My overarching take is that we @LibDems are the natural party of the "empowered citizen" (Paddy Ashdown's term)
And that in the aftermath of "take back control", this idea is crucial to saving British politics
My starting point is Paddy's 1989 book Citizens' Britain, which I was first pointed to by @EdwardJDavey - and in particular this quote...
The @LibDems failure in this election was to my mind a failure of purpose
We forgot why we exist - to champion the empowered citizen - and got embroiled in the wrong battles as a result
That diagnosis draws heavily on my work with @DatapraxisEU during the election - you can find more in the conclusions to this report I co-wrote with @paulhilder (published 9 days out from polling day) dataprax.is/24-seats-where…
But the much more important argument is about the future
The thing is, as anyone who knows me will be aware, the empowered citizen is on the march even without formal political support
Now imagine what this movement could become with the generous, open support of a party (NB: not one that attempts to take credit for their work)
It's not all about MPs (tho more of them would be nice obvs)
It's also about peers, councillors, and members...
Lib Dem peers will have a major role to play in using the borrowed power of the House of Lords wisely, and potentially introducing a standing Citizens' Assembly
Around the time I finished writing the first edition of CITIZENS, @reenwilson and I were presented with an opportunity by @HelenMeech, a friend and former @NewCitProj colleague now working for @Natures_Voice...
Sir David Attenborough was in the process of filming what might well be his final ever documentary series, Wild Isles...
Even in the hectic media landscape of today, an Attenborough series always creates a cultural moment.
The big UK nature NGOs are coming together to crowdsource a “People’s Plan For Nature” - starting by gathering stories and ideas from all over the country and then using a randomly selected citizens’ assembly to digest all that, hear from experts, and produce recommendations
These recs will cover not just “asks” of national government, but of councils and business too - and also crucially what community groups can just get on and do
A 🧵 for those piling in on me as a result of this reply to @mrjamesob
TLDR: we are a decent people, one awful govt away from power and possibility, but if ALL we do is lament their awfulness, we are on a fast track to fascism