Chair welcomes prospect of UK constitutional convention
28 July 2014
The Chair of the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee, Graham Allen MP, today welcomed reports that the prospect of a UK constitutional convention is being discussed by the Government but urged that there should be a commitment before the Scottish Referendum to hold such a convention.
He said
"I was pleased to read at the weekend that the prospect of a constitutional convention for the UK was discussed at a meeting between the Prime Minister and the First Minister of Wales. My Committee published a report last year on the need for a constitutional convention for the UK. We noted that, regardless of the result of the 2014 referendum on Scotland’s independence, there was a need to consider both how the increasingly devolved parts of the Union interact with each other, and what we, as residents of the UK, want the Union to look like going forward.
Senior politicians need to all go on record now to say that ‘we equally support the two principles of Union and Devolution.’ This becomes credible if we have a clear commitment to devolution for England too, with local government as the vehicle for that.
In our report, we asked the Government to consider, among other options, preparations for a UK-wide constitutional convention, including decisions about its form and organisation, and the process of calling for evidence. The Government’s initial response was cautious, but I am delighted that there is now growing recognition of the need for a constitutional convention and I hope that our preparatory work will prove useful as these discussions develop."