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Communities in Control

I absolutely confirm that the White Paper places an emphasis on the representative democracy that is at the heart of our democratic system. Over the past 12 months, I have been trying to establish that involving more people in more decisions is not a threat to representative democracy, but a chance to strengthen it. I am worried that political systems are becoming remote from ordinary people, who feel that it is difficult to break into them. I want to make sure that people feel more connected and that politicians in their communities are listening to what they say and acting accordingly. That is vital, if we are to rebuild the bonds of trust, which the right hon. Gentleman, like me, considers to be extremely important to our democracy.