Britain has not yet deteriorated to such an extent that the only way this constitution could become reality is through violent revolution. At this moment in time (2010), the constitution could be introduced using our existing system, and this is obviously the preferred option. I envisage that eventually a general election will be held where the People’s Constitution is the deciding issue – a bit like the general election of 1832, which was supposedly about ‘Reform’. But unlike that fake reform, this constitution offers REAL political change. However, when that happy day comes, and the people finally get to decide on real reform, the vote should also include a condition that once enacted the People’s Constitution should not be repealed or amended for a transition period of ten years.

Initially an inflexible period of transition might seem unreasonable. However, every general election effectively produces a similar result. Every general election imposes a tiny set of dictators upon the country for at least four years, a set of rulers who are outside the control of those who elected them, and who will impose upon a largely unwilling nation endless laws without sparing a second’s thought for whether or not the people might actually want those laws. Furthermore our leaders have often conspired to form ‘cross-party alliances’ in order to impose laws that should not be changed for considerable periods of time by the possibility of new governments. Such conspiracies often result in leading our nation into illegal wars or imposing cruel oppressions on our own people. So in one sense, it’s little different from what we have long been used to, without realising it. But in fact it’s far more considerate than what we’re used to because it at least shows the people exactly what’s proposed, and asks the people for their permission to accept it with a ten year transition condition; and it is considerably more liberating than the existing situation because the people would have immediate control over all other changes proposed by their government.

This period of transition is very important, not only because the constitution will have powerful enemies intent on causing its elimination –especially during its first years when it will be at its most vulnerable – but also because with the best will in the world some of the changes proposed could not take place overnight, and a little time should be built into the process in order for the inevitable teething problems to be reasonably resolved. Although it will be possible to introduce some sections of the constitution with immediate effect (such as the all-important sections on rights and duties) other sections will take much longer (such as reformation of the public services). During transition the constitution should not be amended, but adopted ‘warts and all,’ and a sincere national effort made to implement the whole of it as soon as possible. Proposing such radical change, together with a condition to leave it unaltered for ten years is a very big thing to ask people to do. But the People’s Constitution is a beautiful thing. It is inherently humane, with nothing in it that would allow harm to be done to anyone, or to animals or to the environment. In other words, there is nothing in it for the ordinary person to fear.

Also necessarily different from the steady-state constitution is the appointment of elected officials. The constitution requires that in the steady-state some elected officials (MPs etc) have certain minimum educational qualifications and have already served at least one term as county councillors. Obviously it will not be possible to meet these conditions when the constitution is first enacted, and a ‘transition administration’ will need to be established where the qualifying conditions are waived. This temporary relaxation should not extend beyond the ten year ‘settling in’ period of transition.

It is essential that a basic electronic voting system for the new decision-making model is in place within the first six months of transition. The traditional decision-making system should be suspended in the interim in order to encourage progress with the new one (although provision should be made to cope with emergency situations). It is more important that imperfect voting systems are temporarily tolerated if necessary rather than to permit delays waiting for supposedly foolproof systems – delays the constitution’s enemies would inevitably exploit to maximum effect. It must be expected that such a huge constitutional change will take time to get right, but this must not be allowed as an excuse to delay it happening at all. Each county should create and evolve their own system, fully expecting to make mistakes and experience problems. Not only will this expedite the process it will provide a variety of different and innovative solutions which will lead to evolving the most successful one.

Intimately connected to electronic voting systems must be a reliable public information service. As the infrastructure for this already exists, all that’s required is for a change in broadcasting policy. The constitution requires that people are properly informed. Once again, individual counties should evolve their own information systems; but basic essential components must include equally weighted factual content for and against issues as well as equally weighted opinion for and against issues. The other crucial ingredient to ensuring people are properly informed is an understanding of humanity – a basic idea of what’s right and wrong. This is not a difficult thing to do. One of the most ancient principles of morality forms the backbone of our Ethical Guide, and it should be the controlling influence behind all debate. That principle is: to do unto others as you would have others do unto you, in similar circumstances. Providing the means for people to be properly informed should be a relatively straightforward change to make, so there’s no reason why an effective system should not be functional within the first six months of transition. Directly related to public information during transition should be a public education programme.

The People’s Constitution has been created for a very good reason – that the people have been deliberately misinformed for many centuries in order that powerful elites may plunder the world. This message needs to be widely and thoroughly taught through a public information programme as soon as transition begins in order that the people completely understand why this constitution is so desperately needed.

Because the public sector would be the largest group to be significantly affected by the new constitution, it is right and important that certain protections are built in for the individuals directly affected.

The new organisation for public services replaces the traditional centralised hierarchical management structure with a decentralised lateral administration model. In the new model a significant number of existing public service managers will become redundant, and those who do not become redundant will no longer be entitled to the excessive salaries they currently enjoy. However, instead of immediately imposing new and drastically reduced salary scales on remaining managers, their salaries should be gradually reduced over the transition period whilst they oversee the reorganisation of their departments, until the new scales become universal. Ideally no worker should be made redundant without first having the option of re-employment, albeit in a different role and/or different location. The new constitution will still require public servants, so options for re-employment will exist, but many will have very different and hopefully more satisfying jobs working directly for the taxpayer.

Perhaps the most controversial reformation of the public services will be to the armed forces. The People’s Constitution requires that Britain no longer maintains a permanent standing defence force. This will initially appear a heresy of the highest order. However, there are a number of successful countries which cope extremely well without permanent armies (such as Switzerland), and without attracting any noticeable challenges to their national security. So there is no reason to assume that Britain has too much to fear by adopting a similar policy. The existing regular armed services are to be replaced with an expanded function of the existing territorial services, whereby every citizen may be trained either in the part time armed services or in a new part time civil defence force, both of which are to be organised similarly to other public services rather than the traditional hierarchical ranking structure.

All of the proposed changes should be fully functional within ten years, by which time the transition period should end, and the constitution itself then available for amendment as the people see fit.

Purpose – To enshrine the rights of the citizen to a decent standard of life, and freedom of thought, movement and expression; to stipulate specific protections the state must provide; to stipulate the right of the citizen to take part, if and when they choose, in the decision-making processes of the state; and to protect the citizen from harm inflicted by others. It must be the duty of the state to allow its citizens to live their lives as freely as they choose within the constraints of this constitution.

