How the Mother of Parliaments might be brought into the 21st century (1)
Speaking to the Hansard Society this week, the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow said:
“I am announcing today the creation of a Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy, the core membership of which will be assembled in the next few weeks, supplemented by a circle of around 30 expert commissioners and reinforced I hope by up to 60 million members of the public.
“This exercise will start in early 2014 and report in early 2015, a special year for Parliament as it will be the 750th anniversary of the de Montfort Parliament, along with the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, the document that set the scene for the 1265 Parliament to come later.
“Digital democracy will have some universal features but others which vary nation by nation. It is yet another change which pushes against formality and for flexibility.
“Its elements might include online voting, e-dialogue between representatives and those represented, increased interconnectedness between the functions of representation, scrutiny and legislation, multiple concepts of what is a constituency, flexibility about what is debated when and how, and a much more intense pace for invention and adaptation.”
Some more information here.