Stop the erosion of our democratic rights

Let’s take a stand against the government’s insidious power grab and its attempts to stifle the voice of civil society

Sign this petition for better democracy.

Our rights to campaign, vote and protest are under threat. The independence of The Electoral Commission is set to be compromised, and the power to hold Ministers to account is diminishing. Let’s prevent this government and future governments from becoming untouchable by ensuring that accountability is embedded in our nation’s structures. Let’s speak out against the government’s anti-dissent agenda and save our democracy.

The UK Government is embarking on huge and unprecedented constitutional changes which, taken all together, represent the most brazen and sweeping assault on people’s freedoms that our country has ever seen. 

Find out about the rights and protections the Government is attacking:

Right to Protest

• Priti Patel’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill would make causing “serious annoyance” at a protest punishable by up to 10 years in prison. 
• Any protest is banned from Parliament Square Green to all the roads surrounding it and up Whitehall – the government would never hear another protest again.
• Even COVID-safe, one-person protests will be restricted.

Right to Vote and Campaign

• The Elections Bill gives Ministers powers to change the definition of what sort of campaigning is allowed 365 days before an election at whim.
• Campaigning organisations, trade unions, charities and even individuals promoting a point of view could find their campaigning criminalised at election time or made impossible.
• Voters will be turned away from polling stations if they don’t have ID with them, affecting potentially millions of voters.

Equal Votes

• The Government wants to reverse recent progress towards fairer voting by switching back to the Victorian ‘First Past the Post’ for all elections in England, including the Metro-Mayor elections. The UK and Belarus are the only two European countries that still use FPTP.
• Constituency boundaries will be redrawn to favour the Government’s election chances – and MPs don’t get a say.

Scrutiny and Accountability 

• Judicial Review is to be “reformed” to make it harder for unlawful decisions to be examined and challenged, after the Supreme Court ruled Johnson’s forced closure of Parliament illegal.
• The Elections Bill gives Ministers powers to direct the Electoral Commission’s day to day priorities, removing it’s independence and putting representatives of a political party – whichever party is in government – in a position to influence the Commission’s work.

This is not the reform our country needs. What we need is more fairness in elections, democratic engagement for all people, and an electoral system that makes sure everyone’s vote counts.

Don’t let this assault on our freedom and civil liberties go unchallenged. Sign your name and take a stand.