DirectDemocracy - gleanings from Switzerland 🇨🇭 - There’s no perfect way, but is there a better way? Is. 58:12 - https://xitter.cf/t.co/5qmemwqh9w 🐉 🗡️
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From my latest book, Democracy – Swiss Style (Small is the New Big):
In Switzerland, the people are the ultimate sovereign authority. To uphold that sovereignty, citizens have access to a wide range of democratic instruments designed to ensure their power remains intact. Below are two excerpts from my new book that explain these tools and how they are structurally embedded in the Swiss Constitution.
#DirectDemocracy
Direct Democracy Gregory retweeted
🇨🇭 The Fiscal Shield 🛡️
In Switzerland they installed a debt break, a constitutional rule introduced in 2003, following approval by approximately 85% of Swiss voters in a 2001 referendum.
Its purpose was and is to prevent the federal government from continually spending more than it can sustainably afford, passing the burden of debt to future generations.
The principle is straightforward: government spending must be aligned with revenue over the economic cycle.
This allows flexibility during recessions and exceptional emergencies, while requiring financial discipline in normal economic conditions.
Rather than relying on politicians to restrain borrowing voluntarily, the debt brake establishes a binding framework for managing public money responsibly.
The results have been significant. Between 2003 and 2019, Switzerland reduced its federal debt by approximately CHF 27 billion.
Lower debt also helped limit interest costs, leaving more public money available for other priorities.
Academic research has found evidence that the debt brake contributed to improved fiscal outcomes, although economic growth and other policy decisions have also played a part.
The Swiss model demonstrates how constitutional safeguards and democratic accountability can work together to protect public finances.
Its central lesson is that governments should retain the flexibility to respond to genuine crises, but should not routinely finance today’s spending by leaving tomorrow’s taxpayers with the bill.
If the UK had more #DirectDemocracy maybe it wouldn’t have 3 trillion of debt. Something to learn here from the Swiss.
The Fiscal Shield 🛡️ A Sure Protection
🇨🇭 The Fiscal Shield 🛡️
In Switzerland they installed a debt break, a constitutional rule introduced in 2003, following approval by approximately 85% of Swiss voters in a 2001 referendum.
Its purpose was and is to prevent the federal government from continually spending more than it can sustainably afford, passing the burden of debt to future generations.
The principle is straightforward: government spending must be aligned with revenue over the economic cycle.
This allows flexibility during recessions and exceptional emergencies, while requiring financial discipline in normal economic conditions.
Rather than relying on politicians to restrain borrowing voluntarily, the debt brake establishes a binding framework for managing public money responsibly.
The results have been significant. Between 2003 and 2019, Switzerland reduced its federal debt by approximately CHF 27 billion.
Lower debt also helped limit interest costs, leaving more public money available for other priorities.
Academic research has found evidence that the debt brake contributed to improved fiscal outcomes, although economic growth and other policy decisions have also played a part.
The Swiss model demonstrates how constitutional safeguards and democratic accountability can work together to protect public finances.
Its central lesson is that governments should retain the flexibility to respond to genuine crises, but should not routinely finance today’s spending by leaving tomorrow’s taxpayers with the bill.
If the UK had more #DirectDemocracy maybe it wouldn’t have 3 trillion of debt. Something to learn here from the Swiss.
The Fiscal Shield 🛡️ A Sure Protection
Direct Democracy Gregory retweeted
Yep - I agree with that
𝗦𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲’𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁-𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀.
From 2019 to 2024, real GDP per person rose:
🇨🇭 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱: +5.8%
OECD average: 𝗮 +6.4%
🇩🇪 🇧🇪 🇫🇷 🇫🇮 Germany, Belgium, France & Finland: 𝗮 +1.3% average
𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲.
These are not failed states. They have skilled workers, strong institutions and advanced industries.
Yet governments absorbing around half of GDP delivered near-stagnant living standards.
Energy shocks, ageing and industrial weakness matter. But so do high taxes, dense regulation, expanding transfers and a public sector that leaves less room for investment, innovation and risk-taking.
𝗦𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆—𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀.
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆.
Direct Democracy Gregory retweeted
“Digital Finance’s Achilles’ Heel: When the Cloud Goes Down, Your Money Goes With It”
🚨 Google lost power in London this morning and Revolut, a bank with 80 million customers, went down with it.
I've spent the morning reading what Revolut users went through. It's wild.
People stranded at petrol stations, unable to pay for fuel or a taxi to the airport.
One traveller couldn't get out of a train station in Japan.
A 71-year-old woman stood at a supermarket till for an hour. Her kid had to drive 30km to bring her cash.
Card payments, transfers, ATM withdrawals, currency exchange, share trading. All down.
Revolut's statement said "all our customers' money and data are safe."
Safe. You just can't touch it.
