Jon Bright (London, OK): I've just come from the University of Westminster where Gordon Brown was delivering a speech on the them of 'Liberty', and I'm trying to scribble down a few hurried thoughts. He used it to announce the beginning of a consultation on a British Bill of Rights, as a first step towards establishing a new constitutional settlement.
It was fascinating stuff for anyone interested in constitutional reform. Brown knows he needs a definition of Britishness if he wants a British bill of rights, and here he centred his definition around the idea of 'British liberty'. He claimed that Britain lead the way in creation of this notion of liberty, quoting heavily from an array of historical figures. This was a proud history of Britain - a Britain which abolished slavery rather than helped build it. He was careful to distinguish between liberty and 'freedom' - privacy but not loneliness, he said. Mill's contention that individuals might be compelled to perform acts that benefited their fellow humans seemed important - British liberty, for Brown, is distinct from what he calls an American tradition of "leave me alone" governance. It is this conception of liberty that is the philosophical basis Brown wants to found his new constitutionalism on.
For him liberty is not antithetical to security. He talked of the need to strike a balance. We found out, if more confirmation was needed, that extension of 28 days detention is probably around the corner, and that ID cards are here to stay. But he also offered us increased freedom to demonstrate in front of parliament, and promised strict, independent oversight of increases in detention times. For the first time, the government will be publishing its National Security Strategy this year - as a way of opening it out for debate in parliament. Surrender of power from executive to parliament was another theme - Brown was keen to remind us that he has case history here.
The two elephants in the room? No mention of voting reform. It hardly seems meaningful to surrender power to parliament when majorities are such that parliament always votes the way of the executive (something PR would fix). And there was not much indication of how the consultation process will proceed. Brown's vision of British Liberty is clear in his own head - that is very certain. How he will secure buy in from everyone else is another matter entirely.
UPDATE: Full text of the speech here.
