Further debate on written constitution summary and reform options
9 March 2015
The Political and Constitutional Reform Committee reports today on the broad consultation it held during 2014 on options for constitutional codification.
- Report: Consultation on A new Magna Carta?
- Report: Consultation on A new Magna Carta? (PDF)
- Inquiry: Report: Consultation on A new Magna Carta?
- Political and Constitutional Reform Committee
Background
In July 2014 the Committee published three blueprints for constitutional codification, including a full written constitution, and asked the public to send in their comments on the drafts.
Some 3,000 people engaged in the consultation exercise, through written submissions, surveys and social media: the Committee has asked the author of the three blueprints, Professor Robert Blackburn of King’s College London, to review the comments and to update his drafts.
Further debate
Responding to calls for a clearer and more accessible text for debate on a written constitution, the Committee today publishes a draft summary constitution, with options for reform, which it hopes will stimulate further debate on constitutional issues.
- Members of the public can further contribute to the debate by taking a short survey
- Or emailing pcrc@parliament.uk
- or by using #UKconstitution on social media.
Recommendations
The Committee was appointed for the lifetime of the present Parliament to consider political and constitutional reform issues. It strongly recommends that a similar committee be set up in the new Parliament to take its work forward; if not, it recommends that an existing committee with a remit to consider constitutional issues should carry on its work.
Graham Allen MP, Chair of the Committee, said:
“We have been really encouraged by the public response to the proposals for constitutional codification which we published for comment and debate. While there was broad general support for a written constitution, we recognise that there are strong views expressed against codifying our existing constitution, or at least codifying it in its current form.
We received many hugely valuable comments on the blueprints which we published, and we are asking the author, Professor Robert Blackburn, to revise and update his work in the light of the detailed comments received. Our intention was to ensure that, should an administration decide to make constitutional codification a priority, it would have a set of soundly devised and thoroughly scrutinised drafts available as an essential resource. Our work has been timely: after the result of the Scotland referendum, the ‘constitutional moment’ which many think will precipitate wider reform may be closer at hand than we had imagined.
The level of response we have received indicates that there is a great appetite for further debate and discussion, and we really appreciate the contributions of those who have already engaged with our work. As we approach the dissolution of this Parliament and a vital General Election campaign, we want to take debate and engagement to another level, and reach all those who have an interest in our constitutional future who did not have the opportunity to contribute to the debate first time round.
So we are publishing a draft summary of the UK’s constitution, in accessible language, together with some options for reform which have emerged from our first consultation. Everyone is invited to have their say, through our survey, via social media or just by e-mailing their comments in to us. All these further ideas will be collated to inform debate in a refreshed Parliament.”