The citizen:

a. if at least sixteen years of age has the right to vote (or not to vote) to elect political representatives as well as the right to deselect those representatives through the Recall procedure outlined below (Section 5); and to vote (or not to vote) in any decision making debate between his/her elected representatives;

b. subject to the conditions of Section 3 below, has the right to:

i. unrestricted freedom of thought, religion, expression and movement;

ii. free education in a state school up to the age of sixteen years and, depending on their ability to satisfy academic or technical entrance requirements, free education up to age twenty four in state universities or colleges;

iii. free access to all NHS healthcare services as follows:

1. Emergency Services (i.e. any immediately life-threatening condition, and/or anything causing acute pain) – whenever necessary;
2. From birth until leaving fulltime education;
3. After reaching the statutory retirement age of 65;
4. When pregnant and up to one month post natal care;
5. Throughout life if born with a genetic illness requiring permanent medical treatment;

iv. the full protection of the State from any threat against these constitutional rights by any person or organisation;

v. seek employment in any part of the country;

vi. a contract of employment defining statutory employment rights;

vii. work until whatever age he/she chooses;

viii. retire from work, if they choose, at the age of 65;

ix. any information held by any public organisation except for the personal details of other citizens;

x. privacy in their home and family life, including privacy of all their home and family mail and communications;

xi. live anywhere in the country;

xii. leave and return to the country;

xiii. compensation for state appropriation of their property, or for any loss or damage caused by the state to their property;

xiv. compensation for personal injury sustained by any action intended to harm, or through any wilful negligence by a known third party;

xv. join (or not join) any trade union, political party or other organisation.

c. has the following legal rights:

i. they shall not be detained without their next of kin, particular friend, or legal representative being informed immediately upon detention as to why and where they are detained;

ii. they shall not be detained against their will except by due legal process;

iii. they shall not be so detained for more than 24 hours without being formally charged with a criminal offence;

iv. they will be presumed innocent of any such charge until proven guilty;

v. they will have equal treatment before the law, including the right to:

1. know full details of charges faced communicated to them in a language they understand;
2. have defence witnesses heard;
3. have professional legal counsel to act on their behalf;
4. be tried quickly in an official court open to the public, presided over by a legal specialist before a jury or tribunal of ordinary citizens;
5. be tried for civil cases in the nearest court to their home;
6. be heard first if being detained pending trial;
7. not be punished inhumanely or excessively by the state or its representatives.

vi. they may personally require a magistrate’s court to hear any charge against another individual, organisation or the state, for any breach of this constitution, but shall meet the financial cost of doing so unless the court finds in their favour; such hearings to be convened within one month of the charge being made;

vii. they shall be permitted to partake as members of tribunals, juries or commissions of enquiry without loss of income or other employment rights;

viii. they shall not be tried twice for the same charge unless new and compelling evidence against them is produced.

NB. Children under the age of sixteen shall have the same protections of constitutional rights as any other citizen. Non citizens facing legal charges in Britain have the same rights to due legal process as British citizens. Foreign nationals found guilty of criminal offences will immediately be deported to their country of origin after serving any period of detention unless a tribunal convened within one month prior to their release decides otherwise.

d. shall not be discriminated against;

e. shall not be extradited or forced from the country without their consent.

Purpose – To provide a causal link between rights and duties; that the citizen should understand that any claim to protection by the terms of this constitution is conditional upon their adherence to certain responsibilities. The citizen is required to accept the consequences of choices they have freely made, without holding liable any person or organisation not party to those choices. This section is intended to assist when necessary the interpretation of Section 2: when conflicts inevitably arise between individuals, each claiming the actions of the other to be a breach of rights, the rights of the person who first suffered material damage, loss, or harm should take precedence over the rights of the person causing the damage, loss or harm.

The citizen has a duty to:

a. understand, respect and abide by the purpose and terms of this constitution;

b. abide by the laws of the land (unless a law conflicts with this constitution - laws conflicting with the constitution cannot be enforced);

c. respect the persons, property and constitutional rights and freedoms of others;

d. take responsibility for their own actions.

Purpose –To prevent undemocratic procedures eroding the sovereign right of the citizen to be properly informed 4 about political issues, and for the citizen to make all political decisions whenever he or she chooses to be involved in the Democratic Process; and to ensure that any individual involved with the administration of that process fully understands the importance of their responsibility for its proper administration, and the severe penalties for any deliberate abuse of that responsibility.

The citizen is the sovereign political decision-maker of the state. All decisions, whether by local or national government, including election or recall of representatives, policy decisions, creation, amendment and repeal of legislation will all be made according to due democratic process, as described in this section. No public law, rule or regulation will be lawful unless it is made through due democratic process.

b. The Debate

i. Debates will be publicly notified at least seven days before the debate;

ii. Such notifications will be easily and freely accessible by any citizen;

iii. Debates will be such that they are freely accessible and open to the public and media;

iv. Citizens are responsible for keeping themselves informed about local and national government debates;

v. Time allotted to each debate should not ordinarily exceed two hours and must be evenly divided between opposing views, one of which must always reflect the considerations, values and concerns of this constitution;

vi. The procedure will be directed by an independent chairman who will allow only relevant factual argument or opinion to be heard, clearly differentiating between those two types of allowable content;

vii. At the conclusion of the debate the chairman will summarise the discussion, giving equal time and weight to both arguments.

c. The Vote

i. Voting will take place not sooner than twenty four hours after the end of a debate, and not later than forty eight hours afterwards;

ii. Any British citizen should be able to vote in any government debate affecting the place where they live or work or have tax liable property rights;

iii. The citizen will not be compelled to take part in the democratic process, but may choose to do so whenever they please;

iv. The citizen will not be compelled to vote;

v. The citizen may only vote once per resolution;

vi. Voting shall not be weighted in any way. For any particular Resolution no citizen’s vote will count for more than one vote.

d. Simple Majority and Clear Majority Votes

i. When a resolution must produce a positive outcome, such as the election of people, the result shall be decided by Simple Majority – i.e. anything over 50% of votes cast (on the very rare occasions when the vote might be exactly split, a tie-breaker will be provided such that the voting period is extended for a further twenty four hours and those who previously abstained from voting are strongly urged to cast a vote);

ii. If a resolution is for proposed changes to the law it shall be decided by a Clear Majority – i.e. 55% or more of the votes cast.

e. Constitutional amendments

Resolutions for changes to this Constitution must be open to the whole electorate and will need a Clear Majority of at least 66% in favour of the change.

f. States of Emergency

Due democratic process may be temporarily suspended only in times of national emergency (see section 10).

g. Constitutional Malfeasance

Any state employee who knowingly misuses, corrupts or falsifies any part of the democratic process; or any other person who, acting in a professional capacity, deliberately misinforms others about any public debate, may be charged with constitutional malfeasance and brought before a magistrate’s court. If proven guilty, they shall be removed from their employment and forbidden from working in any similar role again. In addition, depending on the scale of their offence, they may be fined up to half the value of their material assets and imprisoned for up to five years.

