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Politics Y12 Curriculum Map (Termly) (1)

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Politics Y13 Curriculum Map (Termly) (2)

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Use the resource booklet and the key words sheet in Activity 1 and Challenge posts to research the meaning of the key terms.

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Use the worksheet and the hyperlinks to investigate your MP!

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Activity 3 Pressure group research task.

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Activity 3 Pressure group research task.

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Use the resources in the activity 2 Resources column to find out who your MP is, what their role is and how they have voted on key issues you care about.

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Activity 4 Should we lower the voting age to 16?

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Activity 4 Should we lower the voting age to 16?

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What are the arguments for and against?
What is your opinion?
Read the source and answer the questions.

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Watch the video showing members of the pressure group Greenpeace engaging in activism to raise awareness.Then use the resources in the next column to research a pressure group.

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Greenpeace has accused Foreign Office minister Mark Field of assault, after he pushed a female activist out of a black-tie City event.

Mr Field claimed he reacted "instinctively" and has referred himself to the Cabinet Office for an investigation.

He also apologised to the woman for "grabbing her" but said he was worried she may have been armed.

The Tory MP has been widely criticised but some people defended his actions.

Thursday night's incident - filmed by TV news cameras - happened after climate change protesters disrupted the beginning of Chancellor Philip Hammond's annual Mansion House speech about the state of the UK economy.

Dozens of activists - dressed in suits, red dresses and sashes - "gatecrashed" the dinner, according to Greenpeace, and refused to leave.

Footage shows Mr Field getting out of his seat and stopping one female protester by pushing her against a column and marching her out of the room.

City of London Police said it was looking into "a number of third-party reports of a possible assault".

And Conservative chairman Brandon Lewis told ITV's Good Morning Britain the party would investigate the "full details of what happened".

Greenpeace campaigner Areeba Hamid told the BBC the activist had been "in shock" on Thursday night, but was recovering and had been reassured by the "outpouring of support" online.

"I think Mark Field should have a long hard stare at himself and think whether that behaviour is in keeping with someone in public office," she said.

It was "quite ludicrous" to suggest that the protester might have been armed, Ms Hamid added.

Labour's shadow women and equalities minister Dawn Butler tweeted: "This is horrific... [Mark Field] must immediately be suspended or sacked."

Fellow Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi added: "No one who reacts like this to a peaceful protest should be sitting in our Parliament."

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat MP Chuka Umunna described Mr Field's actions as "totally unacceptable" while former Tory MP Sarah Wollaston said it was "absolutely shameful, a male MP marching a woman out of a room by her neck".

But Conservative MP Johnny Mercer defended Mr Field, tweeting: "Honestly? Try being in our shoes in the current environment.

"He panicked, he's not trained in restraint and arrest, and if you think this is 'serious violence' you may need to recalibrate your sensitivities. Calm down, move on, and be thankful this wasn't worse."

Fellow Tory MP Sir Peter Bottomley said attacks on MPs and their staff meant that such protests could not be ignored. "Not intervening often has a cost, and if this becomes a fashion, there will be casualties."

In a statement to ITV News, Mr Field - who is the Foreign Office minister for Asia and the Pacific - said: "In the confusion many guests understandably felt threatened and when one protester rushed past me towards the top table I instinctively reacted.

"There was no security present and I was for a split second genuinely worried she might have been armed.

"As a result I grasped the intruder firmly in order to remove her from the room as swiftly as possible."

He added: "I deeply regret this episode and unreservedly apologise to the lady concerned for grabbing her but in the current climate I felt the need to act decisively to close down the threat to the safety of those present."

Mr Field added he would refer himself to the Cabinet Office and fully co-operate with its investigation into whether he had broken the ministerial code.

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Greenpeace has accused Foreign Office minister Mark Field of assault, after he pushed a female activist out of a black-tie City event. Mr Field claimed he reacted "instinctively" and has referred himself to the Cabinet Office for an investigation. He also apologised to the woman for "grabbing her" but said he was worried she may have been armed.

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1. Summarise the story you have chosen in 100 words.
2. Why did you choose this story?
3. Does this story have links to any other story in the news? Explain the links.
4. How does the issue in the story affect the lives of ordinary people?
5. Over the next two weeks, follow the story to see how it develops.

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Activity 4 Should the voting age be lowered to 16?

