AROUND 2003 I was a born again Eurosceptic.

I read everything I could about the subject. EU membership is in fact a democratic issue where many people believe an elected government does not have the right to transfer the functions of government to an offshore, foreign organisation.

The people are the source of political sovereignty, not parliament or the Queen.

At this time I realised the fundamental flaw in our ‘representative’ system of democracy.

What is to stop a representative from acting in their own interest or anyone for that matter?

I believe this is happening on a widespread basis and is becoming ever more apparent.

Who of us can tell what deals are done between construction companies or banks and our politicians?

Having identified the problem, what is the solution?

They say if you want a job done right, do it yourself.

Our representative democracy has been abused and the only answer is a direct system where the people can either act as a veto or even initiate laws.

To that effect the Harrogate Agenda was born. Six demands in the style of the Chartists. We can start by supporting this petition on the government website: https:// petition.parliament.uk/ petitions/128366.

Stuart Noyes, Vigo Road, Andover