We, the elite, will have secrecy as our watchword and as few constraints as we can get away with

By Vanessa Moore

Political satire has always acted as a form of social conscience, and following in the spirit of this particularly British tradition exemplified by those famous public institutions such as Spitting Image and Punch, comes this witty little pamphlet. With a healthy dose of scepticism, Stuart Weir and Stuart Wilks-Heeg of Democratic Audit, together with their contributors, set out to describe in “The Unspoken Constitution” the de facto constitutional arrangements that exist in the UK today.

Armed with a proverbial smirk on their faces, the authors have embarked on dishing up a literary snack to the public that is calorifically laden with political relevance. Laid out in the spirit of those great reforming constitutions of the Enlightenment, the pamphlet is divided into numbered constitutional articles complete with preamble and epilogue. Within its 14 main articles (including titles on the Crown, Monarchical Powers, Government Powers, and the Judiciary to name a few), the review aims to reveal to the public the ways the Government has been pulling the wool over our eyes for centuries.

Whilst simultaneously hiding the extent of the power they exercise behind the title of sovereignty of Parliament, the Government has in fact managed to wear away Parliament’s power over the decades. That’s clear from the first line: instead of opening along the lines of “We, the people” as those historically great constitutions do, this satirical version begins with the all-encompassing “We, the elite”. Like a peach that seems juicy on the outside, the authors set out to peel off the skin of Britain’s constitutional reality and reveal its mouldy core whilst still laughing like schoolboys over the bad smell of it all.

Our politicians and those engaged in our political system really are a clever bunch. With status quo being the buzz-phrase of the day since the absolute monarchy, today’s system has been carefully manipulated to blend this tradition with new innovations and anti-democratic practices, allowing the PM to capitalise on his powers by blending the jobs of the executive and the legislative.

According to Article 6.8, “A sofa may be set aside in Downing Street for informal decision-taking meetings”, where “wide-ranging executive and legislative powers shall be exercised with as few constraints as possible” (Article 7.1).

All this goes to show that Governments can and do make all the big moves, without the input of Parliament. I must also draw the reader’s attention to my favourite unspoken vignette: Article 2, Secrecy: “Secrecy shall be the watchword of Government activity since it is well known that transparency can harm executive democracy and embarrass ministers”. This seems to me all too pertinent in the wake of the latest political tsunami over MPs expenses where extolled truths have never been more relevant.

The authors of the pamphlet have done a first-class job for the public interest in highlighting the smugness of those within the system who think that our faux democracy needs no reform. It demonstrates the paucity of Gordon Brown’s current hazy package of piecemeal reforms, reviews and a post-election referendum on electoral reform.

If we are to move from “we the elite…” to “we the people…” we have to put the general public at the heart of the decision-making process. It is hard to read this pamphlet without agreeing with the logic behind the growing calls for a Citizens’ Convention.

The question is, are there enough MPs with the enlightened self-interest to recognise the need for this, during this time of crisis?

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