2 July 2019
Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, will tonight join representatives from many other parties and civil society groups at Westminster to sign the party up to the Good Systems Agreement (1) prepared by Make Votes Matter.
Jonathan will say:
“In 1867, the Representation of the People Act saw a massive expansion of the male franchise. That came about after an unusual parliamentary event: opposition amendments to a Tory government bill were not resisted. This was a cross-party effort that led to a shifting of the tectonic plates under British politics.
“People in the future might well look back to this event and see in it the seeds of the same scale of transformation, with a similar approach.”
He added:
“It is very tempting to blame individuals for the disastrous state of Britain today, the Brexit chaos, the poverty and inequality, the insecurity and mental health crisis, the dreadful state of our natural world and the climate chaos. But it is clear that the failure is systemic.
“That the people are desperate to “take back control” of their communities, their lives, their futures, is no surprise at all. Our antique, undemocratic system has shut so many out of politics for so long.”
Note:
(1)https://www.makevotesmatter.org.uk/good-systems-agreement