Constitutional proposals

12.02.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 17th Jul 2007

Recently Prime Minister Gordon Brown outlined his proposals for constitutional reform. The first difference many people would have noticed about this announcement from the Prime Minister was that rather then it being made to journalist at a press conference or through a leak it was made in Parliament without much being disclosed prior to the Prime Ministers appearance in the House of Commons.

In his speech in the House of Commons and in The Governance of Britain the document outlining the government's vision and proposals for constitutional renewal, Gordon Brown suggested changing the day elections are held on from a weekday (Thursday) to a weekend. I know that a number of European countries have elections on weekends usually Sundays but I'm not sure that simply changing the day of the election will encourage more people to vote. I think that there needs to be greater change in the way political parties and politicians act, behave and conduct themselves before more people turnout to vote, there is also the fact that people need to get the impression that their votes will make a difference before they vote.

Gordon Brown also suggested that he was open to considering lowering the voting age from 18 to 16. As many friends will know I am a supporter of http://www.votesat16.org.uk and hope that the Prime Minister will go ahead with this reform. To understand why I support votes at 16 please read http://adamnazirahmedteladia.blogspot.com/2007/02/votes-at-16-i-was-recently-invited-to.html#links

Gordon Brown mentioned that laws on demonstrating in Parliament Square could be changed after consultation with the Metropolitan Police, the Mayor of London, Westminster City Council and MPs. This is also a welcome move, people should be able to protest outside Parliament where law makers meet. I know that there have in the past been some disruptions but we must remember that most protests whether they are outside of Parliament or elsewhere pass without much trouble and can sometimes bring an issue to the attention of people.

Gordon Brown also mentioned that the House of Commons should agree a new process for considering petitions from the public. I think that there should be a system which allows people to petition parliament but I am not yet sure how this should be done. James Graham wrote an article for Liberal Democrat Voice about Citizens' Initiatives http://www.libdemvoice.org/should-we-become-a-nation-of-contented-losers-671.html

Gordon Brown proposals for constitutional reform also include the cabinet surrendering or limiting some of their powers. The areas where power held by the executive would be surrendered or limited are the power of the executive to declare war which is good since at the moment a group about twenty five people (some of them unelected) get to make that decision without any justification to the elected representatives of the people. Other powers include the power to request the dissolution of Parliament, rather then hand that power over to parliament where the major party can abuse the power in the same way that a Prime Minister can currently I would have preferred if Gordon Brown had proposed fixed terms of four or five years for MPs. Gordon Brown also proposed that the power to make key public appointments without effective scrutiny will I have previously mentioned http://www.adamteladia.org.uk/news/000065.html that I would like parliament to have a say on the Secretaries of State and Ministers appointed by the Prime Minister and I believe that this should apply to key public figures too (including judges who have the power to change laws) especially given how some of them are responsible for a large amount of people and staff.

Gordon Brown proposals also include the creation of a National Security Council within government, I am not sure whether this is a substantial change of whether Gordon Brown is just renaming COBRA to something a bit more fancy. However a national security strategy will be published regularly, setting out threats and objectives which I guess is good because the government will probably have to spend more time justifying changing criminal justice laws which the labour government has become so use since 1997.

In his speech in the House of Commons Gordon Brown said "Given the vote in this House in March for major reform of the House of Lords as a second and revising chamber with provision for democratic election, a statement will be made before the recess as we press ahead with reform", I look forward to this and I hope that given the Prime Minister referred to the vote in House of Commons earlier this year the proposal will be for wholly elected House of Lords.

The Prime Minister also went on to say "a statement on the reform of local government will propose a new concordat between local and central government" this is something that Helena Kennedy QC and members of the POWER inquiry pushed for. Again I look forward to this and hope that local government is given some actual, genuine and real power to make a difference to the communities they serve.

Gordon Brown also stated that the government will "publish our review of the experience of the various voting systems introduced since 1998". I'm not sure what will happen once the review has been published, will parliament or the bodies involved be given the chance to change the voting systems? Will the government consider Single Transferable Votes for elections to the European Parliament or Councils in England?

The government will also publish a new Ministerial Code, with a new independent adviser who the Prime Minister will be able to ask to scrutinise ministerial conduct including conflicts. I wish that Parliament rather then the Prime Minister had been given this role.

Gordon Brown also called for a public debate on the case for a British Bill of Rights or a written constitution. I believe that the UK needs a new constitutional settlement that defines and limits the powers of government, our current constitutional arrangements are chaotic, disorganised and random require a large amount of agreements, conventions and settlements to ensure no one acts beyond their sphere of activity. A written constitution will also have the advantages of clarity, transparency and democratic legitimacy. I believe that in a true democracy it is essential that the constitution be what the people want and therefore I think that any moves towards a written constitution needs to have public involvement and that an amendment be required at a later that only occur with the endorsement of the people.

A number of people have written their thoughts on the Prime Ministers announcement I have included links to Gavin Whenman, Colin Ross and Jeremy Hargreaves thoughts as well a link to Gordon Brown, the great reformer? On Free Think along with the BBC's Key points: Constitutional proposals and links that I have mentioned in this post.

It will be good to see how much of this Gordon Brown and his government manage to pass and how soon.

Related Links:

Key points: Constitutional proposals.

Colin Ross.

Gavin Whenman.

Gordon Brown, the great reformer?

Government Departments, Secretaries of State and Ministers.

Jeremy Hargreaves.

Make it an issue.

Should we become a nation of contented losers.

The Governance of Britain .

Votes at 16.

Votes at 16.