Democracy is… hiding in the toilets.

First posted on Lighter Later one of 10:10's core campaigns that I work on.

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As you may know I’ve been working heavily on the Lighter Later campaign.

About an hour ago the Daylight Saving Bill failed to pass its Third Reading in the House of Commons.

The problem wasn’t a lack of support. Even with over 120 supportive MPs in the Commons, the support of 90 national organisations, the UK government and strong public opinion polls, a couple of hostile MPs were able to run down the clock with a series of ‘wrecking amendments’ designed to waste time, so the bill never even went to a vote. The tricks they use to hold up the process – from quoting the bible to hiding in the Commons toilets – are an affront to the democratic process.

Today’s result illustrates everything that’s wrong with the Private Member’s Bill system.

We’re really angry about this, and many MPs feel the same way (see below for a few choice reactions). More than 120 of them have given up a day of of constituency meetings to be in Westminster and support the bill. We fell foul of a broken system that’s crying out for reform, so our first job is to see if there’s another way to make this happen.

There are a few options on the table, from persuading the government to take up the legislation itself, to lobbying for more parliamentary time. But for now, I’d just like to say a massive thank you for all your hard work: lobbying your MP, donating to the campaign or just arguing for lighter evenings at the pub or around the dinner table.

Together we’ve moved the clock change debate further forward than it’s been for decades, and shown how a whole new approach to campaigning can work. We’ve built something pretty special over the last couple of years, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

More soon.

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  First reactions from Twitter:

  Given strong x party support the Govt should now find time for the#daylightsavingsbill after it was talked out by handfull of wrecking MPs

- Ben Bradshaw (@BenPBradshaw) January 20, 2012

  Commons held hostage by Chope, Davies & SNP to prevent Daylight Saving bill passing. Friday sittings need reforming, they’re a waste of time

- Lord Slate (@LordSlate) January 20, 2012

  10 MPs have managed to block the daylight saving bill by talking it out & wastIng time going through Division lobbies. #DaylightSavingsBill

— Adrian Sanders (@adriansandersmp) January 20, 2012

  Shame abt #daylightsavings interesting evidence that encourages kids to do activities like sport. Filibusters = lame politics. #lighterlater

— Cllr Alex Bigham (@alexbigham) January 20, 2012

Getting started with Grace

So, I’m starting a blog. I’ve been meaning to for a while but never quite got around to actually writing my first post. A prod from Hanna Thomas and Cian (both fine bloggers themselves) finally persuaded me. So blame them.

I’ll be musing questions of organising, green campaigning, movement building and trying to make (some) sense out of this rather peculiar moment in which we find ourselves.

I thought I’d kick off with Grace. She’s from Sandborne Street, Florence, South Carolina. She organised a house party for Obama ‘08. What’s striking about the video is not just her infectious charm, or even her grounded wisdom “everything that was old is not necessarily bad – we need to take some of the old and make it new” but rather the fact that the campaign had persuaded Grace to organise her first ever political event - a house party.

Unlike many political field operations, these house parties weren’t principally about sharing Obama’s policies as dictated by a campaign professional. Rather, they were based around citizens sharing personal stories and exploring what inspires and motivates them to act and hold their beliefs. In the words of Lauren Popper, an organiser from the Dean campaign (where the model was developed) ”For me, the house meetings are about taking a moment out of life as usual to reflect on the meaning of life.” This is not what you’d expect to hear from grass roots campaigners on an American presidential campaign (or for that matter a British general election).   

When you think about it, there are actually very few spaces for this kind of discourse in society. The sharing of values and the creation (or at least reinforcement) of moral communities is a very powerful tool. These house meetings and the thousands of personal stories that were woven together into a movement helped deliver Obama the biggest grass routes presidential campaign in history - a movement that money alone simply does not buy. As a side note, it’s also interesting that these house parties aren’t even mentioned on Obama’s ‘08 wikipedia page such is the obsession with attributing his success to the online tools about which much hype has been hyped. 

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