[Campaignforrealdemocracy] St Mary

[Mark Barrett]

*(1) Message about the recent GA on Real Democracy Statement        /*
*(2) Call for a Day of Action for a New Model at St Mary's Church *

On Friday 18th November the General Assembly considered state sovereignty,
people's assemblies and how to achieve real democracy and the call of a day
of action and a march to Putney for a new model was very well received.
This excellent debate took place less than week after Professor David
Harvey's address and the day before the 1st National Conventionof the
Occupy Movement in the UK and Ireland. Here is a brief report on both
aspects of the meeting:

*(1) The Statement*

Friday's GA started with an open discussion about the potential of People's
Assemblies before going on to consider in small groups a statement that had
been put forward by a sub-group of the national politics working group. The
statement is set out here: http://occupylsx.org/?p=1197 and is open for
collaboration and comments here: http://titanpad.com/XQg1sPM0zZ

At the end of the debate the majority of the GA said the statement was
heading in generally the right direction, however the consensus was that it
needs to be re-written to take into account the questions and concerns of
the assembly. What was clear however is that everyone agreed Parliamentary
Democracy is not working, and that it was time for a new model of
democracy.

Work on developing the statement further will begin during the week of
21.11 with the hope of having a new draft to present to the GA within the
next 7-10 days. The GA was firmly behind the idea of assemblies being set
up across the country in workplaces, cities, neighbourhoods and educational
establishments in order to challenge the prevailing order but there was
less clarity about the question of a shared political position. If anyone
in the UK and Ireland would like to join the workgroup to take this forward
please email crdlondon at gmail.com

*(2) Call for a Day of Action* *for a New Model*

The General Assembly warmly received (it appeared to be eunanimous support)
the idea of a day of action for a new model featuring a march to St Mary's
Church, Revd Giles Fraser's old church and site of the original Putney
debates*. This idea will be taken forward into the next GA on the subject
of democracy.

* Putney Debates: at the end of the English Civil War (1648/49) St Mary's
Church in Putney was the site of the famous historic debates on the future
of the English constitution taking place between members of the victorious
New Model Army who had vanquished King Charles I ushering in the era of
Parliamentary Sovereignty which exists to this day. At the debates the
Levellers, who has fought alongside Cromwell argued for a democratic
'Agreement of the People' but were excluded from the eventual
constitutional settlement which was made in favour of the aristocrats and
the bourgeousie, a settlementy which came to be reinforced forty years
later with the so-called 'Glorious Revolution' (or Palace Coup) of King
William and Queen Mary Orange and featuring the formation of the Bank of
England. It would therefore be highly symbolic action to march from St
Paul's to St Mary's Church to 'right the wrong' of history and perhaps
begin the process of 'levelling' or ordinary people taking power. It would
also be an incredibly media friendly event due to the obvious historic
resonance but also because of Giles Fraser's links to the church. A series
of Assemblies could be convened there, by the river or perhaps on Putney
Bridge,  to consider perhaps the work of all the political working groups
one by one. This could perhaps take place on the week of action of
Dec10-17 and could then lead to a national day of action in the new
year.  Happy to hear what people think!

On 21 November 2011 08:19, Steve Freeman <49sfreeman at googlemail.com> wrote:

> Dear occupier
>
> I spoke with you after the meeting on Friday but did not get your
> name except to note that you are the proud father of a new baby . I
> supported your call for a march to Putney. I am speaking at bankofideas
> tonight at 6  or 7 and will include support for your proposal in what I say
>
> Hope to hear from you - but noted how busy you are
>
> Regards
>
> Steve
>



-- 
Apathy is Dead !
http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarider/5254770064/#/photos/solarider/5254770064/lightbox/
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