Today Programme takes out its pencils

Anthony Barnett (London, OK):  This morning's Today programme discussed whether we should have a written constitution. It took as its peg the attempt by Vernon Bogdanor's students to write down what we already have in the Smith Institute publication (OK'd here). Listeners are now emailing in their views on the programme's excellent bulletin board. Its a healthy exercise but too technical. The spirit of a constitution matters as much as its formal content. Filling in the dots won't do much for democracy - see the important exchange between David Marquand and Tom Nairn - just look below.