Anthony Barnett (London, OK): As well as starting websites Sunny Hundal of the Liberal Conspiracy and Pickled Politics is going to set us on course for a written constitution. He starts to spell out the case in a new article in CiF. He takes up the issue from the point of view of the integration of immigrants and the forging of a shared identity,
I believe we need a constitution that explicitly codifies the rights and responsibilities of British citizens. It would not only be a vital tool in politically educating existing Britons of their rights and responsibilities as citizens, but would also be a source of empowerment for immigrants. It would accord them civil rights and responsibilities and signal that they are part of a new home and they have to adjust to that.
It is the only social glue that can tie together Britons of all colours, whether born in this country or abroad. A citizens day can be a vital part of that exercise. It certainly needs to be more positive and empowering than immigrants have been treated in the past.
I agree, of course, and it is great to see the argument being well and wittily written taking this as its starting point. In the spirit of 100 agreement on fundamentals I want to take it further. Sunny continues,
I'm talking here about a nation bound together not by race or culture (when has Britain ever been mono-cultural?) but common political values, expressed through a strong parliamentary democracy, freedom of speech and expression, secularism, stronger civil liberties and more transparent political engagement.
One issue here is that Britain is not a nation. There may be a British patriotism and a British society but it is a multi-national country. The Scots also want their constitution. If they get their independence it's an English constitution that will be written for Londoners like Sunny.
Also, the frame of reference is out of date. It is as if the rest of the world is frozen in time and the only model of the written constitution is the American constitution. I've mentioned its limitations in my exchange with David Marquand. Sunny writes,
It may not be the perfect system, but America has much more to offer in being able to integrate new immigrants than France does (the two examples listed by Brown in the green paper). New American citizens embrace citizenship ceremonies and the constitution because both are symbolic of the fact that they are now part of the club....
The establishment of a similar citizenship culture here would almost certainly change the confrontational and insecure conversation we have, with the understanding that people have to buy into common political values too. That should be welcomed.
Very true. But the South African example shows how a popular movement can buy into the whole process of constitution creation to make it popular. The German constitution has a strong court, extensive federal decentralisation - with the Lander represented in the second chamber (the Lords is another reason we need a new settlement that is also codified). The Spanish constitution sets about trying to ensure a multi-national entity sticks together. We have to make constitution creation more forward looking than harping back to the birth of the USA.