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Activity 4 Should the voting age be lowered to 16?

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Read the source in the resources column setting out arguments for and against lowering the voting age.

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Read the article in the  resources link and answer the questions below.
1. What are the three issues mentioned by Monbiot in the first paragraph that show  there is no effective way to hold the government to account?
2. Who is the 'unelected adviser' referred to in the first paragraph and what was the issue with him?(you will need to answer this from your own knowledge!)
3. Why is funding of political parties undemocratic?
4. How much have the Conservative Party received in donations from billionaires in the last 10 years?
5. Monbiot argues that the influence rich people have has replaced our democracy with 'plutocracy'.What does this mean?
6. What examples of outright cheating in elections does Monbiot outline?
7. Who is in charge of making sure that elections are fair?
8. What does Monbiot argue is wrong with our electoral system?
9. How is Parliament seen to be outdated?
10. Give three ways the prime minister is able to abuse their powers.
11. Why is the House of Lords seen as undemocratic?
12. What is 'participatory democracy'? Research this term.
13. Monbiot concludes by saying "Our political system has the outward appearance of democracy, but it is largely controlled by undemocratic forces."Does he make a convincing argument to support this conclusion?Explain why/why not.
14. What would you change about British politics to make sure your voice is heard?

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Activity 5 How does the Liaison Committee hold the government to account?

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Activity 5 How does the Liaison Committee hold the government to account?

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The Prime Minister appeared before the Liaison Committee this week. Use the link in the resources section to find out about this important committee. Answer the questions to discover why it's so important.

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Activity 8 What can be done about  members of the House of Lords whose relatives became rich from the slave trade?

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Activity 8 What can be done about  members of the House of Lords whose relatives became rich from the slave trade?

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Read the article in the resources column and answer the questions below.
1. Do you think it is right that the statues of Edward Colston and other slave traders are being removed? Explain.
2. The House of Lords is unelected - you become a Lord by being nominated by the Prime Minister or by inheriting your title from your family. Should this be changed?Explain what , if anything, you would change.
3. Francis Baring is a hereditary peer. Who did he inherit his title from? Why is his ancestor a controversial figure?
4. What should be done about Francis Baring and other relatives of slave traders?
5. How much money in compensation was Douglas Hogg's slave trading relative paid when slavery was abolished (ended)?How much is that sum worth in today's money?
6. When slavery was abolished 3000 slave traders in Britain were paid compensation for the loss of their slaves. The total compensation paid to these slavers was the equivalent of three billion pounds. Should we be concerned that many of those families are still some of the richest people in the UK? What should be done about their wealth?

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Activity 7 What should be done about Victorian statues of slavers?

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Activity 7 What should be done about Victorian statues of slavers?

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1. Professor Geoffrey Palmer from a university in the USA says statues of slave traders should not be pulled down as they remind us of Black History. Were the protesters right to tear down the statue of slave trader Edward Colston?
2. Why do you think the Victorians put up statues to remember slave traders?
3. Mayor of London Sadiq Kahn says he is conducting a review of all statues and street names in London. Why do you think this has not happened before now, given that London is ethnically very diverse?
4. Sadiq Kahn suggested the names of people he thinks should have statues erected to remember them. Can you name three people you think should have a statue and explain why?
5. Should the statue of Winston Churchill be removed from Parliament Square?

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A statue of noted slaveholder Robert Milligan has been removed from outside the Museum of London Docklands.

Sadiq Khan earlier announced a review of all of London's statues and street names, saying any with links to slavery "should be taken down".

On Sunday, anti-racism protesters in Bristol tore down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston.

Milligan's monument was removed to "recognise the wishes of the community" said the Canal and River Trust.

There were cheers and clapping as the monument was lifted from its plinth using a crane.

The Museum of London Docklands said the statue of the prominent British slave trader, who owned two sugar plantations and 526 slaves in Jamaica, had "stood uncomfortably" outside its premises "for a long time".

"The Museum of London recognises that the monument is part of the ongoing problematic regime of white-washing history, which disregards the pain of those who are still wrestling with the remnants of the crimes Milligan committed against humanity," they added.

The Canal and River Trust said it had worked with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, the museum and partners in Canary Wharf to have it removed.

As the Milligan statue was lowered from its plinth, thousands of people gathered outside an Oxford college to demand the removal of a statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes.

