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Over 180 Rights Groups and Tech Experts Call for UK and Worldwide Halt to Facial Recognition Surveillance
The EU is implementing a blanket ban on facial recognition surveillance by police – but the UK is ploughing ahead despite privacy fears
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Voter ID, Big Party Bungs, and Payouts to Shamed MPs Would Be Scrapped Under Lib Dem Plans
The Liberal Democrats have set out proposals for overhauling UK democracy, our Chief Reporter writes from Bournemouth.
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‘Government Stonewalling on Transparency on Foreign Influence Undermines its Tough Rhetoric on Chinese Spying’
An approach to foreign influence that relies on identifying particular state threats risks shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, writes Tom Griffin
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Government Rejects Call For Voters To Boot Out No-Show MPs Like Nadine Dorries
Nadine Dorries has prompted a debate over whether MPs should be forced to attend Parliament – rather than attend their lucrative TV gigs.
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Voter ID Made it Harder for Young, Poor and Ethnic Minorities to Vote, Official Study Finds
The study suggests that those groups less likely to vote Conservative were more likely to be turned away
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Westminster’s Two-Party ‘Duopoly’ Leaves Voters with ‘Little Choice’ and Lacking ‘Meaningful Voice’, Study Finds
Political distrust has often “been the first step in a sequence of autocratisation, resulting in the breakdown of democracy itself” the report notes.
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Press Watchdog Writes to Conservatives and Party Chairs Over ‘Misleading’ Fake Newspapers
The party is “misleading voters into believing what they are reading is the work of local journalists from independent publications”
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‘Rather than Blaming Capitalism, the Right Blames the Immigrant’
The significant gains made by the right across Europe in recent years haven’t appeared out of the blue, writes Simon Speakman Cordall
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‘Britain and the US: How the Oligarchies Posing as Democracies have Been Exposed’
Something even worse than government run by politicians is government run by politics, writes AC Grayling
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‘If Our Government Turns on its Own People, We Will Need the ECHR to Protect Us’
The European Court of Human Rights is there to safeguard us against our own worst impulses – calls to leave its jurisdiction are deeply troubling, writes Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘The Modern Conservative Party Holds the ‘Will of the People’ in Contempt’
In Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives, the ethos of public service is being replaced by self-service
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Rishi Sunak’s Many Failures to Fully Declare his Conflicts of Interests
The claim that the PM’s failure to declare his wife’s investment in a childcare company subsidised by his Government was ‘inadvertent’ is open to question
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Gambling Firms Hit With Huge Increase in Fines as Industry Splashes out on MPs
Gambling companies received 31,500% more in fines than in the same period a decade ago, Byline Times’ analysis reveals
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Revealed: The Scandal of the Fake Newspapers Pushed by Conservatives in ‘Dirty Tricks’ Campaign
The elections watchdog has said the fake newspapers from local Conservative parties appear to be within the rules
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‘Code of Conduct’ Review: A Brave and Important Work – With a Few Omissions
The proposals set out by Labour MP Chris Bryant to clean-up Parliament should be adopted by his party’s leader for its next manifesto, writes Peter Oborne
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The UK and US’ Turbulent Times: A Race to the Bottom
Former British diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall, who now lives in the US, explores which country has been on the bigger self-destruct mission
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The Great Unwatched: Who’s Tuning into the Lords? Not Many, According to Viewing Figures
Even the key showdown over the Illegal Migration Bill in the chamber had just 6,000 views
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‘Who or What to Blame? Education, Education, Education’
Too many voters are insufficiently informed and reflective to vote other than tribally or self-interestedly in exploitable ways due to failings in how we conceive of ‘education’, writes AC Grayling
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‘We Must Defend Our Democratic Space Before It’s Too Late’
Caroline Slocock – director of think tank Civil Exchange – explores how politicians’ respect for our democratic institutions has shifted since she was the first female private secretary at No. 10 under Margaret Thatcher
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As a Diminished Wagner Regroups, the Greater Threat to the West from Prigozhin’s Troll Farms Remains Unscathed
Putin is quite likely to silence Prigozhin, but he’s equally likely to let him retain control of the notorious St Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency which specialises in influencing foreign elections, writes Brian Latham
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Johnson’s Mystery Peers: The Questions Charlotte Owen and Ross Kempsell Should Answer Over their New Peerages
What do you do to get a seat in the Lords?
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The Conservatives Skirted Close to the Limits of Electoral Law to Keep Uxbridge and South Ruislip Tory
Why was the governing party so shy in Uxbridge?
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Labour Recognises Westminster’s Voting System is Driving ‘Distrust’, in Potential Pivotal Moment for Proportional Representation Fight
“The Labour Party has made it clear: First Past the Post is flawed and deeply damaging to our democracy,” one campaigner said.
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‘Labour Must Be Bold on Political Reform Beyond It’s Own Self-Interest if we are to have a Properly Functioning Democracy’
A big problem facing UK politics is that both main political parties see the status quo as in their narrow self-interest, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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Westminster’s Winner-Takes-All Voting System Skewed Britain Towards a Hard Brexit, Report Suggests
The Democratic Unionist Party had an outsized voice in Westminster during Britain’s Brexit negotiations.
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Can we Trust Angela Rayner’s Promise to Clean ‘Bad Chaps’ Out of Government?
Labour’s Deputy Leader made a welcome pledge to end the ‘good chaps’ approach to Government, which allowed sleaze and corruption to persist under the Conservatives.
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‘While “the Government” is a Thing Political Parties Fight to Own and Control, Real Government Will Remain a Dream’
Governments are run by political parties and for political interests – but they shouldn’t be, argues philosopher AC Grayling
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‘A Deeply Concerning Precedent in a Democratic Society’: Council of Europe Shares Criticism Over Charging Journalists to Cover Party Conference
The move from the governing party has sparked concerns over press freedom
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Labour and ‘The Purge’: Leadership’s Direction Sparks Revolt Among MPs and Activists
Concerns are increasing that Labour Leader Keir Starmer risks creating a stifling monoculture in the party
