Big ideas about the decline of democracy, the UK's voting system and privatisation of public services are discussed in a new book by a north Norfolk author.

Alicia Hull, 80, from Roughton, has penned 'It’s All Up To Us Now! The ABC of Democratic Failure in the UK and What Civil Society Can Do About It’.

Mrs Hull said she was prompted to write the book because of what she saw as biased views in the media.

She said: "It was not just the assumptions being made, it was also all those policies and ideas being ignored. Debate was being severely restricted. The public were not being informed.

"I felt that as conditions in the world were far from perfect it seemed current policies weren’t working, we should examine our current assumptions about democracy and capitalism and policies more critically.

"It questions the damaging myths and slogans that have controlled public debate.

"And shows that change is possible by outlining a range of potential solutions, both global and national."

Mrs Hull said the book concluded that only "civil society" could tackle the problems it faced.

She said: "Civil society has the will, the knowledge and the duty.

"We must not continue to sleep walk into disaster. The book stresses that an ‘alternative government of national unity’ directed by citizens’ assemblies is the only solution that can work in time."

Mrs Hull, a former teacher who worked in the special needs department at Gresham's until 2000, said she had learned a lot during the process of putting the book together.

Ms Hull is active in the group Holt for Peace, her local branch of the Green Party, and the North Norfolk District Council environment Ffrum.

She said of the challenges of writing the book: "It was a huge topic to take on and I had to check most of my ideas against other reports.

"It was also difficult to find the time, as campaigning with others on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and nuclear weapons etc, seemed equally important and perhaps more powerful. And I might have just been wasting my time writing.

"Lockdown provided me with lots more information and the time to complete the book."

The book is available in bookshops, or can be ordered directly from Mrs Hull for £7.50 by emailing shopwisely4climate@myphone.coop.