The First Step
Britain has no shortage of problems. But we believe our work must start with the issue that most urgently threatens its collective life.
Immigration
On nothing else do our divisions run as deep, our emotions as violent, or do the force of our disagreements so threaten our sense of shared values.
So we will hold a National Citizens' Assembly. To ask:
How might we approach immigration as a country?
Council of the People
“Citizens' Assembly” sounds a bit like jargon. So we'll call this a “Council of the People.” And that's exactly what it will be: a gathering of our people where all are welcome and where every perspective is heard.
These could include positive stories of the beauty of British culture or contributions made by refugees. Or they could be negative stories of racist attacks or violence perpetrated by immigrants.
Wherever you sit on the spectrum, you are going to hear stories you don't agree with. And that will be hard.
But this is the heart of the process, the leap we're asking everyone to make: if you want your story and your perspective to be honoured then you must honour others when it's their turn.
Truth & Reconciliation
We intend the Council to embody a spirit of truth and reconciliation, similar to the Commissions that have taken place around the world from Canada to South Africa.
A place where all sides can speak without fear of judgment. Where ghosts from the past can be faced. Where we can express anger, grief, even shed tears.
An opportunity for the communities of this island to share their stories at last, in search of a more united, hopeful future.
A Moment of National Cultural Impact
In that way, the Council of the People aims to have a broad positive effect on our society as a whole.
To that end, we will aim to engage as many people as possible by making the Council exciting, emotional — even entertaining.
We will involve high profile cultural figures from across the arts, music, film & TV both to drive public awareness and of course share their perspectives too.
The Event
The Council will be a singular event over a focused period of time, from ten days to two weeks.
In this way, we hope to build an unfolding narrative whose twists and turns will engage the public and fuel compelling tension over the outcome.
During that time, the site will be accessible with music, food, exhibitions and relevant events to draw audiences to attend in person.
With The People
We will also create a broad media ecosystem for people to engage whoever and wherever they are in the country.
- Social as well as legacy media to reach every generation
- Newsworthy viral events
- Live streams of Council sessions
- Daily highlight shows on a range of platforms
- An app where users can follow proceedings, post comments and interact through polls on policy ideas
- A documentary to tell the Council's story
- A portal for people to submit their own stories building an archive of our national memory on immigration
The goal: to make people feel part of our democracy again, where their contributions are valued and counted, rather than ignored.
We The People of…
Orkney. Dover. Brixton. Rochdale. Cardiff. Hastings — and more. We will also encourage and support simultaneous wildcat grassroots Councils on immigration, almost like street parties during the Jubilee.
The dream: to inspire a wave of peace, truth and reconciliation efforts in communities across the country.
From here, everything can change
At the end of this process, we will have the first policy on immigration written by the people ourselves, not politicians.
Of course, there will be hard compromises. Undoubtedly everyone will find some part hard to stomach. Yet it may be the first policy ever put forward on this issue that most people can accept.
The impact will go beyond the issue itself: because the public will know there is a powerful new way to do politics. One where we take the lead.
The Next Steps
You may ask, what's to stop the politicians ignoring us as always?
Our strategy will be to build We The People into a movement — perhaps even a new political party — to compel the system to listen to us.
Immigration is only the start.
We will go on to hold Councils of the People on other issues tearing us apart, from cost of living to taxation to the regulation of AI.
With each step, we build a vision for our future written by us — a People's Manifesto — while growing a Movement fighting for us all.
Be part of hope.
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