50,000 volts? Why the constitution matters!

Paul Hilder (Lewisham, Avaaz.org) Great that this conversation is finally opening up! But let's not forget what it has to be about - we need to keep sight of the ends behind the means. Listening to Andrew Roberts and Vernon Bogdanor's sterile crossfire yesterday morning on the Today programme (opens audio file) made me want to set off fireworks under them. This isn't about voting formulae, but lives. How we're governed can turn our shared experience upside-down – from war and peace to daily neighbourhood life. Too many real fires are already burning in our "good crisis", which is precisely what makes fixing the rules so urgent. There's Iraq, our biggest failure abroad since Suez. But the lesson should be not simply to tweak how we declare war, but also how we debate and wage it, to prepare for the uncertain century ahead. That would be a constitutional moment worth the candle. More locally, we're missing needs and dropping the ball in neighbourhoods all round the Kingdom. Lasting devolution is needed, and responsibility depends on power. This stuff is life and death, as well as PR and AV. The news that stopped me in my tracks today? Demob-happy John Reid is handing out thousands of tasers to police for use in situations of "violence"... "or threats". Who gets a license to put 50,000 volts through my body? Now that's food for constitutional talk.