Google's explanation so far is a "power event" in one zone of its London cloud region. Its advice to affected customers was to move their workloads to another zone or region "if feasible."
Must be nice. Revolut customers couldn't even move £10.
In July the UK government put Google Cloud, AWS, Microsoft and Oracle under direct Bank of England oversight, because one outage at any of them could shake the entire financial system.
12 days ago the Bank of England ran a drill with the UK's 38 biggest banks and market operators. The scenario they practised was a global cloud outage.
And exactly one year ago today, AWS went down and took Lloyds and Halifax with it.
Same date. Different cloud. Lloyds was having problems again this morning.
Revolut spent five years earning a UK banking licence.
Bitcoin has been running for almost 18 years. It doesn't have a London region.
Direct Democracy Gregory retweeted
2026 - Switzerland is officially the worlds 3rd most peaceful country.
2026 Global Peace Index (GPI), published by the Institute for Economics & Peace.
🇨🇭 Switzerland has ranked third among the world’s most peaceful countries in 2026, behind Iceland (1st) and New Zealand (2nd). The index assesses 163 countries and territories using 23 indicators across:
🇨🇭 societal safety and security
🇨🇭 ongoing domestic & international conflict,
🇨🇭 and militarisation.
In a world seemingly on fire 🔥 it says a lot. Perhaps Switzerland has something to teach us!
gpi.economicsandpeace.org
I wonder if it has anything to do with its political system of #DirectDemocracy ?
Direct Democracy Gregory retweeted
Lots of evidence coming out now!
Hallucinant ! (cf vidéo ⤵️)
Le maire de Marseille doit absolument publier les vidéos qu’il dit détenir !
➡️ Les Blackblocs laissés libres de casser sans être arrêtés, sous les yeux de policiers !
« Il y a eu un mouvement.
Les forces de sécurité se sont écartées de la mairie.
Les casseurs sont alors entrés dans la mairie.
Puis ils sont ressortis libres de la mairie alors que la police était à l’intérieur ! »
« Je veux savoir qui a donné les ordres et qui a demandé à ce qu’on les relâche ! »
« Ensuite ils ont continué d’aller casser la ville ! »…
➡️ Diffusez svp : il faut toute la vérité !
“Digital Finance’s Achilles’ Heel: When the Cloud Goes Down, Your Money Goes With It”
🚨 Google lost power in London this morning and Revolut, a bank with 80 million customers, went down with it.
I've spent the morning reading what Revolut users went through. It's wild.
People stranded at petrol stations, unable to pay for fuel or a taxi to the airport.
One traveller couldn't get out of a train station in Japan.
A 71-year-old woman stood at a supermarket till for an hour. Her kid had to drive 30km to bring her cash.
Card payments, transfers, ATM withdrawals, currency exchange, share trading. All down.
Revolut's statement said "all our customers' money and data are safe."
Safe. You just can't touch it.
Google's explanation so far is a "power event" in one zone of its London cloud region. Its advice to affected customers was to move their workloads to another zone or region "if feasible."
Must be nice. Revolut customers couldn't even move £10.
In July the UK government put Google Cloud, AWS, Microsoft and Oracle under direct Bank of England oversight, because one outage at any of them could shake the entire financial system.
12 days ago the Bank of England ran a drill with the UK's 38 biggest banks and market operators. The scenario they practised was a global cloud outage.
And exactly one year ago today, AWS went down and took Lloyds and Halifax with it.
Same date. Different cloud. Lloyds was having problems again this morning.
Revolut spent five years earning a UK banking licence.
Bitcoin has been running for almost 18 years. It doesn't have a London region.
Direct Democracy Gregory retweeted
🚨 Google lost power in London this morning and Revolut, a bank with 80 million customers, went down with it.
I've spent the morning reading what Revolut users went through. It's wild.
People stranded at petrol stations, unable to pay for fuel or a taxi to the airport.
One traveller couldn't get out of a train station in Japan.
A 71-year-old woman stood at a supermarket till for an hour. Her kid had to drive 30km to bring her cash.
Card payments, transfers, ATM withdrawals, currency exchange, share trading. All down.
Revolut's statement said "all our customers' money and data are safe."
Safe. You just can't touch it.
Google's explanation so far is a "power event" in one zone of its London cloud region. Its advice to affected customers was to move their workloads to another zone or region "if feasible."
Must be nice. Revolut customers couldn't even move £10.
In July the UK government put Google Cloud, AWS, Microsoft and Oracle under direct Bank of England oversight, because one outage at any of them could shake the entire financial system.
12 days ago the Bank of England ran a drill with the UK's 38 biggest banks and market operators. The scenario they practised was a global cloud outage.
And exactly one year ago today, AWS went down and took Lloyds and Halifax with it.
Same date. Different cloud. Lloyds was having problems again this morning.
Revolut spent five years earning a UK banking licence.
Bitcoin has been running for almost 18 years. It doesn't have a London region.
