Don't go quietly

In 1988 the following text was published in full page advertisements in the quality papers:

We have had less freedom than we believed. That which we have enjoyed has been too dependent on the benevolence of our rulers. Our freedoms have remained their possession, rationed out to us as subjects rather than being our own inalienable possession as citizens. To make real the freedoms we once took for granted means for the first time to take them for ourselves.

The time has come to demand political, civil and human rights in the United Kingdom. We call, therefore, for a new constitutional settlement which will:-

• Enshrine, by means of a Bill of Rights, such civil liberties as the right to peaceful assembly, to freedom of association, to freedom from discrimination, to freedom from detention without trial, to trial by jury, to privacy and to freedom of expression.
  Subject Executive powers and prerogatives, by whomsoever exercised, to the rule of law.


• Establish freedom of information and open government.


• Create a fair electoral system of proportional representation.


• Reform the Upper House to establish a democratic, non-hereditary Second Chamber.


• Place the Executive under the power of a democratically renewed Parliament and all agencies of the state under the rule of law.


• Ensure the independence of a reformed judiciary.
  Provide legal remedies for all abuses of power by the state and by officials of central and local government.


• Guarantee an equitable distribution of power between the nations of the United Kingdom and between local, regional and central government.


• Draw up a written constitution anchored in the ideal of universal citizenship, that incorporates these reforms.

The inscription of laws does not guarantee their realisation. Only people themselves can ensure freedom, democracy and equality before the law. Nonetheless, such ends are far better demanded, and more effectively obtained and guarded, once they belong to everyone by inalienable right.Add your name to ours. sign the charter now!

That was Charter 88; signatories were led by Lord Scarman and many other high profile figures from the law, civil service, politics, media and business. How much progress have we made in nearly 20 years? You can still follow that link and add your name, and you can still apply pressure for our democracy to be made as good as we like to think it is.

Please send money now

For years, I have deliberately avoided skiing, as the last thing I need is another expensive hobby, especially one that also demands large chunks of my annual leave. Then, last autumn, my wife suggested that we share a chalet with some friends. We quickly realised that we'd left booking a bit late but eventually, having got nowhere with internet searches and so-called specialist ski agents, our local travel agency found us a place in Les Deux Alpes for the February half-term week. The most expensive week in the calendar :-(

So that I wouldn't look a complete muppet when I got there, I booked a 'Learn to Ski in a Day' session at the Snowdome in Tamworth. That was well worth the money, and the instructor was excellent. More than can be said for me. My excuse is that my unicyclist insticts are just all wrong for skiing.

Once in Les Deux Alpes, for the first couple of days, I was just crap. I heard what the instructors said, but I just could not make it happen. I lay in bed at the end of day 2 thinking that I had just wasted thousands of pounds (family of 5 in peak week) - I was really quite fed up. By day three, I was just getting the ocasional feeling that I'd got it right and I was feeling better about it. On day 4 I forgot my lift pass and had to miss the lesson, so I got to spend the morning just practising the things that I felt I needed to. That really helped, and by day 6 I'd got it and was hooked. Now my problem is how to find the money to do it at least once every year.

Never apologise never explain

Right