When the government of London is reformed, in 1999, we seek the return of local powers to local people, to local elected community assemblies. Our call is for power to be brought home to the local communities of London, to many thousands of Londoners playing a part, for the first time, in the governance of their great city. A London Borough might contain perhaps 15 community assemblies, each with an average 20 members, depending on population. A community would decide, in a referendum, whether to set up a community assembly. Government power over all our lives has become too impersonal.
Town halls are too big, too distant.
The London boroughs are bureaucratic abstractions. At the local level we have lost touch with those responsible for organising the services which determine the quality of our daily lives. It could all be so different. Many parts of the UK already have their own elected community or parish councils, albeit with more limited functions than those we urge for London. Neighbouring European countries make provision for local communities to decide the affairs of their own locality.