Purpose – To broadly define the main components of the State together with their lines of communication and main responsibilities. No part of the system should exist unless the citizen has shown she wants it by freely volunteering her taxes to pay for it. Any citizen should be able to inspect at any time the financial records and accounts of any government office. Every person employed by the state should thus be aware that their first duty is to serve the citizen, not state officials, by ensuring the citizen’s constitutional rights and duties are acted upon and enforced in law; and to ensure that any employee of the state fully understands the importance of their responsibility and the penalties for any wilful abuse of that responsibility.

Britain shall be a Free Democratic Federal Republic whose sovereign authority is its people, and whose decision-making authority lies entirely within the hands of its people. The State comprises The Electorate, County Councils, the Senate, the Presidency, Parliament, and the Administration. Individual counties will have direct responsibility for their own government within the constraints of this constitution. The state administration will serve to help coordinate the activities of counties, when requested by the counties to do so, and to represent the nation of Britain at home and abroad.

Councillors, MPs, Senators and the President are all elected by the citizens, are directly accountable to their constituents, and may be dismissed by the citizens. No elected official outranks any other, as each serves those who elected them, and all receive the same conditions of service as Administration Managers. Public sector salaries and conditions of service will be reviewed not sooner than three years following a general election, and any changes to those salaries and conditions of service must be approved by the electorate. All elected positions are for a maximum term of four years at the end of which time they must be vacated. However, previously elected officials may stand for re-election.

RECALL.

Any elected official may be deselected from office if a Recall appeal by citizens so determines. Recall procedure shall be instigated if at least thirty four per cent of a statistically valid sample5 of voters in the area represented by that official petition for their removal from office. The petition shall include a written statement of the reason for the petition in not more than 250 words. The office must be resigned within five days of a lawful petition being delivered and new elections for that office immediately arranged. The Recalled representative may stand for re-election but must answer the Recall petition in a written statement of not more than 250 words. The newly elected official shall serve out the remaining time for that office as though the Recall had not occurred.

a. Public Servants

A public servant is any employee of the state, comprising both elected and unelected officials. Their first duty is to know this constitution and to serve the citizen through the proper administration of this constitution, disregarding (if necessary) any instruction they receive to the contrary. If any public servant ever needs to disregard any such instruction in order to perform their first duty they will not be subjected to any disciplinary action, but may refer the matter (if necessary) to a magistrate for a tribunal decision.

b. Financial Control of Public Services.

All public services will be wholly and directly financed by county and/or state Treasuries, which offices will be responsible for authorising, monitoring and reporting all public expenditure. All public services will make public every year a precise account of how public money has been used. That account will relate to the previous complete financial year, and the records of each and every accounting unit will be complete and accurate to within £10.

c. The Electorate:

i. is the sovereign decision-making authority of Britain. Only the electorate has the power to elect and recall local councillors, MPs, senators and the president; and the authority to initiate, make, change and repeal laws; and decide how their taxes are apportioned;

ii. comprises all British citizens sixteen years of age and older;

iii. is responsible for overseeing the administration of justice by partaking in juries, tribunals and commissions of inquiry;

d. An Elector (acting as an individual or as part of a group):

i. may petition for changes to the law and the constitution by obtaining 10% support of a statistically valid sample of voters from the area(s) that would be affected by the proposed change (50% support required for petitions to amend this constitution);

ii. may determine the order of business in local council and parliamentary debate;

iii. may vote (or not vote) in any public decision making debate;

iv. is entitled to access any information held by any public servant (personal details of citizens excepted – as in Section 2.b.xi and x above).

e. Elections to positions in the state administration.

i. Any person elected to any government position as a Free Democrat must sign a contract of allegiance to this constitution before they may take up office, and their first duty will be to protect and uphold this constitution and defend the constitutional rights of all citizens;

ii. no elected official shall ordinarily have any more decision-making authority than any other citizen (temporary states of emergency excepted);

iii. elections for all public offices shall be fully financed and administered by the state;

iv. external financing of election campaigns shall be prohibited and, where shown to have occurred, shall result in the deselection of that candidate and a charge of corruption considered for both the candidate and the person or organisation providing the funding;

v. shall be administered such that all candidates have equal opportunities to promote their candidature;

vi. where the number of candidates competing for a particular post is greater than five, preliminary rounds of elections shall be held to eliminate by half the number of candidates. This shall continue until five (or fewer) candidates are remaining, which number shall contest the final round;

vii. the winner shall be decided by a simple majority vote.

f. County Councils:

i. County councils are regional authorities responsible for:

1. drafting all by-laws for their county;
2. the collection and distribution of regional taxes;
3. administration of regional militias and civil defence forces;
4. the day to day provision of all public services within their region.

ii All administration of public services and all political decision-making will conform to constitutional requirements. County Councils are not answerable to the national organs of state (i.e. parliament and the senate), except under a State of Emergency – see Section 10 below – and will have the authority and the resources to administer their areas according to the constitution, the law, and the wishes of their electors.

iii Each council shall convene in a venue conveniently located for the majority of citizens living in that region. It shall be open to the public, and ensure its business and decision-making procedures are open and transparent and controlled by the citizens who reside there. Each council may operate according to its own constitution providing it does not conflict in substance from this constitution.

g. County Councillors:

Each county councillor shall represent not more than 10,000 citizens. County Councillors must:

i. be British citizens, and reside amongst the people they represent;

ii. be elected by a simple majority of eligible citizens;

iii. have passed examinations to at least matriculation level in political history, English language, economics and public accounting, and constitutional law;

iv. serve his or her electors by ensuring the proper administration of this constitution.

h. The Senate:

The Senate is responsible for overseeing the proper administration of this constitution across the nation. It comprises eight Secretaries of State – individuals elected to head the eight government departments which are: Treasury; Health; Education; Social Welfare; Foreign Affairs; Transport, Essential Services and Communications; Police and National Security; Arts and National Heritage. Senators have no more policy-making authority than any other citizen. They are responsible for coordinating the administration of their departments whenever Administration managers (see below) require it; and to agree with county councillors national standards and measurement criteria for public services which, once established, should not be changed for at least ten years.