Mr Khan said London had to face "an uncomfortable truth" with its historical links to slavery.

The Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm will review the city's landmarks - including murals, street art, street names, statues and other memorials - and consider which legacies should be celebrated before making recommendations.

Mr Khan said London was "one of the most diverse cities in the world", but said recent Black Lives Matter protests had highlighted that the city's statues, plaques and street names largely reflect Victorian Britain.

"It is an uncomfortable truth that our nation and city owes a large part of its wealth to its role in the slave trade," he said.

"While this is reflected in our public realm, the contribution of many of our communities to life in our capital has been wilfully ignored."

During a Black Lives Matter protest in central London on Sunday, a statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square was sprayed with graffiti.

But Mr Khan said he did not consider statues of the likes of Churchill to be included in the review.

He said pupils needed to be educated about famous figures "warts and all" and that "nobody was perfect", including the likes of Churchill, Gandhi and Malcolm X.

Mr Khan told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he did not have ownership of the statues and the land they are on.

He also said it would be "inappropriate" to single out which statues and street names he thinks should go.

Instead a number of new memorials in the capital have been pledged by Mr Khan, including ones for Stephen Lawrence, the Windrush generation, a National Slavery Museum or memorial and a National Sikh War Memorial.

The Local Government Association's (LGA) Labour group has also announced that Labour councils across England and Wales are to review "the appropriateness" of monuments and statues in their towns and cities.

Campaigns calling for the removal or amendment of monuments celebrating controversial figures have increased in volume around the UK in recent days.

In Oxford, 26 councillors and an MP have called for a statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes to be removed from an Oxford University college.

A plaque is to be added to a Henry Dundas monument in Edinburgh to "reflect" the city's links with slavery, while the leader of Cardiff Council said he would support the removal of a statue of slave-owner Sir Thomas Picton from the city's civic building.

London statues with links to slavery

Sir Thomas Guy (pictured) made his fortune through ownership of a very large number of shares in the South Sea Company, whose main purpose was to sell slaves to the Spanish Colonies

Robert Milligan was a noted West Indian merchant, slaveholder and founder of London's global trade hub, West India Docks.

Aside from founding an educational charity, Sir John Cass was a major figure in the early development of the slave trade and the Atlantic slave economy, directly dealing with slave agents in the African forts and in the Caribbean

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London slavery statue removed from outside museum

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A statue of noted slaveholder Robert Milligan has been removed from outside the Museum of London Docklands. Sadiq Khan earlier announced a review of all of London's statues and street names, saying any with links to slavery "should be taken down". On Sunday, anti-racism protesters in Bristol tore down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston.

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Activity 5 How does the Liaison Committee hold the government to account?

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Activity 5 How does the Liaison Committee hold the government to account?

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1.Who chairs the Liaison Committee?
2.How is membership of the committee determined?
3.How many times does the PM appear before the committee each year?
4.Why is it considered to be the most challenging committee to appear before?
5.How many times has Boris Johnson failed to appear before the committee so far?
6.Challenge: What other ways does Parliament try to hold the government to account?

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Watch the video on the reaction to the death of George Floyd in the challenge column and read the Simple Politics piece below, then answer the questions in the challenge column.

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Activity 7 What should be done about Victorian statues of slavers?

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Activity 7 What should be done about Victorian statues of slavers?

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Watch the video in the link below. Then read the article in the challenge column and answer the questions.

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British protesters topple Edward Colston statue

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Activity 8 What can be done about members of the House of Lords whose relatives became rich from the slave trade?

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Activity 8 What can be done about members of the House of Lords whose relatives became rich from the slave trade?

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The house of Lords is part of our Parliament and  is responsible for making laws. There are over 800 members of the House of Lords and 92 of them are called hereditary peers. This means they inherit their place in the Lords from their family. Some of these hereditary peers have inherited titles that were given to the relatives who were slave traders.
Read the article below and answer the questions in the challenge section.

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Following the overdue evictions of Edward Colston and Robert Milligan, the list of statues whose associations with slavery make them candidates for retirement grows longer by the day.

Labour-run councils have agreed to consider "the appropriateness of local monuments on public land and property". The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has also ordered a review: "Our capital's diversity is our greatest strength, yet our statues, road names and public spaces reflect a bygone era."

