John Jackson (London, Charter88): Is the sensitivity of Members of Parliament to the mood of those whom they represent reflected in today’s striking development spelt out in a full-page Guardian advert? Without waiting to hear what is in the mind of the new Prime Minister, three backbench MPs, one Labour, one Conservative and one Liberal Democrat, have tabled a bill to compel the creation of a Citizen's Convention to consider, and if thought right, propose changes to the constitution. Which itself establishes how our parliamentary democracy should work.
I think it is self-evident that the need for change has, at the very least, to be considered . Take the recent events brought about by the idea that people of different experiences and persuasions should be brought into government. How do we deal with the question of accountability of such people? Will they be popped into the House of Lords (reflecting the traditional idea that if ministers are "in" Parliament, accountability to Parliament takes care of itself)? But this is completely incompatible with the wholly elected second chamber that the House of Commons has voted to endorse. One solution to this dilemma could be to have a second chamber which is partly appointed if mainly elected. Another, to have a clear definition of the separate powers of the Executive and Parliament. Most important of all, the cross -party sponsors of the Citizen's Convention Bill recognise that these are matters which must be addressed by popular deliberation (not by private concordat) as well as by parliament itself. Unlock Democracy, which is the alliance of Charter 88 and New Politics Network, has helped this initiative and is campaigning for its members and the general public to contact their MPs urging them to support their colleagues who have sponsored the Bill. I hope you will too. You can find the Bill below.
