John Jackson

John Jackson is a lawyer who has never practised the law professionally. He is Chairman Emeritus of Mishcon de Reya and was a founding member of the Board of openDemocracy. He recently launched JJ Books.

Cash wants to smash constitution (even more)

Supported by Bernard Jenkin and some others of his fellows, Bill Cash has sent a note to all Conservative MPs dated 7th January and titled "The EU Bill: Parliament,

By John Jackson

/ 8 Jan 2011

Democracy is not a human right: but one possible expression of equality, which is a human right and need

We launch the first in an occasional series of openDemocracy meditations on the question: Is democracy a human right? This reply begins with Mandy Rice-Davies, lingers on the unfinished business of the Cold War, and returns via Confucius, Mohammed and Darwin to the digital revolution which has us

By John Jackson

/ 4 Nov 2010

Why the Referendum is a “Good Thing”

Continuing the OK Referendum Plus debate, the case for the AV referendum as a step towards replacing the 'sovereignty of parliament'

By John Jackson

/ 15 Aug 2010

A Defining Budget III: My friend Bud

Tony Curzon-Price > Nick Pearce > This post. I have not yet spoken to him but I am sure that my friend Bud approves strongly of our Coalition’s budget.

By John Jackson

/ 24 Jun 2010

The Inescapable Black Hole

The UK Parliament has committed itself to upholding the "rule of law". But what can this possibly mean in the absence of a written constitution and a clear division of powers between judges and politicians?

By John Jackson

/ 3 Jun 2010

Muddle Muddle, Toil and Trouble

I was startled this morning to hear a Tory MP say on the Today programme that the objection to David Cameron’s wishes with regard to the 1922 Committee (he

By John Jackson

/ 20 May 2010

Nick Clegg, Four Horsemen and the Day of Judgement

Reading the text of today’s speech by Nick Clegg, in which he promised a re-alignment of the relationship between the people and the state, “the biggest shake-up of our

By John Jackson

/ 19 May 2010

God bless the Squire and his relations. And keep us in our proper stations.

The very good thing about the agreement between the Tories and the LibDems is that, if as intended (we are told) it produces five years of stable government by an

By John Jackson

/ 13 May 2010

Better government? Wrong letter

In today’s Financial Times is a letter signed by some of those present last week at a joint conference of the Better Government Initiative and The Constitution Society (you

By John Jackson

/ 30 Apr 2010

Deliberative democracy: Setting the people free?

The Ministry of Justice has done something extremely useful! It has demonstrated that, given a fair wind, deliberative democracy could become a valuable addition to our representative democracy with liberating consequences for individuals and unifying consequences for our community as a whole.

By John Jackson

/ 1 Apr 2010

Revising our constitution - Even if our parties are the problem we still need PR

On Monday evening there was a gathering of a lawyerly London elite with a sprinkling of other political intellectuals to discuss Richard Gordon ‘s new book, Repairing British Politics. This

By John Jackson and Stuart Weir

/ 24 Mar 2010

A Leap Less Far

John Jackson on Repairing British politics: A Blueprint for Constitutional Change by Richard Gordon. For me one thing leaps out of Richard Gordon’s interesting and thought-provoking book. It is

By John Jackson

/ 19 Mar 2010