Senators:

i. must have served at least one term of office as an MP or County Councillor, but cannot stand for election to the senate whilst serving in either of those capacities;

ii. be elected by a simple majority of eligible citizens;

iii. must be chosen not sooner than six months after a new parliament has been convened and not later than twelve months afterwards.

Chairmanship of the senate will rotate every three months between senators. The function of the Chair is to:

i. coordinate the activities of the Senate and its departments;

ii. oversee the proper management of the national budget.

i. The President:

The President:

i. must have served at least one term of office as a senator, MP or County Councillor, but cannot stand for election to presidential office whilst serving in any of those capacities;

ii. is the nominal head of state with overall administrative responsibility for representing the nation’s interests by ensuring national constitutional integrity;

iii. is elected by a simple majority of eligible citizens;

iv. must be chosen not sooner than twelve months after a new parliament has formed and not later than two years afterwards;

v. convenes and dissolves the senate and parliament as well as assuming responsibility for constitutional integrity of both houses.

j. Parliament:

Parliament is responsible for overseeing due process for public debates regarding national issues and drafting subsequent legislation. Each Member of Parliament:

i. represents one county, and is responsible for overseeing constitutional conformity within the council responsible for administration of public services in that county;

ii. must have served at least one term as a County Councillor, but cannot stand for parliament whilst serving as a County Councillor;

iii. must normally reside in the county they represent;

iv. must be chosen by the electors of that county.

k. The Administration:

The Administration comprises the body of unelected public servants who are employees of the State. Public administrators will comprise specialists, clerical support staff and managers. (See Addendum C for organisation models)

i. A specialist is any public servant who deals directly with the public, or whose primary role is in a professional non public-facing capacity such as accountants, lawyers and engineers. Specialists are elected to their posts by the co-workers with whom they work. Although specialists shall co-ordinate their activities by consensus with colleagues, they are individually accountable to a manager;

ii. Clerical support staff are administrators appointed by managers and provide logistical and communications support for specialists and managers. Clerical support staff are answerable to managers;

iii. Each manager is responsible for the overall organisation of a specific public service, including budget management. They are appointed by and directly answerable to specific elected officials such as a County Councillor, MP or Senator;

iv. Public servants will have contracts of employment with a specific county, or with the state, offering similar basic terms and provisions to private sector equivalents. Pay grade structures will not exist. People doing similar work will have the same rate of pay and conditions of service irrespective of age, gender, length of service or location;

v. Decisions regarding all operational issues and how procedural changes should be made will be by consensus of those specialists and support staff doing the work;

vi. Lines of communication between individuals and groups will be between equals, not hierarchical structures, and administered by managers but not directed by them;

vii. Conflicts that cannot be resolved locally or through official grievance procedures may be settled in magistrates’ courts;

viii. Any public servant may be individually accountable in law for infringing or failing to support the constitutional rights of citizens.

l. The Police

The police force will be the sole authority for maintaining homeland security. It will investigate all breaches of the law bringing suitable prosecutions before the appropriate court.

i. Each county is responsible for the maintenance and administration of its police force;

ii. Individual police officers will respect, enforce and defend the constitutional rights and duties of all citizens as their first duty, and may be personally liable for any failure to do so;

iii. Should any police officer receive an instruction that conflicts with any term of this constitution they are required to disregard it and report the matter to a magistrate’s court for adjudication;

iv. No officer referring a constitutional matter for adjudication shall be disciplined for doing so.

m. The Militia

Britain will not maintain a permanent standing fighting force. Each county will be required to train, equip and administer a voluntary militia capable of protecting British airspace, coastlines and mainland; and a civil defence force (CDF) capable of reacting to any national emergency.

i. The first duty of militia and CDF volunteers is to serve the sovereign people of Britain through this constitution, and should they receive an instruction that conflicts with any term of this constitution they are required to disregard it and report the matter to a magistrate’s court for adjudication;

ii. No volunteer referring a constitutional matter for adjudication shall be disciplined for doing so;

iii. Militia officers will be answerable to the MP of their county who will be their nominal commanding officer;

iv. The militia will only serve under British officers;

v. No member of the militia will bear arms against any unarmed citizen of Britain, the European Union or British Commonwealth; nor take or destroy the property of any citizen of Britain, the European Union or British Commonwealth;

vi. No member of the militia will take part in any war outside the territorial limits of Britain, the European Union or British Commonwealth, except as part of a properly constituted force legally authorised by the General Assembly of the United Nations;

vii. Volunteers for militia duty or civil defence service have the right to compensation from the state for loss of earnings, or for injuries sustained, whilst attending training courses or field exercises.

n. The Judiciary

The Judiciary comprises those administrators specialised in ensuring that justice is provided. It includes judges, magistrates, public defenders and prosecutors, and court officials. Judges preside in high courts and are specialists in criminal and company law whilst magistrates are specialists in constitutional, civil, contract and employment law.

High court verdicts will be decided by juries each comprising twelve citizens randomly selected from the local voters’ roll. Magistrate’s court verdicts will be decided by tribunal of two citizens randomly selected from the local voters’ roll, the magistrate voting only where the citizens’ decisions differ.

i. The judiciary is financed directly by the Treasury, and is independent of any controls other than this constitution;

ii. Whilst previous similar cases may be cited for purposes of legal argument, such cases will not establish binding precedent, and every hearing will be considered and decided solely on its unique circumstances;

iii. Whilst the letter of the law must be considered in all cases, it will be secondary in consideration to the purpose for which a law was made;

iv. Citizens are required to take responsibility for their own actions, and no question of compensation will be considered in situations where citizens have freely chosen to ignore potential hazard or risk, or where intentional harm or careless negligence against them cannot be established.

