There is a problem with British democracy. It began before 1997 but from the way the Iraq War was executed, to cash for peerages, to the far-reaching but insufficient constitutional reforms which Labour has introduced, there is a growing sense of a failure of government and a deepening public distrust in politics.

Now Gordon Brown has promised to renew our democracy. We ask you to join us in insisting that, for this to happen, constitutional change must take place democratically through the direct involvement of citizens. In a modern state sovereignty should rest with the people and power should be shared openly and effectively.

So far Mr. Brown has made only one firm commitment with respect to his expected premiership: 'I will bring forward reform proposals to renew our constitution with the first draft constitutional reform bill later this year...to build trust in our democracy, we need a more open form of dialogue for citizens and politicians to genuinely debate problems and solutions.'

We welcome these words. But they must have real meaning.

Gordon Brown has said his desire is to create a national consensus. But there may well be big disagreements between us over what results we prefer. Some believe in electoral reform and others don't; some believe in an elected upper chamber, others do not; some want far-reaching decentralisation, others want less; some will want a written statement of our democratic rules -- others won't. We believe that the consensus that matters should be that we can trust ourselves across all parties to have the debates, agree on the process and vote on their outcomes.

We call for a full deliberative process, like a People's assembly or convention, which engages people from across the country. Given time and resources we are confident that together we will make the compromises to shape the renewal of our democracy.

We oppose top-down decision making on matters central to our lives and the way our nations are governed. We want a coherent process of reform. All who wish to be involved should be able to participate in this process of change. We refuse to be patronised with a 'dialogue' if the outcomes have already been decided. We ask you to join us in this appeal to all our fellow British citizens and to share our confidence that through a discussion based on evidence we can decide the best way forward. Please add your name to ours.

Supported by:
The Power Inquiry, Our Kingdom, Damon Albarn, Lisa Appignanesi (English PEN), Liz Atkins (NCVO), Emma B, Millie Banerjee (Carnegie UK Trust), Anthony Barnett, Rosemary Bechler, Prof David Beetham, Neil Belton, Floella Benjamin OBE, Black Londoners Forum, Kierra Box, Jimmy Boyle, Billy Bragg, Yasmin Alibhai Brown, Carmen Callil, Douglas Carswell MP, Prof Paul Cartledge, Shami Chakrabarti, Karen Chouhan, Church Action on Poverty, Compass, Prof James Curran, Iain Dale, Dr Catherine Dorey, Lindsay Duncan, Prof Patrick Dunleavy (LSE), Prof Lewis Elton (University of Manchester), Dr Catherine Fieschi (Demos), Friends of the Earth, Prof John Gaventa (Institute of Development Studies), Katie Ghose (British Institute of Human Rights), John Harris, Prof Vivien Hart, Billy Hayes (Communication Workers Union), Simon Heffer, Prof David Held (LSE), Prof Julia Hobsbawm, Patricia Hodge, Prof Stephen Howe, Tristram Hunt, Involve, John Jackson, Paula Jacobs, Bianca Jagger, Jeffrey Jowell QC, Helena Kennedy QC, Saira Khan (Our Say), Francesca Klug, Neal Lawson, John le Carre, Liberty-NCCL, Prof Ruth Lister, Miriam Margolyes OBE, Prof David Marquand, Charlie McConnell (Carnegie UK Trust), Shazia Mirza, George Monbiot, NEF, Robert Newman, Jesse Norman, Operation Black Vote, Susie Orbach, John Osmond (Institute of Welsh Affairs), Peter Owen, Dr John Parkinson (University of York), Stephen Pollard, Henry Porter, Stuart Proffitt, Jonathan Pryce, Philip Pullman, Dr Katherine Rake (The Fawcett Society), Claire Rayner OBE, Ken Ritchie (ERS), Tony Robinson, Natalie Samarasinghe (United Nations Assoc, UK), Prof Philippe Sands QC (UCL; Matrix Chambers), Prof Wendy Savage, Roger Scruton, Jamil Sherif (Muslim Council of Britain), Neil Sherlock, Dr Charlotte Skeet (University of Sussex), Gillian Slovo, Prof Graham Smith (University of Southampton), Roger Smith (Justice), Tom Steinberg, Hanne Stinson (British Humanist Assoc), David Swift, Peter Tatchell, The Democratic Audit, The Peepal Centre Leicester, Mark Thomas, Jenny Topper OBE, Carole Tongue (Sovereign Strategy), James Turner, Unlock Democracy, Hilary Wainwright, Prof Neil Walker (European University Institute), Marina Warner, Prof Stuart Weir, Dr Stuart White (Jesus College Oxford), Baroness Shirley Williams, Women's Resource Centre, Canon Kenyon Wright, 1990 Trust.