Would they mind extending their surveys to a group of living statues active - give or take - within the House of Lords? Specifically, its generous hereditary contingent, both the current, 92 members, and the names on an official register of interested peers (thereby eligible each time death creates a vacancy).

Not unlike the slavers' statues as they merged into town landscapes, centuries of familiarity have offered this tarnished and fundamentally ugly institution, and its hereditary inmates, a measure of protection. "You'd never invent it now," its ghastlier members like to say when reform is suggested, "but somehow it works."

You'd never actually suggest that, to pick a name at random, a person such as Francis Baring, 6th Baron Northbrook, had any right to a seat in the legislature, since the public didn't elect him, but there he is. Somehow, scores of old (usually), conservative (predominantly), white (always) men (exclusively), who are equally bereft of electoral legitimacy, enjoy their gentleman's club to this day. But what if, amid the surge of concern about visible memorials to the British slave trade, it became more widely known that the current Francis Baring (an opponent of Lords reform) is descended from Francis Baring the anti-abolitionist and banker, who profited from slave-derived commodities? Baring Road in Lewisham, southeast London - nb Sadiq Khan - is also named after him. He dismissed as exaggerated the "physical sufferings of the Negro".

How many sitting or registered hereditaries from slave-trade connected families would it take for this already anachronistic section of the legislature to be recognised, no less than offensive street names and statues, as terminally indefensible?

Thanks to the trouble taken by hereditary peers to declare their ancestry, since this represents their entire claim to special status, and to the brilliant University College London data base of slave ownership, some names quickly raise questions.

Slave fortunes, legacies and compensation are still being used to extract unearned status

Pick, for instance, out of a host of candidates, the Conservative peer and celebrated moat-dredger Douglas Hogg, Viscount Hailsham. He descends from Charles McGarel, a merchant compensated £129,464 (which has been estimated at over £100m today) for 2,489 slaves. Another Tory peer, Lord Carrington, in the Lords since 2018, leads us to an earlier Baron Carrington who received £4,908 in compensation for the loss of 268 slaves. Consider also the 14th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, a Conservative peer, whose slave-trading ancestor, the 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, owner of vast plantations in Virginia, reportedly enjoyed what he called "bedding down with a negro wench". Or, as we would now think of it, rape.

Seaford of Sussex, on the House of Lords register, is descended from slave owner George Ellis, compensated for more than 1,000 slaves. His co-aspirant, the 9th Earl Temple of Stowe, shares at least one name with Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, an opponent of abolition: "The moment this bill was passed, the death warrant of every white man in the West Indies would be sealed."

Viscount Combermere, a potential candidate, recalls the first Viscount Combermere, compensated with a fortune for slaves in Nevis and St Kitts. His statue is - still - in Chester. The anti-abolition ancestors of Lord Onslow (on the register), built Clandon Park with the proceeds, celebrated in its decorations, of slavery. Having accidentally let Clandon burn down, its current owner, the National Trust, intends a tasteful refurb.

Slave fortunes, legacies and compensation that furthered historic prominence are still, effectively, being used to extract unearned status, stipends and political influence. If Colston's statue deserved its disgrace, why, to pick yet another example, is Simon Douglas-Pennant, 7th Baron Penrhyn, entitled to ornament the upper house? Any of the baron's personal achievements, and no doubt there are many, are irrelevant to that ambition. Rather it can only advertise to anyone interested, the scale of his debt to earlier Douglas-Pennants, whose exploitation of 1,000 slaves funded, among other things, the Penrhyn estate in north Wales. After abolition, the family won the then vast sum of £14,683 17s 2d in compensation.

The National Trust, proprietors of the family's hideous 19th-century new-build, offers some glimpses of his forebears. Richard Pennant, a dedicated anti-abolitionist, instructed staff to take care of his assets: "I do not wish the cattle nor the negroes to be overworked."

On the bright side, the National Trust says of Penrhyn Castle: "You can't help but be taken aback by the vast luxurious rooms, Gothic stairways and fine art on display. Hear tales of star-crossed lovers, sugar and slate fortunes and delve 'below stairs' into the Victorian kitchens." If the National Trust now opens up, occasionally, about slave connections in its properties, it has yet to lose the habit of romanticising local servitude. It will be another valuable consequence of the current mass learning and re-evaluating, if the owners, charitable and private, of historic houses, abandon coy allusions to plantations, sugar trade and domestic routines, in exchange for honesty about the abject exploitation upon which they depended.