• Magistrates’ Courts

Any citizen may apply to a magistrate’s court for a ruling on his or her constitutional or employment rights, and the court is obliged to action that application. The state authorities and individual public servants may similarly apply for decisions regarding constitutional or civil law, and those applications will also be similarly actioned.

v. Anyone appearing before a magistrates’ court will be presumed innocent of causing an offence until otherwise proven;

vi. Citizens applying to magistrates’ courts for a constitutional or employment rights hearing may incur costs for doing so. The court administrator will decide if the court will charge for any hearing based only on the applicant’s chances of success. If it is ruled that an applicant must pay their own expenses but their action is subsequently successful, the court will refund the applicant’s costs;

vii. No citizen applying to the court on a question of their constitutional or employment rights will, on the grounds of cost alone, be denied the services of a legal specialist to represent them;

viii. No citizen applying to the court will be obliged to pay any legal costs other than their own;

ix. No citizen applying to the court on a question of their constitutional or employment rights may be charged a fee greater than ten times the local minimum wage hourly rate;

x. Verdicts will be decided by a tribunal comprising a magistrate and two citizens, the magistrate voting only if the citizens cannot agree;

xi. The court will have the power to reclaim its costs and award damages proportional to any injury or loss sustained, and will have the authority to enforce its judgements;

xii. A tribunal deciding a constitutional question may order any individual to produce specific information they may hold;

xiii. All cases shall normally be heard no sooner than one month and no later than three months of the initial application, and within four months at the latest. In the event of the four month limit being exceeded through suspected prevarication by one of the parties the decision will be awarded against that party;

xiv. Appeals may be heard at another magistrate’s court, but at the appellant’s expense. No more than two appeals for the same case shall be heard.

• High Courts

All criminal charges and other cases not provided for by the magistrates’ court will be heard in a high court presided over by a judge and jury comprising twelve citizens.

xv. Anyone appearing before a high court will be presumed innocent until proven guilty;

xvi. If a jury remains evenly split twenty four hours after its first vote, the verdict will be for acquittal;

xvii. The court will have the power to reclaim its costs and award damages proportional to any injury or loss sustained, and will have the authority to enforce its judgements;

xviii. All cases shall normally be heard no sooner than one month and no later than six months of the initial application, and seven months at the latest. In the event of the seven month limit being exceeded through suspected prevarication by one of the parties the decision will be awarded against that party;

xix. Appeals may be heard at another high court, but at the appellant’s expense. No more than two appeals for the same case shall be heard.

o. National Statistics Office (NSO)

The NSO will be tasked with deciding and maintaining a Constant Measurement Standard (CMS) for all public services and the economy. This will be a set of statistics whose definitions and standards of measurement will be constant. These statistics must be directly relevant to the daily lives of citizens, and whose definition and measurement is constantly maintained until they are no longer directly relevant to the daily lives of citizens.

Other measurement devices may be used for specific temporary purposes, but shall not replace any part of the CMS unless citizens so decide.

p. Corruption

Any person acting in a public or private capacity who knowingly misuses their position for personal gain or advantage, or for the personal gain or advantage of someone else, may be charged with corruption and brought before a magistrate’s court; or if they contrive to ignore information that results in such misuse they may be similarly charged. If proven guilty, they shall be removed from their employment, forbidden from working in any similar role again and forfeit the gain or advantage they made; in addition, depending on the severity of the crime, they may be fined up to half the value of their remaining material assets and imprisoned for up to ten years.

Purpose – To ensure the economy is managed independently of national and international financial institutions and maintained under the direct control of the citizen: to find an equal balance between the private sector’s right to make a profit and the state’s duty to protect the citizen’s rights through this constitution; to define the boundaries between public and private sector responsibilities for managing the economy; to guarantee the right of the private sector to maximise profits within the constraints of this constitution, the law of the land, compassion for animal life, and respect for the environment and human decency.

The marketplace shall be regulated to ensure that:

i. employee rights are protected;

ii. consumer rights are protected;

iii. animals are treated with care and compassion;

iv. the citizen and the state shall both be entitled to own land and property;

v. consumer choice is delivered;

vi. small business is nurtured;

vii. rogue trading is prevented;

viii. banks and financial services are entirely fit for purpose;

ix. basic insurance services are affordable for all workers, and are entirely fit for purpose.

Counties shall be economically autonomous, taking full responsibility for managing their own economies within the constraints of the constitution.

Taxation will not normally exceed 10% of income (but the top 5% of individual earners and businesses may be taxed up to 25%), but taxpayers will have the right to determine how their taxes are used. Capital flow into and from the country will be managed in such a way that all individuals, businesses and institutions honour their financial obligations to each other, and to the state. Public spending shall be transparent with all financial records freely available to the public. Public service departments will be directly funded from county and/or state treasuries. State investment in counties shall be in inverse proportion to the per capita income in those counties.

Central Monetary Principle:

To recognise and value the fact that the work of ordinary human beings is the foundation of all wealth; and therefore that their work should have a marketable monetary value such that a decent basic standard of living for an individual citizen may be provided in exchange for a minimum of twenty five hours work per week.

a. Ownership of Land

Purpose
All land shall be vested in the state, which shall have a duty of care to ensure it is properly used to benefit the nation as a whole, with an especial responsibility to preserve natural resources, protect national parks and wildlife and maintain a secure, healthy and happy living environment.

The state may invest its land holdings in a public bank, and the profits of such holdings shall be reinvested in the maintenance of state land.

i. The state will:

1. ensure that sufficient land is preserved for farming, market gardens and allotments such that the country is always able to provide enough food for its own consumption;

2. ensure that undeveloped land such as national parks, woodland, forests, moors and wetlands remain undeveloped (except where such development is required for their preservation);

3. prevent waterways, natural lakes and coastlines from being privately owned;

4. ensure that undeveloped land, waterways, natural lakes and coastlines are ‘free to roam’, though such rights might be confined to footpaths where it can be shown that such a restriction is necessary for preservation of the land or protection of wildlife, livestock and natural flora;

5. ensure that citizens are able to own land and property that comprises either their main place of residence or their main place of business;

6. ensure that all public highways and rights of way are free for anyone to use and are maintained in a sound and safe condition;

7. own a public park in every community where anyone can meet freely and exercise their constitutional rights and duties;

8. provide for land to be used for industrial development or mining, but shall ensure that an amount of money is provided for the cost of returning the land to such a condition where it may be used for agriculture, allotments, public recreation or for some other public purpose once its industrial purpose or use as a mine is no longer required; such an amount of money to be made available before any development takes place, and securely invested such that it cannot be used for any purpose other than restoring the land to public use;

9. ensure that land is provided for street markets to operate and small businesses to be nurtured, such land to be made available at a reasonable cost to the market trader/ small business person;

10. own sufficient land for the purpose of ensuring that no one is homeless unless they choose to be, and will ensure that any public housing is safe, secure and entirely fit for purpose.

