A New Magna Carta?

This week the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee launched what it hopes will be a national debate on whether the United Kingdom needs a written constitution. As we approach the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta in 2015, the Committee has just published its report entitled A New Magna Carta?.

The report aims to inform Parliament and the public of the arguments for and against having a written constitution for this country, which is one of just five nations in the world that currently has an unwritten constitution. It outlines three fully worked up options for the codification of our constitution whilst deliberately not coming down on one side or the other of the argument. Instead, it aims to invite responses from the public over the next six months or so until January 1st 2015 when every submission will be collated and reported to Parliament in the hope that it will inform thinking by the political parties in the run-up to the general election on May 7th 2015 and thereafter.

We are asking you to consider the options and to have your say in the future of our democracy. As well as the three options for codification, the report presents a model written constitution for the United Kingdom.

Many people at home and abroad have nothing but praise for our uncodified constitution saying that it has provided this country with long-term stability as well as the flexibility to react to circumstances and to evolve gradually – avoiding the political upheavals which have blighted and scarred so many other nations in the world.

Others, however, feel that all citizens should own the rules by which their democracy is run and have the right to change them as needed. In any event, radical change may never happen unless forced by a political crisis, for example a ‘yes’ vote in the Scottish Referendum or a government taking power in May 2015 having won a minority of the votes cast on a small turnout. Expected – or unexpected – events can shake complacency and often induce the change that is badly needed.

Today our traditionally unwritten constitution is significantly different to what it was even a few decades ago because so much of it is now actually written down in a variety of ways and in many different places, often inaccessible, requiring what the late John Smith once called “judicial archaeology” – not exactly compatible with the internet age or with a modern democracy. So we need to ask some searching questions: is our current constitution clear enough? Does it allow us to hold those in power sufficiently to account? Would a written or codified constitution dispel the current suspicion which most electors have of their elected representatives and of our entire political system?

I believe strongly that we do need to enact a new Magna Carta to enshrine in law the rights and responsibilities of all our citizens, but it must be one which is owned by those citizens and crafted with their consent, contribution and agreement. That would enable us to ensure the powers of government remain accountable and limited, now and in the future.

In 1792 Tom Paine famously declared: ‘A constitution is not the act of a government, but of a people constituting a government, and government without a constitution, is power without a right’. Add to this the usurpation of the power of our Parliament by an indirectly elected Executive, and it is clear that political legitimacy is now under threat from many quarters, including the media; the demand by some for separatism; over centralisation of government; and of course, voter apathy. As a result, many of our once unquestioned institutions are now widely regarded as not fit for purpose. Surely, our democracy needs to be refounded and resecured on a new strong legitimacy and consent of the people.

Because our political leaders today often seem to be controlled by fear, trapped by worries about tomorrow’s headlines, it falls upon Parliament to act. It can do so better, partly because we now have a fixed five year term and because for the first time MPs are actually elected to select committees by secret ballot, so they can think and propose ideas independently of the whips who used to control committee membership. As a result the Political and Constitutional Committee is asking for a consultation with the public – and with as many organisations and institutions as possible. The US Constitution was dreamt up by forty men in a hall in Philadelphia in the eighteenth century, but in the twenty first century we can do better than that using all the modern methods of communication available, so that our constitution can have millions of founding fathers and mothers and that the future of our democracy and the legitimacy of our rulers truly belongs to them. Let’s begin that debate right now.

Fabian Hamilton MPis a Labour Member of the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee