Date: 3 November 2014, 18:00 20:30 Venue: The Boardroom, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, W1B 2HW, London
Involve is exploring ways that we can help to create a national conversation about what democratic reform means for ordinary citizens. And we want this to influence any decisions that are made about our shared futures by those in the Westminster Village.
The aftermath of the Scottish independence referendum has left us asking what our future democracy looks like and how it could work. Many now agree that the status quo cant continue. Politicians are suggesting commissions or constitutional conventions but is this just an attempt to take control back after a massive upsurge in political engagement in Scotland?
Scotland taught us that the public want to get involved, will debate the issues and are more than capable of making decisions. People arent disconnected, just dislocated from a system to which they find hard to relate. The current situation calls for more, not less public involvement.
This event is the beginning of a national conversation. We will make the case for why a national conversation matters and why and how it can work. Well then turn the agenda over to you. Were not saying its going to be easy and we know we cant do it alone, but we want to make a start by drawing on the experience and energy in the room to ask where to next? Were also realistic about what has to happen first: this isnt the time to talk about the detail or content of any conversation, its the first step in co-creating what the process might look like.