ii. A citizen shall have the right to buy or sell the land and property that comprises their main place of residence or business.

iii. Trade in land ownership shall be regulated by statute such that profiteering is prevented, and managed in such a way that local residents have the right of ‘first refusal’ at prices they can reasonably afford.

iv. The activities of landlords shall be regulated by statute such that profiteering from rented property is forbidden and that rented property is safe, secure and fit for purpose. Tenancy agreements shall be required to meet statutory minima.

v. Land used for public communications, such as roads, rail and waterways; or for essential services, such as supplying water, electricity, gas or telecommunications, shall be owned by the state but used in such a way as to minimise damage to the environment, not to disrupt farming, and constructed in such a way as to minimise public nuisance.

vi. Ownership of land by people or organisations living or based outside the country shall not be permitted.

vii. The state may (or may not, as it sees fit) own the land where public buildings are situated, or where any state function takes place (such as communes).

viii. The state may compulsorily purchase land providing it can be shown that such a purchase is necessary to the people living near to that land or if it is in some other way beneficial to the country. Where the state does make such a compulsory purchase it will pay 10% more than the commercial valuation of that land, by way of compensation to the previous landowner.

ix. The state may provide for community-based organisations such as churches, charities, sports and social clubs to use state land free of charge providing the land and any buildings upon it are maintained in a good and safe condition, are used for the benefit of the community as a whole, and are democratically administered and managed such that no individual or group of individuals profit financially (essential employees excepted).

b. The Bank of England

The Bank of England shall be managed by the Treasury, acting on behalf of the taxpayer. Its management meetings will therefore be open to the public and the media, and its executive decisions open for public debate and vote like any other government decision-making process. The Bank of England shall control the issue, supply and circulation of money (banknotes and coins), manage foreign exchange and capital flows into and out of the country, manage base interest rates for borrowing and stability of pricing, set targets for inflation, and assume responsibility for the proper policing of all banking activities throughout the country.

Two thirds of the profits of the Bank of England will be distributed to the counties in inverse proportion to the per capita income of those counties.

c. The London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange will be managed independently of the Treasury but shall have Treasury representation on its board of directors, and its business will be regularly monitored by Treasury inspectors.

d. General Economic Principle

Central government shall aim to achieve balanced economic development throughout the country, especially with regard to limiting unemployment, controlling capital flight, inflation and base interest rates. The state will support and nurture the business community, but the business community must recognise and accept their social responsibilities to employees and citizens, and their duty to protect the environment, animal welfare and natural resources, as described in this constitution. The state will encourage long term sustainable business strategies; and though it may allow private individuals or companies to undertake high risk business ventures, the state will not finance those ventures in any way or relieve them if they fail. Although the general principle of economic freedom will be applied throughout the country, central and local authorities may propose temporary measures that depart from this principle providing such action is in the general economic interest of the people living and working in the areas concerned, and does not harm the environment, animal life or the national heritage.

Key social economic indicators (such as life expectancy, average hours worked per week, retirement age, and unemployment) shall be clearly defined in terms relevant and significant to the citizen, such definitions to be constantly and consistently applied until the citizen calls for their change.

The government may propose measures when necessary to protect the domestic economy from aggressive foreign markets by:

i. reducing overhead expenses of small businesses through concessions on tax, rent and service charges;

ii. providing vocational skills training;

iii. encouraging development of environmentally sound and ethically manufactured products by requiring producers to provide accessible and accurate information concerning the origin, quality, production methods and processing procedures for their foodstuffs or other products;

iv. managing import and export tariffs.

e. Machines of War, Weapons of War and Other War Materials

Britain will not permit the sale of machines of war, weapons of war or other war materials to other countries. Small arms sales will be restricted to state security services and those whose lawful professions or legitimate pastimes require the use of specific types of small calibre, non-automatic firearms (such as farmers, gamekeepers and gun clubs).

f. Animal Welfare

All businesses that use or deal in any way with live animals will ensure the very highest standards of animal welfare. They will not under any circumstances cause an animal to suffer pain or unnecessary stress; and any part of their business operation involving where animals live or work or how they are transported will be freely open to state or public inspection at any time. Penalties for animal abuse could require the closure of that business and the forfeiture to the state of the assets of the owner and managers of the business, as well as significant prison sentences for the owner, managers and all other individuals complicit in the abuse.

g. The Business Community

The business community will be independent of government controls with the following exceptions. It will:

i. abide by this constitution and other laws of the land;

ii. not make excessive profits on essential goods and services;

iii. honour agreements and contracts made, accepting the authority of magistrates’ courts to adjudicate in disputes and to directly sequester funds for reparations when necessary;

iv. provide all employees with contracts of employment defining their conditions of service, duties and responsibilities; and accept the authority of magistrates’ courts to arbitrate in employment disputes and to directly sequester funds for reparations when necessary;

v. make available to state inspectors for their examination any property or premises owned by the business, or any information about the business, within twenty four hours of being notified of such an inspection.

h. The State

The state:

i. may launch initiatives to boost the economy in depressed areas giving preference to initiatives likely to produce or help facilitate long term employment and self-sustaining enterprises;

ii. may intervene to protect the economy in times of national emergency, and uphold the law, or to protect small businesses from unfair competition;

iii. will protect the consumer and business community by:

1. providing an economic climate that supports fair competition between domestic suppliers of goods and services,
2. administering national trading standards,
3. preventing profiteering by suppliers of essential foods, medicines, fuel and utilities such as gas, electricity, water and telecommunications; and especially ensuring that these essential items are available to vulnerable groups;

iv. may permit public sector organisations and communes:

1. to charge for additional services not protected by constitutional rights,
2. to campaign for investment from the private sector,
3. to save and accrue funds for specific high cost projects.

v. shall legislate to ensure that off-shore banking facilities and other tax havens are not accessible to British businesses or foreign businesses based in Britain;

vi. may impose tariffs in order to nurture the domestic economy;

vii. shall impose limits and restrictions on intellectual property rights to balance reasonable rewards for innovation without causing undue constraint on new invention;

viii. will not impose trade sanctions against other countries or be party to any other form of economic warfare against any other nation.

i. Taxation

County councils are responsible for:

i. collection of all taxes in their areas, 10% of which total amount must be delivered to the state Treasury;

ii. managing county spending according to the wishes of those taxpayers who provided the revenue.

