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<div class="gmail_quote">does anyone fancy getting started with this as I really don't have much time - would be great to put something together in collaboration </div>
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<div class="gmail_quote">Forwarded Message: <br><br>Could be interesting - I wouldn't want something which is obvious in only trying to publicise your manifesto. I would focus on the "radical decentralisation of power" theory, and perhaps take a few international examples (Brazil comes to mind, but other local examples abroad would be good). Less than 700 words please - with links! </div>
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<div class="gmail_quote">-- <br>Jessica Reed<br>Comment is Free<br><a href="http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/</a><br>Cif on twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/commentisfree" target="_blank">http://www.twitter.com/commentisfree</a><br>
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<div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 1:19 AM, Mark Barrett <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:marknbarrett@googlemail.com" target="_blank">marknbarrett@googlemail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<div>Hi Jessica</div>
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<div>I'm a community campaigner currently involved in the Election Meltdown** mobilisation for Mayday (in the run up to the election) aswell as the Labour Land Campaign. I'd like to write a short piece on real democracy and the actual structures we'd need to achieve a political economy based on community, equality and a radical decentralisation of power. The piece would be couched in the language of the real third way - ie how to empower civil society to take charge between state and corporate-led globalisation, and will stand in stark contrast to the vague, aspirational rhetoric and limited thinking of the major parties on these issues. </div>
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<div>Think of it as a grassroots election manifesto, co-written by a cross section of activists from the direct action movement in consultation over the last decade. The manifesto will include actual democratisation policies for unemployment, banking, education and tax reform* aswell as addressing overarching constitutional issues. </div>
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<div>Some good original writing on this was put forward in my work in 2009 as Press Officer for G20 Meltdown (who called the big demo at the Bank of England last April); unfortunately the blog site I used got closed down shortly after the protests as it had been infected by a sophisticated virus. </div>
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<div>You can see an example of a petition I penned before the financial transactions (Robin Hood) tax got on the mainstream agenda (now expired) at <a href="http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/tobintaxnow/#detail" target="_blank">http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/tobintaxnow/#detail</a> and also a draft interim statement on the British Constitution at <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.peopleincommon.org/C421.html" target="_blank">http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.peopleincommon.org/C421.html</a></div>
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<div>Hope to hear from you soon </div>
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<div>Best wishes </div>
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<div>Mark Barrett</div>
<div>0785 439 0408</div>
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<div>* Tax reform via a movement away from taxes on income (the contested NI increase) and instead towards land values</div>
<div>See eg Phillipe Legrain in the latest edition of Prospect <a href="http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2010/03/tax-the-ground-they-walk-on-2/" target="_blank">http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2010/03/tax-the-ground-they-walk-on-2/</a></div>
<div>And the Labour Land Campaign <a href="http://www.labourland.org/" target="_blank">www.labourland.org</a></div>
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