Graham Allen (Nottingham, MP): Gordon Brown’s references to a written constitution at the 2006 Labour Party Conference were followed last week by Jack Straw’s conversion to the idea of a written constitution for the UK. Next Tuesday 22nd May, I will be able to test the water in a parliamentary debate on the need for a written constitution which is taking place at 12:30pm in the House of Commons. With a change of political leadership there is now hope that for the first time the British political system may be created on a legitimate and understandable basis. It is the last unfinished business of the British democracy – the British people prising the political rulebook from the closed grasp of the executive. As Thomas Paine said in The Rights of Man, "a government without a constitution is a government without a right".
For further information I can be contacted on 0115 979 2344 at my constituency office.