Income tax shall not normally exceed 10% of income for individuals and businesses (and may be less at the discretion of the relevant council for cases of particular financial difficulty). However, the top 5% of the highest individual earners and richest businesses may be taxed up to 25%.

Value Added Tax (VAT) may be charged on any goods and services, but will not exceed 10% of the cost to the purchaser of those goods or services (and may be less at the discretion of the relevant council for cases of particular financial difficulty). Luxury goods (to be defined by statute) shall incur up to 25% VAT.

National Insurance (NI) will be collected from employees at the rate of 10% of income (half to be paid by employers), to be used to help people in times of unemployment, to help fund accident and emergency services, and to contribute towards disability and old age pensions. The top 5% of individual earners will contribute 25%.

Taxpayers will have the right to choose, if they wish to do so, which public departments benefit from their taxes.

The state is responsible for controlling and collecting international trade tariffs and duties, which rates shall be determined by statute.

a. Rights

i. Censorship

State imposed censorship of any form is forbidden. The state will defend the right of the press, media and artists to unrestricted freedom of expression;

ii. Freedom of Information

British media and broadcasting authorities have the right to unrestricted access to information held by public bodies (providing that such access does not infringe any part of this constitution); and access to all state decision making events and processes; iii. Artists and those providing venues for artists to work will not require specific licensing.

b. Responsibilities

i. These constitutional powers permitted to media, press and artists offer no protection against charges of libel, slander or violations of constitutional rights. Companies and individuals will accept responsibility for their own actions, and liability for compensation for damages if appropriate. However, compensation awards for such claims shall not be excessive, and in proportion to the unjustified physical loss, damage or harm actually sustained.

ii. State Media Services

The state media has the same entertainment rights as any other broadcaster, but with the additional responsibility of ensuring that its coverage of political events is founded on compassion for all living creatures, and concern for the long term sustainability of all the world’s ecosystems. Public information financed by the state shall conform to the highest standards of accuracy, and shall reflect and give equal weight to conflicting points of view.

Purpose – To provide for the care and protection of all animals; and the preservation and proper management of national parks and places of natural and historical significance; to preserve cultural traditions, languages and customs; to ensure that Britain is capable of feeding itself, but without necessarily requiring it to do so; that affordable, efficient and reliable transport and telecommunications are maintained. This section also aims to ensure the consumption of renewable resources does not exceed the rate they are replenished, and that energy supplies are efficient, affordable and largely harmless to people, animals and the environment.

a. National parks, endangered wildlife, agricultural land and places of natural and historical significance will be defined by statute, and preserved, protected from harm or conserved.

b. All animals shall be protected by law from human cruelty or negligence.

c. The state will ensure that agricultural land and agricultural services are sufficient to feed the population.

d. All counties shall be required to provide and enforce legislation protecting the environment from manmade damage and pollution, and ensuring that renewable resources are not consumed at a rate greater than they are replaced.

e. Local traditions, languages and customs may be protected by statute providing they do not conflict with these constitutional rights.

f. Water supplies, essential services and other natural resources may be defined and protected by statute to ensure they are not exhausted at the expense of future generations. Policies encouraging the use of renewable energy supplies should be supported in preference to those requiring fossil fuels.

g. The state has overall responsibility for maintaining an efficient public transport and telecommunications system, with counties individually responsible for general administration and maintenance of these services in their areas.

h. The state will ensure that no citizen is denied access to secure shelter, food and clean water, basic energy supplies, communications, and public transport.

The protections relating to this clause may not be changed without ballots attracting 75% support from counties that would be specifically affected by proposed changes.

Purpose – To define the rights and responsibilities of both the state and the citizen with regard to social welfare. No citizen shall be without food and potable water, clothing, secure shelter and access to basic medical care, unless they choose to be without them.

Counties are individually responsible for containing social spending within the limits of their budgets whilst providing for:

a. ensuring that no child or citizen is without warm clothing, secure shelter, nourishing food, facilities for maintaining personal hygiene, and basic health care.

i. Citizens permanently needing such support from the state will receive it;

ii. The state shall establish and maintain sheltered accommodation centres within communes where the basic material provisions of this section may be supplied directly to those citizens who need them;

iii. Citizens of working age who are normally able to work will accept that state support is intended only for temporary use, and they will comply with welfare support services’ efforts to restore them to independent living;

iv. Any claim by the citizen to the social rights described in this section are dependent on their acceptance of a duty to work for a minimum of twenty five hours per week, if capable of doing so – such work to be provided by the state if necessary.

b. paying unemployment, sickness, disability, maternity benefits and retirement pensions, as well as providing social care and emergency services.

i. Citizens of working age who are able to work will recognise their duty to do so and to contribute at least 10% of their earnings (half of which shall be paid by employers) towards the state National Insurance scheme, and a further 10% of their earnings towards income tax.

c. managing their own systems for punishment and rehabilitation of offenders.

i. Prison facilities must adequately remove career criminals from the law abiding community;

ii. The rights of convicted criminals will always be secondary in consideration to the victims of their crimes;

iii. Rehabilitation services will only be accessible to criminals who sincerely accept responsibility for their crimes and have a genuine intention to reform;

d. protecting employment rights.

i. Standard minimum employment rights shall be protected by statute, and assumed in all cases where employers fail to provide contracts which comply with state minima.

e. communes.

Each county will establish and maintain communes with the following basic principles:

i. The commune will be managed by a supervisor, who shall be a resident elected by citizens living and working there; and run according to its own operating constitution, which shall not conflict in substance with this constitution;

ii. The supervisor will normally serve for one year and then stand down for a new supervisor to be elected. A supervisor may serve more than one term, but may not serve consecutive appointments;

iii. A state administrator will be appointed to serve the commune by working with the supervisor to ensure conformity with this constitution and to provide liaison with the wider state;

iv. The commune may organise itself and its workers in any lawful manner, but all work is to be equally valued i.e. an hour of one person’s labour is equal in value to an hour of any other person’s labour;

v. The commune shall try to pay its own way, but may apply for, and receive, state assistance to do so. No one person shall profit financially from the commune, with any income generated being returned to the commune;

vi. People using the commune will be either resident or non-resident. All of these people shall have a right to use all the facilities of the commune providing they adhere to its rules;

vii. The commune will provide any resident or non-resident with the basic necessities stipulated in this constitution;

viii. Non-residents may have full access to the commune facilities providing they work for the commune for at least twenty five hours a week in whatever capacity the commune decides;

ix. Any citizen will have the right to live in a commune, but if they are of working age they shall commit to working for at least twenty five hours a week in whatever capacity the commune decides – such work to be within the citizen’s capabilities;

x. Citizens working in a commune for the minimum twenty five hours will not be paid, but remunerated instead by having access to all the commune’s facilities;

xi. No citizen will have to work for the commune for more than twenty five hours a week, but may do so if work is available there and if they want to – such work to be regarded as overtime and remunerated at the national minimum wage;

xii. Citizens working in the commune may also work outside it if they choose to do so, but the work of the commune shall take priority;

xiii. Retired people living in a commune may work if they choose, but shall not be required to do so.

