UPGRADE DEMOCRACY – LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE!
Rally and March – 25th September 2022, Bath
- Despite recent announcements, millions of people in the UK won’t be able to pay their bills and face a miserable winter of fuel poverty. (1)
- In the face of climate catastrophe, Liz Truss is signalling an acceleration of oil and gas extraction in the UK – a move that will in fact do virtually nothing to benefit UK customers. (2)
- The UK has some of the worst insulated housing stock in Europe. A massive programme of household insulation as part of a green climate transition could solve energy poverty and reduce reliance on oil and gas, as well as creating thousands of jobs. Much of the international supply of these fuels comes from undemocratic states such as Russia and Saudi Arabia. (3)
- Large sections of the UK workforce have seen their pay fall in real terms and workers, as well as those on benefits, face going cold and hungry. (4)
- The government is pressing ahead with a £27 Bn roads programme. We need better public transport rather than more roads. (5)
- A new PM has just been selected by just 81,000 people – a completely unrepresentative sample of just 0.3% of the UK electorate. (6)
- It is clear that faith in politics is at an all time low. There is an urgent need to upgrade our political system to allow more representation and give ordinary people a say over the major crises facing us.
XR are calling for a Citizens Assembly on Climate and Ecological Justice to break the current deadlock that is preventing action on climate change. (7)
Join us on Sunday 25th at Bath Train Station 11:00 / Royal Parade, Victoria Park 13:00 to:
- Listen to speakers talk about the climate crisis and cost-of-living crisis
- March in solidarity with those seeking solutions to these interlinked problems
- Enjoy the samba band and other entertainment
Further info:
1) According to the end fuel poverty coalition “Just over 12 months ago the average annual bill was just £1,271. Even with this price freeze the average bill has doubled in a year. Last year 4.5 million UK households were fuel poor, now we predict that it will be 6.7 million”
https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/coalition-reacts-to-energy-price-guarantee-announcement/
2) Accelerating extraction in the North Sea will not help UK energy consumers – Fossil Fuel companies sell the oil and gas to the highest bidder on international markets, keep all the revenue, and are currently making eye-watering profits on which they pay almost no tax. Almost 80 per cent of UK production of crude oil is exported and plays no part in our domestic energy security.
3) Looking at the situation we now face, the government’s own climate advisors, the Climate Change Committee, agree that the best way to keep bills low and tackle the climate crisis is to cut our energy demand, with measures like home insulation. This is something Rees-Mogg’s predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng backed, but was blocked by the previous chancellor, Rishi Sunak.
4) Analysis from the TUC shows that UK workers are suffering the longest pay squeeze since the Napoleonic war
https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/ending-pay-crisis
5) The Climate Change Committee – which is the independent, statutory body that advises and monitors the Government – argues that decarbonising transport “should not be all about replacing fossil-fuelled vehicles with electric ones”. More action is needed to “limit traffic growth, shifting travel to public transport and active travel”.
6) Liz Truss became PM by getting fewer votes than Count Binface got in the London Mayoral election
https://www.indy100.com/politics/liz-truss-count-binface-votes
7) Recent polling by Ipsos found that eight out of ten people in the UK are concerned about the climate crisis and over 52% percent think the government’s plan to get net zero by 2050 is too late.
That’s around 35 million people who think the government’s plan isn’t good enough.
Our current politics is too focused on the short termism of the election cycle to tackle the major issues of today, like widespread inequality and the climate and ecological emergency. A citizens’ assembly on climate and costs would break the deadlock on Westminster corruption, allow more people to be represented, and restore trust in politics.
https://extinctionrebellion.uk/be-the-change/citizens-assembly/
