OCCUPY DEMOCRACY | Occupy Parliament Square 1-10 May #olsx @occupynn #housingaction #democracy

OCCUPY DEMOCRACY | Occupy Parliament Square 1-10 May

Want to do more for our democracy this May than put an X in a box?

As Britain gets ready to go to the polls, join our ten day occupation of Parliament Square to continue building a movement for real democracy: free from corporate control, working for people and planet!

We will return to Parliament Square to expose our broken democracy and work towards real democratic solutions through engaging workshops, lively discussions and creative direct action.

Because democracy is more than an X in a box!

Because the super-rich keep winning whoever gets into power!

Join us to fight for a Real Democracy Now!

Occupy Democracy is a social movement for a democracy free from corporate control that works for people and planet

We believe that:

• our democracy has been captured by corporations, banks and the wealthy,
• our political system works in the interests of the 1% and not the 99%,
• nobody voted for NHS privatisation, fracking, TTIP, the tripling of tuition fees, etc,
• our parliament is a corrupted and unrepresentative institution
• ordinary people deserve a fair say in the decisions that affect them,
• our votes, hard won by previous generations, have little value today,
• there is an alternative!

We demand:

• reform of party funding so that members of parliament act in the interests of  those who elect them rather than the 1% who bankroll them,
• major democratic reform of the media to break the stranglehold of vested interests,
• a fundamental overhaul of lobbying and the way powerful economic interests inhabit the corridors of power within government,
• the introduction of proportional representation so that everyone’s vote counts,
• that MPs should not have conflicts of interests from either paid employment or corporate shareholdings,
• a citizen-led constitutional convention for real democracy.

Our history:

In October 2014 we occupied Parliament Square peacefully for nine days to mark the start of our campaign to rid our democracy of corporate interests and start a movement capable of building a real democracy that works for people and planet. The establishment responded with a  strategy designed to have a chilling effect – over-policing and media silence. We remained peaceful and resolute in our determination to make  our point, and to demand our right to protest and assemble. Our numbers grew and we kept on with our solutions-focused programme of debates, talks and entertainment. We have returned to Parliament Square every month since, and will continue to do so until the general election in  May 2015. Thank you to everybody who is making this happen! Read more about Occupy Democracy

Legal action update: 

The  Mayor of London appears to be on the back foot after Occupy Democracy and Liberty filed a Judicial Review of his decision to fence off Parliament Square and deny Occupy Democracy access from October to December 2014. When we returned to the Square in January for our monthly occupation there was no fencing to prevent our assembly. A Freedom of  Information request revealed the Mayor spent £1/4 million  suppressing our peaceful pro-democracy protests in October alone, with police numbers peaking at 500 per day. Read the  latest at Liberty

Solidarity events: 

• Occupy Democracy Brighton: if you’re living in Brighton check out our new local chapter.
• Occupy Rupert Murdoch week of action (23rd to 29th March)
• This Changes Everything (28th  March) – a one-day conference inspired by Naomi Klein’s latest book. Occupy Democracy is assisting to organise this event.
• For a more comprehensive list of actions and events check out the Occupy London Events Calendar and the Occupy Global Directory.