Purpose – To provide contingency arrangements for times of war (see NOTE below) or natural disaster.

The president, acting on the authority of parliament, may declare a state of emergency either in a particular region, or nationally during times of war or natural disaster. A state of emergency will not be declared for longer than three months, but may be renewed by the support of a majority of parliamentary MPs. Decision-making may be devolved to elected councillors and MPs from the relevant areas for the duration of the declared state of emergency; but such decisions will be identified as a state of emergency decision and be valid only for the duration of the state of emergency.

The military will never under any circumstances assume command over the nation’s elected representatives, but may advise those representatives, when asked to do so, during the course of the emergency.

States of emergency may result in temporary suspension of the citizen’s right to control the decision-making process. But such suspensions may only be justified when essential communications are not working correctly, and may only last until communications are working normally once more. A state of emergency will not affect any of the citizen’s other basic rights or duties as described in Section Two and Section Three above.

NOTE - Times of war or temporary states of emergency – For the purposes of this clause, the meaning of ‘war’ should be specific to the invasion of foreign armed forces within the territorial boundaries of Britain. Temporary states of emergency should be declared only when a natural disaster has destroyed the normal means of communication upon which the proper administration of this constitution depends, and applied only to areas directly affected by that loss of communication, and last only for the duration of that loss of communication.

Purpose: The People’s Constitution accepts the right of any person to practice the religion of their choice, and to peacefully practice the customs and rituals of any religion. However, the constitution does not recognise the right of any religious authority to infringe the rights and duties of any citizen as defined in this constitution, and where such religious authority does conflict with such rights and duties the constitution will take precedence. Therefore in the absence of any established religion, the People’s Constitution promotes the following ethical guidance.

The first premise of this guide is that the existence of God (or gods) has never been proven, and until such proof is forthcoming it must be the duty of mortals to establish a humane and compassionate code for their own existence, and that of all living things, and for the long term viability of all living things on our planet. The core assumptions of this guide are that the purpose of human existence is the pursuit of happiness, which can only be found in helping to provide happiness for others, extending compassion to all living creatures, and in preserving our environment and natural resources for the benefit and happiness of future generations. No one should define someone else’s happiness, nor hinder their search for it, providing that search does not cause suffering to other living creatures, deny the happiness of others, or cause harm to the environment, or other people’s property.

These articles are not, of themselves, enforceable in law. They are standards of right and wrong to which every citizen should voluntarily adhere in order to facilitate peaceful co-existence with each other, and with all living creatures.

1. You should not take the life of another person.

Although the stricture that we should not take the lives of others is probably as old as human society itself, there has possibly never been a period in history where the taking of life has not been legitimised by some war or another; or assumed by the state in the shape of lawful execution. Although a very few of these wars and executions may indeed have been just, their number is tiny relative to the far greater number of unjust wars and executions.

Similarly, it is unlikely there are many doctors who have not at some stage hastened the death of some suffering soul. Clearly there are rare and exceptional circumstances when the taking of another life might be totally justified, such as defending one’s self or family against lethal attack, or ending terminal suffering; but this number is so very small that the general case must be that taking another person’s life is absolutely wrong.

2. You should not intentionally harm anyone or cause undue suffering to any living creature.

Exceptions are obviously similar to point 1 above.

3. You should always try to make others happy.

It is not always possible to do this as some people have a natural disposition to be miserable and will go to extraordinary lengths to have their way. So where it is unusually difficult to please others through their own desire not to be pleased, a refusal to add to their troubles should suffice. A genuine pleasure in helping to facilitate the happiness of others whenever possible is natural to most people; it is an instinctive human characteristic that should be treasured and nurtured.

4. You should not steal.

6. You should honour the agreements you make with others.

One of the most common sources of discontent and suffering is the failure of people to keep to agreements they make. Agreements should not be entered into unless there is a genuine commitment to honour them.

7. You should help to preserve and protect the environment.

Do nothing to intentionally or negligently damage, harm or foul the flora and fauna, public facilities or others’ private property; nor should you support any person or organisation who behaves recklessly in this regard.

8. You should treat all people with the same courtesy, respect and objectivity you hope others will extend towards you.

We each have a right to be different, but can only claim that right for ourselves if we extend it to others.

9. You should not behave with careless indifference to the feelings of others, or with reckless negligence of the consequences of your actions.

All of us say and do things that occasionally hurt others in some way. It is impossible not to. The essential component of this principle is intention. If we do not intend to harm others, we should not be judged as harshly as those who do intend it, or those who do not care about the harm they cause.

10. You should not be oversensitive to the words and actions of others when they clearly have not intended harm.

The other side of the same coin. If someone has offended you but clearly did not intend to do so, or has not been recklessly negligent in their actions, then the possibility is that you are being oversensitive to whatever it is they said or did, and it is you that is at fault, not them.

11. You should not manipulate or use others to do wrong.

People who choose to live outside the law frequently use or pay others to be immoral or break the law for them. Manipulators such as these are more evil than those they influence or use, and should always be regarded as such.

12. You should take responsibility for your own actions, compensating others if your choices cause them material loss or damage.

13. Women should not have more than two children.

The planet has been overpopulated for many years. This is the single most important factor behind the ecological destruction of our environment. The state should make provision to ensure that any woman who wishes to have a child is able to do so, whilst also encouraging women ordinarily to have no more than two children.

14. You should work to the best of your ability in order to provide for yourself and your family, seeking the temporary welfare of the state only at times of genuine need.

The state is obligated to help unemployed people find work, providing reasonable employment for anyone who is able to work but is struggling to find it. Citizens should always accept such assistance or work (even as a temporary measure) in the absence of any alternative employment and in preference to not working and claiming state welfare.