Last week we got a preview of how another Tory government would behave

Last week in the House of Commons we got a preview of how another Tory government would behave if they got the chance. On the last day of the Parliament before the General Election, the government sneaked in an extra piece of business – a plot to oust a Speaker many of them hate. They lost the vote.

They were hoping Labour members would have left Westminster to go campaigning and they hadn’t banked on Tory and Lib Dems rebelling. But we all stayed back so the government’s plot failed. But that in itself wasn’t what made it historic. What made it historic was that what Cameron, Gove and Hague had tried was an assault on some of the foundations of our parliamentary system. They were trying to change the rules for electing the Speaker for partisan purposes. The constitution is not a toy thing. It needs to be stable and changes need to be made on the basis of principle, when there is a new consensus which everyone has understood and contributed to building.

Parts of our unwritten constitution are in the ‘standing orders’ of the House of Commons- rules that are decided by MPs on free un-whipped votes. They were seeking to source MPs to vote on the basis of the hour’s discussion and they gave notice of the debate less than 24 hours beforehand.

I fear this is exactly what the Tories would try to do with English Votes for English Laws, Everyone remembers David Cameron rushing out of Downing Street with this idea at the crack of dawn after the Scottish election. The role of MPs is also enshrined in standing orders. It might sound technical, but they are a fundamental part of our constitution. Changing the role of MPs could also be done in the same way and the Tories were having a practice tilt at the Speaker.

It was disgraceful that the Tories chose to do this. Because they bore a childish grudge against the Speaker, they risked undermining the foundations of the British constitution. This cannot happen again. The constitution cannot be immutable but change needs to be considered carefully and discussed with the public. This is why if we win, Labour is proposing to hold a Constitutional Convention. This is the democratic way to update our democracy – not some hole in the corner ambush.​

Helen Goodman is re-standing to be the MP for Bishop Auckland