John Jackson (London, Mishcon de Reya): In the June issue of Prospect, just out, Robert Hazell of the Constitution Unit, in an essay (with restricted web access) titled Gordon’s Go, asserts that "Britain is poised for a second big wave of constitutional reform". Having set the blood running, he then carefully dampens enthusiasm, advocating a cautious step by step approach; the steps being fashioned, one suspects, by ministers and their advisers guided by "practical politics". Although Hazell nods in acknowledgement to public involvement and public consultation, he seems to see this not as a use of deliberative democracy but as part of a political process of "stimulating" public support. This is reflected in his damning the notion of a Constitutional Convention with faint praise – "this might usefully be convened for specific projects with specific terms of reference, like preparing a British bill of rights; but not for an open ended exercise like writing a constitution".
If Gordon Brown adopts Hazell's hints, he will miss a huge opportunity. Constitutional reform should not be served up to the people, it must come from the people. The tide of reform which is just starting to swell needs to be encouraged and respected not patronised or treated to a little diverting stimulation. This is something well understood by Michael Wills who advocated the value of a Citizen's Convention (a warmer and more embracing term than a Constitutional Convention) in his ippr pamphlet last year. It might be useful to test the feasibility of such a convention by giving it a starting point such as the drafting of a Bill of Rights. If so, it should be an opening of the door to a wider, vibrant and more democratically deliberative world, and not an end point – a dead-end point – which is what Robert Hazell's approach would condemn it to.
