Reset: The Savage Destruction Of Our Constitution

In February 2010, just three months before the last general election, David Miliband was widely reported as calling for a “reset” of the British Constitution. The then Foreign Secretary argued that there should be a “wide ranging reset referendum which would allow voters to express an opinion on a series of constitutional reform proposals on the same day”.

Miliband told a press gallery lunch that “we’ve still got a 19th century political system trying to address 20th century problems and in my book the whole system – the election to the Commons, the Lords, local government and how it’s organised, fixed terms parliaments – they should all be on a ballot.

“We should have what I would call a reset referendum that would reset the political system in a way that can actually address modern problems by getting power where it belongs, by checking power at the right places, by giving more rights and making sure rights of the individual are safe-guarded.”

An Agenda

Following the installation of the new coalition dictatorship government, Nick Clegg was appointed to the posts of Deputy Prime Minister and Lord President of the Privy Council. Part of his government role was to lead “the government’s political and constitutional reform agenda”.

Clegg promised that that “agenda” would result in the “biggest shakeup” of British “democracy” since the Great Reform Act of 1832. He was tasked with creating an elected House of Lords, reducing the number of MPs and redrawing constituency boundaries, bringing in fixed term parliaments, changing the voting system, creating a register of lobbyists and the breakup of the Union, among other things. By strange “coincidence”, this was more or less the same list of agenda items on David Miliband’s mind a few months earlier.

In this, Clegg had the backing of a host of think tanks and non-governmental organisations, all touting the lie that Britain has no written constitution, that our constitution is so antiquated as to be useless, and that it must be modernised and “codified”.

A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing

Almost exactly four years following David Miliband’s call for a “reset referendum”, Episode 21 of Clive De Carle’s Health Revolution programme was hijacked by ex-policeman Ray Savage. Clive had planned to have a guest on his programme to speak about a conference he was speaking at. Instead of speaking about the conference, Mr Savage chose to announce a new constitutional campaign called “the Reset”. This came as a complete surprise to both Clive and the production team at the UK Column.

Mr Savage informed the viewing audience that:

- There will be a constitutional reset.
- This reset would be facilitated through referenda held at the parish level.

More or less the suggestion proposed by David Miliband. In addition Mr Savage suggested replacing Britain’s complex tax regime with a bank transaction tax, and that the money so raised could be used to offer everyone in the country a “living wage” of £7500 per year. This was “the hook”.

But then came the barb. Mr Savage explained that he and his colleagues “have discussed this idea (Constitutional re-set) with many groups countrywide who were broadly in support of this approach. One group we spoke to were a group of environmentalists at the London School of Economics.”

That’s the same London School of Economics which has long been a hotbed of Miliband Fabian Marxism.

In a little name-dropping to add credibility to his Reset proposals, Mr Savage added that Polly Higgins had been looking to bring in a law of “ecocide” and that Michael Meacher MP suggested that in order to overcome the existing constitutional deadlock there would need to be a social movement built. Mr Savage clearly views the Reset as that social movement.

Polly Higgins is the softly spoken, hippy styled, British lawyer turned environmental campaigner who submitted a proposal to the United Nations for them to accept “ecocide” as the fifth crime against peace which could be tried at the International Criminal Court. This radical idea would have a profound effect on human activity that Higgins blames for damaging the environment. Supporters of the new “ecocide” law also believe they could be used to prosecute climate deniers who “distort” science to discourage voters and politicians from taking action to tackle global warming and climate change.

Higgins is also the chief executive officer of the Earth Community Trust whose patrons include Michael Mansfield QC. Mansfield is a regular lecturer and keynote speaker around the world, speaking about the law of “ecocide” and his role as lead prosecutor in the 2011 mock “ecocide” trial held in the UK Supreme Court.

Michael Meacher was an Environment Minister during the Blair regime and has been an MP since 1970. He is now a member of the advisory Council of the Global Footprint Network, which says it is “advancing the science of sustainability”.

Peoplecare Earthcare Fairshare

According to the Reset website, “The re-set is a solutionary approach with three ethics at its core: peoplecare, earthcare, fairshare. These are well established ethics, which are guidelines on how we should behave towards each other and the earth, common to many cultures and beliefs.

Where else is the “peoplecare, earth care, fairshare” mantra to be found? In the permaculture movement. According to the Permaculture Principles website, “the ethics earth care, people care and fair share form the foundation for permaculture design.”

And according to the Global Permaculture website, “Our Mission is to address Global Issues related to the Environment, Human Culture, and Economics through Permaculture and Ecological Design as outlined in the United Nations Agenda 21”.

The question has to be asked, then, why is the Reset happy to associate itself with radical Marxism and Agenda 21?

The Reset is a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. It is pushing forward the idea that Britain needs a constitutional “reset”. It claims that this “reset” has happened before many times throughout history, which is simply untrue. Instead, throughout history there has been a reassertion of the principles upon which the nation has been founded. This might seem like a small distinction, but in reality it is huge.

For 1300 years, since the time of Alfred the Great, generation after generation of British people have agreed that the principles upon which this nation is founded are the right ones.

The Reset is attempting to bring in savage constitutional change by presenting itself as a “pro-constitution” campaign. It is nothing of the sort.

Following some criticism of this article which originally appeared in Issue 2 2014 of the UK Column newspaper, we produced a report for our daily news programme to clarify some points: