Campaigning organisation Compass is calling for a Citizen’s Assembly to extricate the country from a mess politicians seem incapable of resolving:
We urgently need a way out of the awful mess that Brexit has become. A way that pours calming water and not petrol on the flames of a country and a political system that is becoming alarmingly polarised. If Parliament can’t agree on any way forward – which cannot and should not result in a no-deal Brexit by default simply because of a self-imposed deadline – then Compass, and many others, are today calling for a Brexit Citizens Assembly to be established.
You can read about it in the Guardian.
The Citizens’ Assembly would be composed of a randomly selected representative group of members of the public, who would meet over an eight-week period and be given balanced evidence and unbiased help to make a deliberative justice recommendation on what should happen. All outcomes would be considered: no deal, a deal and its shape, and a new referendum and the nature of the question.
It would be established by Parliament or an appropriate official body and while its decision could not bind Parliament, its recommendations would be impossible to ignore. It would require Article 50 to extended for a short time.
The only thing we know is that the way out of this mess has to be more democratic than the way in. The great beauty of such an assembly is that it allows for calm, considered and empathetic decision-making. This is what happened when Ireland recently used a citizens’ assembly to decide what to do about the highly charged issue of abortion there. Any final decision on Brexit cannot be imposed, but rather must be negotiated.
We have helped to bring together people such as the former archbishop Rowan Williams and the musician Damon Albarn, along with democracy experts and campaign organisations, such as Hope Not Hate, to back this new way out of the Brexit impasse. Only at this late hour, when every other avenue is being closed down, will enough politicians countenance a game changer like this.
Now we need you. Please sign the petition for a Citizens’ Assembly on Brexit and share the call to do so with everyone you know.
Over the crucial next few weeks, together with our allies, we’ll be promoting the idea of a Citizens’ Assembly on Brexit to the whole country. If you want to help us fund this work, please chip in by making a donation. Any support is much appreciated!
This is about Brexit, but it is about a different kind of democracy – one fit for the 21st century in which we, the people, take control. Thank you for all you can do to support this urgent campaign.
As ever, in hope and optimism,
The Compass Team
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