Anthony Barnett (London, OK): I've just seen this the opening para of a report by Peter Riddell in the Times (which is still learning the courtesy of linking to websites):
What a difference a few hours make. In the morning, Jack Straw’s heavily qualified hints about working towards a written constitution were welcomed by Unlock Democracy, a leading reform group. Then, in the afternoon, Mr Straw’s full speech, entitled “Modernising the Magna Carta”, received a more hostile response: “what a load of cobblers,” as the OurKingdom website put it.
What point Peter R is making exactly I'm not sure. He concludes that "our constitution is in flux" which is good to know. But he fails to see the underlying novelty of Michael Will's effort to plug deliberation and citizens outcomes into the ancient British con. And I won't allow a cigarette paper to be slid between me (source of the "cobblers" quote) and Unlock Democracy whose cunning press release welcomed the news that Jack Straw saw a written constitution over the horizon by suggesting it be written quicker and by citizens. My reaction was to the anti-Athenian approach of the Lord Chancellor. When New Labour decided it had to modernise in the 1990s, fine. I was a moderniser too, meaning I was for democracy. Back then the argument over modernisation was about how not whether. When New Labour called for modernisation of 19th century institutions, who could not agree? After ten years the term has become a cliché - all the signs are of a government trying to keep things the way they are by calling for more 'modernisation'. Let's pay what respect is due to the Barons who insisted on their Magna Carta to defend habeus corpus for people like themselves and thus set down a principle. One that it is now our turn to defend from, just to take an example at random, Jack Straw's support for 42 days without charge (as Stuart Weir has done in OK). But when politicians declare that they want to "modernise" feudalism who can fail to smell damp leather? They will trying to modernise Byzantium next!
