Why conservatives should sign 'Fellow Citizens'

Roger Scruton (Wiltshire, philosopher): The Labour government has embarked on extensive constitutional changes which have radically altered the way power is exercised and accounted for in our country. But most of these changes have occurred without adequate public discussion, and led to botched or incomprehensible outcomes, such as that embodied in the current House of Lords - a second chamber of appointees, most of whom have done nothing to justify their presence there, and who do not even have the saving grace of hereditary peers, which is the lack of political ambition. The constitutional change which led to an independent Scottish Parliament was one in which only the Scots were consulted, while the growing demand for an English Parliament is met by the Lord Chancellor (Lord Falconer, a Scot who was appointed to this, the oldest office in the land, only after the PM had woken up one morning with the desire to abolish it) with the declaration that there will never be such a thing, however much the people wish for it. The PM is now embarking on negotiations over the EU constitution, without being able to describe the powers, privileges and duties of his own office, and knowing only one thing - which is that, whatever he agrees, the people of Britain should not be allowed to alter it. All such facts point to the need for conservatives to join in the demand set out in 'Fellow Citizens' (below) for a genuine and open discussion of constitutional issues in our country, before it is too late to define the country as ours.