Direct Democracy Gregory retweeted
And as you have said many time’s Greg our direct democracy gives voters a regular veto on tax hikes and big spending, which helps explain why the productive economy has more room to grow.
Yep - I agree with that
𝗦𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲’𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁-𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀.
From 2019 to 2024, real GDP per person rose:
🇨🇭 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱: +5.8%
OECD average: 𝗮 +6.4%
🇩🇪 🇧🇪 🇫🇷 🇫🇮 Germany, Belgium, France & Finland: 𝗮 +1.3% average
𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲.
These are not failed states. They have skilled workers, strong institutions and advanced industries.
Yet governments absorbing around half of GDP delivered near-stagnant living standards.
Energy shocks, ageing and industrial weakness matter. But so do high taxes, dense regulation, expanding transfers and a public sector that leaves less room for investment, innovation and risk-taking.
𝗦𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆—𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀.
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆.
Lots of evidence coming out now!
Hallucinant ! (cf vidéo ⤵️)
Le maire de Marseille doit absolument publier les vidéos qu’il dit détenir !
➡️ Les Blackblocs laissés libres de casser sans être arrêtés, sous les yeux de policiers !
« Il y a eu un mouvement.
Les forces de sécurité se sont écartées de la mairie.
Les casseurs sont alors entrés dans la mairie.
Puis ils sont ressortis libres de la mairie alors que la police était à l’intérieur ! »
« Je veux savoir qui a donné les ordres et qui a demandé à ce qu’on les relâche ! »
« Ensuite ils ont continué d’aller casser la ville ! »…
➡️ Diffusez svp : il faut toute la vérité !
Direct Democracy Gregory retweeted
Hallucinant ! (cf vidéo ⤵️)
Le maire de Marseille doit absolument publier les vidéos qu’il dit détenir !
➡️ Les Blackblocs laissés libres de casser sans être arrêtés, sous les yeux de policiers !
« Il y a eu un mouvement.
Les forces de sécurité se sont écartées de la mairie.
Les casseurs sont alors entrés dans la mairie.
Puis ils sont ressortis libres de la mairie alors que la police était à l’intérieur ! »
« Je veux savoir qui a donné les ordres et qui a demandé à ce qu’on les relâche ! »
« Ensuite ils ont continué d’aller casser la ville ! »…
➡️ Diffusez svp : il faut toute la vérité !
Direct Democracy Gregory retweeted
Marie Choquet, commerçante à Lyon
"quand j'ai vu les pillages sur les caméras de videodurveillance, j'ai appelé la police.
Reponse : "NOUS AVONS ORDRE DE NE PAS INTERVENIR"
Ayant repéré les pilleurs, réponse de la police "ORDRE DE NE PAS INTERVENIR"
Qui n'a toujours pas compris ?
Direct Democracy Gregory retweeted
الست الفرنسية المزهولة دي .. عضوة في حزب اليسار الفرنسي وناشطة من اكبر دعاة فتح الهجرة لشعوب شمال افريقيا وبتدافع عنهم كل مايعملوا مصيبة وكارثة وتتهم الأخرين اللي عايزين يوقفوا طوفان الهمج دول بالعنصرية ...
هي عندها محل شيك صغير في مكان راقي وقفت في محلها تحاول تنقذه من النهب والسرقة وعشان هي ناشطة مشهورة
بتقولهم انا فلانة الناشطة بتاعة اللجوء انا معاكوا انا دافعت عنكم وعن دخولكم و بقائكم في فرنسا زقوها وقعوها وداسوا عليها بأقدامهم كويس انها لسه حية
ونهبوا المحل كله الست بقت علي الحديدة خسرت كل كفاح وشغل عمرها في لحظة ..
واقفة مذهولة مش مصدقة ان اللصوص الغوغاء المجرمين البرابرة دول هما اللي طول عمرها بتدافع عنهم وعن انهم يغزوا بلدها ويخربوه
عشان شهرتها في الدفاع عن لاجئين شمال افريقيا كل الميديا الفرنسية امبارح جايبة قصتها وصورتها قدام محلها المنهوب شقي عمرها كله وهي مش مصدقة مدي غبائها اللي وصل فرنسا للخراب والدمار ده كله 😢
Direct Democracy Gregory retweeted
Chancellor John Healey is considering introducing an income tax on parents who pass their business down to their children.
Yet again, the Labour government are hell-bent on punishing family businesses.
This isn’t a growth strategy. It’s a vindictive wrecking ball strategy.
Yep
In Switzerland this wouldn’t even get a look in. Government in Switzerland has to consider laws that will get past the people or there would be a referendum and the results would be constitutionally binding under their system of #DirectDemocracy. Government in Switzerland therefore only comes up with ideas they think they could get through. Such a tax, wouldn’t. UK needs some direct democracy tools I think.
