[Campaignforrealdemocracy] Fwd: Summary of Saturdays PA

Wed Aug 18 04:51:28 UTC 2010

      *Democracy Village People's Assembly, Victoria Tower Gardens. 14/08/10
*
**
We were notified of an approaching Guardian article to be written about the
Democracy Village encampment on the pavement which is due to be published in
a couple of weeks.
We were notified of Commissioner Martin Low of transportation at Westminster
Council's visit to Parliament Square last week where he said that the tents
and two display boxes on the pavement constitute an obstruction of the
highway and that on Monday (16/08/10) at 12 Noon, the council are coming to
move the boxes (visible here:
http://peacestrike.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/28042010008.jpg) Maria
declared her determination that the boxes would not be moved and also stated
that the tents on the pavement would be moved into a straight line to remove
any obstruction and any premise for council action before Monday's arrival
of the council.
The need for banner painting for the outside of the fence was discussed as
well as a need for donations for materials for those living on the
pavement,.
We then discussed the philosophy of the Democracy Village and People's
Assembly.  It was mentioned that some had found the DV style of meetings a
little disappointing due to interruptions and the need to keep the DV
focused solely on the anti war message rather than opening it up to other
voices and that DV could have been more successful if it had been more
inclusive
A discussion took place regarding the question of what people's assemblies
achieve.  It was pointed out that there has been a lot of discussion online
recently on this point including the recent DV recipe for a PA (which is due
to be published shortly).  The recent World To Win description of PA's
(readable here:
http://groups.google.com/group/democracyvillage/browse_thread/thread/8bc11b37f11b3718
)
was mentioned as being a good explanation of what a PA can achieve.
It was suggested that PA's are about people becoming autonomous in groups
and building a society without the state.  It was also stated that
resistance is easy (knowing what you don't want), but knowing what you do
want is more challenging and that PA's can achieve results in terms of
mobilising action.  Other suggestions were that PA's were about positive
community action.  The point was made that PA's had been encouraged at
Copenhagen as a way of addressing the issues of climate change and
environmental damage on a local grass roots level.  The concept of an
international network of PA's was mentioned.
The idea of Transition Towns was mentioned.  It was suggested that PA's
could serve a community in many ways including the facilitation of local
food growing and permaculture.
The idea that PA's constituted the basis of a People's Parliament which
could be used to create motions all across the country was mentioned.  It
was suggested that the motions of the PA's could be conveyed to the
government to show the people's demands if the government was not
representing the views of the people.  PA's represent the people in away the
government cant.
A proposal from Monday's LARC meeting was brought up concerning topic
discussions for each week and the possibility of having a new speaker each
week.
We were notified of Monday's planning meeting at a pub in King's Cross.
The purpose of this meeting is for the planning of an event to take place
in November to promote local PA's.  Various actions are taking place through
September, October and
November including demonstrations at the Lib Dem and Conservative Party
Conferences.
On 20th October Parliament is due to announce it's spending review which is
the finalisation
of the cuts plan.
It was stated that various groups including anarchists and socialists were
now more prepared to work each other during this period in harmony.
Apparently there is a recognition, that the old style of rallies by the
bigger groups such as Stop The War coalition, simply would not achieve the
results that are needed in order to challenge the cuts in public spending
that will be taking place.  The proposed event may take place after the bulk
of the mainstream opposition events to the cuts and the war.  For more info,
please contact Mark Barrett or Camilla (emails available on the Google
Group).
We discussed the proposed Democracy Rally.  We agreed the event would take
place on Saturday 9th October.  It was mentioned that the GLA requires
public liability insurance in order to grant permission for the use of
Trafalgar Square as a venue for rallies, as well as requiring the presence
of stewards (who can be volunteers).  A request for a quotation on public
liability insurance has been made to the same company who provides the PLI
certificate to CND for their rallies.  It was agreed that we would wait
until the details of this quotation return (which is likely to be a
considerable sum).  It was also agreed that a letter would be written to the
GLA requesting the use of Trafalgar Square without the requirement for PLI
as this is regarded prohibitive to our common right to assemble in a public
setting.
It was proposed that we would seek the support of groups who specifically
support the freedom to assemble such as 'Freedom of Assembly' and CAMPACC.
There was a discussion as to the content and style of the event.  It was
suggested that the event could take the form of a view on democracy with
groups that had a specific interest in democracy taking part such as
electoral reform, groups wanting referendums or how we can build our
culture.
The idea to involve the use of blank banners was discussed and supported.
It was also suggested as an alternative that the Democracy Rally could be a
platform upon which many speakers from many groups campaigning on a wide
variety of issues could take the stand E.G: Workers solidarity, pro-peace,
monetary reform, anti arms trade, climate justice and many more, thereby
drawing in people from all walks of life, but ensuring that radical ideas
such as people's assemblies got good air time.
It was mentioned that any sound systems could be positioned above the stairs
on Trafalgar Square as no bye laws apply to the stair area.  It was
suggested that constitutional issues also be discussed as part of the
event.  It was proposed that the National Union of Students be contacted and
invited to join in the event as well as the British Constitution and Lawful
Rebellion Groups.
The issues regarding SOCPA authorisation and the GLA were discussed inb
relation to demos held on Parliament Square.  It was claimed that SOCPA
authorisation means that you no longer have to seek public liability
insurance from the GLA as this overrides any authorisation procedures and
prevents police interference.
It was suggested that we engage in a networking boost to publicise
Saturday's people's assembly and also the other proposed events.
It was agreed that if any SOCPA authorisation is sought in future by any
member of the group, it would not be in the name of Democracy Village or on
behalf of the DVPA but a personal application by the individual who
requested the application unless agreed to by the group.
We agreed that this Saturday we would have a banner at the PA to inform
passers by of the event and welcome them to come and observe/take part.
It was suggested that the LARC meetings on Mondays could be used to paint
banners for Saturday events.
We then decided on a list of possible subjects for future PAs. These were:

Renewable energy,
Effective political activism and how we can achieve it.
Action. Non compliant, any action
Changing the balance of power in the UK & placing Town Halls as a place to
carry this out
Time to find wasteland for more eco-villages
Unconditional love
More eco-villages
Meditation
Democracy Rally
What does Non Violence mean?

We decided that this Saturday we would dedicate a portion of the People's
Assembly to discussing the Democracy Rally.
We agreed that everyone would be automatically subscribed to the Google
Groups Democracy Village account.

I am sure I have missed stuff out, but I hope that this is the bulk of the
topics discussed.
I will keep you all updated as to any progress with the Public Liability
Insurance issue

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-- 
"We hear men speaking for us of new laws strong and sweet /Yet is there no
man speaketh as we speak in the street.”

-- 
"We hear men speaking for us of new laws strong and sweet /Yet is there no
man speaketh as we speak in the street.”

-- 
"We hear men speaking for us of new laws strong and sweet /Yet is there no
man speaketh as we speak in the street.”
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