As for the hereditaries, it's possible similar euphemisms left some of them not aware, or only dimly so, of the slave trade's role in their family fortunes. Lord Gage of Firle Place, who has joined the register of genetically qualified, has said he was shocked to find, following UCL's revelations, that his ancestor John Gage received £1,759 8s 11d compensation for 108 slaves. But since he hasn't withdrawn his name, perhaps not quite as shocked as you'd expect.

* Catherine Bennett is an Observer columnist
Topics

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As statues of slave traders are torn down, their heirs sit untouched in the Lords | Catherine Bennett

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ollowing the overdue evictions of Edward Colston and Robert Milligan, the list of statues whose associations with slavery make them candidates for retirement grows longer by the day. Labour-run councils have agreed to consider "the appropriateness of local monuments on public land and property".

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Use the link below to visit the BBC Politics page.
Choose a news story and answer the questions in the Challenge column.

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Get the latest BBC Politics news: breaking news, comment and analysis plus political guides and in-depth special reports on UK and EU politics.

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There's never been a more urgent need to understand how decisions are made by the people who govern us. Decisions affecting climate change, education, housing, poverty, the NHS, war in Europe and the Middle East - the list is endless, and they all affect you! For this reason, there's never been a more exciting time to study politics. If you want to understand how your life is affected by these decisions and how you can influence the decision-makers, then politics is the A-level for you!

probinson@sixth.trinitymat.org

contactus@sixth.trinitymat.org

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Trinity Sixth Form Academy -  Outstanding Sixth Form in Halifax

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Ofsted, 2021

Leaders and governors foster a culture of exceptionally high expectations for students' academic success

Ofsted, 2021

Students enjoy their lessons, which are taught by skilled, enthusiastic and knowledgeable teachers

You're treated as an individual... Everything is geared towards getting you ready for life and the staff really help prepare you for your exams

Ofsted, 2021

Leaders and staff create an exceptionally safe and welcoming culture

Ofsted, 2021

Students participate in an extensive range of activities and projects that develop their confidence and broaden their interests

Ofsted, 2021

There exists an ambitious curriculum that equips students exceptionally well with the knowledge and skills that they need to progress

Ofsted, 2021

Students thrive in the academy's calm and harmonious environment

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Trinity Sixth Form Academy - Outstanding Sixth Form in Halifax

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Ofsted, 2021 Leaders and governors foster a culture of exceptionally high expectations for students' academic success Ofsted, 2021 Students enjoy their lessons, which are taught by skilled, enthusiastic and knowledgeable teachers You're treated as an individual...

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Watch the video below and read the piece in the resources column, then answer the questions below.
1. What happened to George Floyd?
2. What did he campaign against in his local community?
3. How have people across America and the world responded?
4. Do you think this will be a turning point against racism in the USA?Explain your view.
5. In the video , the political commentator Van Jones said that George Floyd's killing was a lynching. Conduct some research into lynchings. Do you agree with  Van Jones?
6. The film maker Spike Lee has said that history is repeating itself. Why do you think he says this?

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Cities across the US have been convulsed by protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after being arrested and handcuffed by a white officer who then kneeled on his neck for several minutes. Floyd pleaded that he 'could not breathe' and among his last words were 'don't kill me'.

The incident has caused a reckoning over race and police killings of black Americans - and demonstrations have spread from Minnesota to other parts of the US including New York, Denver, Chicago and Oakland

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How the killing of George Floyd has upended America - video report

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Cities across the US have been convulsed by protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after being arrested and handcuffed by a white officer who then kneeled on his neck for several minutes. Floyd pleaded that he 'could not breathe' and among his last words were 'don't kill me'.

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Read the article and answer the questions in the Challenge column.

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Do we live in a democracy? You may well ask. An unelected adviser seems to exercise more power than the prime minister, and appears unanswerable to people or parliament. Boris Johnson makes reckless public health decisions that could put thousands of lives at risk, apparently to dig himself out of a political hole. Parliament is truncated, as the government arbitrarily decides that MPs can no longer take part in votes remotely. As the government blunders from one disaster to the next, there seem to be no effective ways of holding it to account.

Established power in this country is surrounded by a series of defensive rings. As soon as you begin to name them, you see that the UK is a democracy only in the weakest and shallowest sense.

Let's begin with political funding. Our system permits billionaires and corporations to outspend and outmuscle the electorate. The great majority of money for the Conservative party comes from a small number of very rich people. Just five hedge fund managers have given it £18m over the past 10 years. The secretive Leader's Group grants big donors special access to the prime minister and his frontbenchers in return for their money. Courting and cultivating rich people to win elections corrupts our politics, replacing democracy with plutocracy.
Coronavirus is our chance to completely rethink what the economy is for | Malcolm Bull
This grossly unfair system is supplemented by outright cheating, such as breaching spending limits and secretly funding mendacious online ads. The Electoral Commission, which is supposed to regulate the system, has deliberately been kept powerless. The maximum fine for winning an election (or a referendum) by fraud is £20,000 per offence. Democracy is cheap in this country.

Despite such assistance, the Conservatives still failed to win a majority of votes at the last election. But, thanks to our preposterous, outdated first-past-the-post electoral system, the 43.6% of the vote they won granted them a crushing majority. With proportional representation, we would have a hung parliament. Five years of unassailable power for Johnson's Conservatives, even as popular support collapses, would have been impossible.

The structure and symbolism of parliament, with its preposterous rituals and incomprehensible procedures, could scarcely be better designed to alienate people, or to favour former public schoolboys, educated in a similar environment. Even its official emblem tells us we are shut out. It's a portcullis: the means by which people are excluded from the fortress of power. The portcullis is topped by a crown, reminding us that power is still vested symbolically in an unelected head of state. Many of her actual powers have been assumed, in the absence of a codified constitution, by the prime minister.

These powers are routinely abused, by all governments. Prime ministers bypass parliament, governing through special advisers like Dominic Cummings. When they make catastrophic mistakes, they have the power to decide whether or not there should be a public inquiry, and, if there should, what its terms and who its chair should be. It's as if a defendant in a criminal trial were allowed to decide whether the trial goes ahead and, if so, what the charges should be and who the judge and jury are.

Even when an investigation does take place, the prime minister can suppress its conclusions, as Johnson has done with the report on Russian interference in the British political system, which remains unpublished. Does it contain details of unlawful donations to the Conservative party? Or of Conservative Friends of Russia, whose launch party was attended by Cummings? A key figure in this group was a man who has subsequently come under suspicion of being a Russian spy. He has been photographed with Johnson, whom he described as a "good friend". What was going on? Without parliament's intelligence and security committee's report, we can only guess.

The same inordinate powers enabled Johnson to suspend parliament last autumn, until his decision was struck down by the supreme court, and to terminate remote access for MPs this week, preventing many of them from representing us. He is, in effect, a monarch with a five-year term and a council of advisers we call parliament.

The House of Lords is a further defensive ring within this ring. Some of its seats are reserved for hereditary aristocrats. Some are reserved for bishops, making this the world's only country, other than Iran, in which religious leaders have an automatic right to sit. The rest are grace and favour appointments, keeping power within existing circles. Many of them are granted to major political donors, reinforcing the power of money. In any other country, they would call it corruption.

Despite a vast array of new democratic techniques, pioneered in other countries, there has been a total failure to balance our supposedly representative system with participatory democracy. This failure grants the winning party a scarcely challenged power, on the grounds of presumed consent, to do as it pleases, for five years at a time. Even when public trust and consent collapse, as they have now done amid the coronavirus pandemic, there are no effective channels through which we can affect the decisions government makes.

These formal rings of power are supported by further defences beyond government, such as the print media, most of which is owned by billionaires or multimillionaires living offshore, and the network of opaquely funded thinktanks, that formulate and test the policies later adopted by government. Their personnel circulate in and out of the prime minister's office.

Our political system has the outward appearance of democracy, but it is largely controlled by undemocratic forces. We find ourselves on the wrong side of the portcullis, watching helplessly as crucial decisions are taken about us, without us. If there's one thing the coronavirus fiascos show, it's the need for radical change.

* George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
Topics

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Britain's claims to being a functioning democracy are only skin deep | George Monbiot

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Do we live in a democracy? You may well ask. An unelected adviser seems to exercise more power than the prime minister, and appears unanswerable to people or parliament. Boris Johnson makes reckless public health decisions that could put thousands of lives at risk, apparently to dig himself out of a political hole.