Written constitution needed as country to be run differently, PM says
A written constitution could be needed for Britain as a “different approach” is taken to running the country, the Prime Minister has said.
Andy Burnham previously called for a written constitution in 2024 book Head North: A Rallying Cry for a More Equal Britain, which he co-authored with Liverpool City Region metro mayor Steve Rotheram.
Speaking this week as he revealed plans for increased devolution, Mr Burnham said the proposals increased the case for a formal constitution because they would change Britain.
He said: “In the end, I think it does start to point towards a new constitutional settlement, particularly with what Steve and I were writing about with that commitment to equivalent living standards.
“I said in the speech I gave in Manchester a couple of weeks ago about good growth in every postcode. It’s not just a soundbite. I actually mean that.
“We need to have a country where everyone, in the end, can live a comparable life. That should be what we’re working towards.”
The former mayor of Greater Manchester said he thought that approach should be the “cornerstone” of a written constitution.
He added: “I think there is a case for a new clear set of principles about how this country should be run and things that should be minimum basics in all parts of the country, related to essentials and connectivity.
“It’s wrong that people are left arguing for things that are just fundamental, and they’re given in other parts of the country, and the lack of a constitution disempowers places in that situation.
“What’s coming through is we’re starting to say that everywhere will have the right to be a strategic authority, everywhere will have the right to retain more of their income tax, business rates.
“That does start to take you into the realms of a very different approach to running the country.”
Unlike many countries, the UK does not have a formal written constitution document, but it is understood to have a constitution established through history by common law, statutes and conventions.
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I think a review of the constitution would be a better start. The first thing is to reform the House of Lords to make it fully elected. Probably by a different system using proportional representation. A close examination of the subsidiarity in the German constitution applying similar regional government to the UK. And reform the civil service.
Just a guess like, but would there be a ‘consultation period’ first?
Not that any government has ever listened to Joe Public.
And would that involve a long period of ‘discussion’ afterwards?
Long enough to make it the next government’s problem?
Asking for 68 million p****d off friends.
No. Just like the fraudulent Acts of Union of 1536, 1542 & 1801 which told Cy…Cym…. uh, unpronouncable nonsense, ‘Whales, Walhaz, bloody difficult foreigner upstarts, GET IN LINE AND DO NOT QUESTION US, YOUR OPPRESSORS! If it wasn’t for us and our false Princes of Wal ..uh, whatever it’s called, where would you be’? Free?
A document full of good intentions isn’t enough. It needs to a set of basic laws backed by a supermajority of MPs and only amendable with a supermajority. Without this his devo legacy will be swept away by the next right wing government.
The terms ‘THE country’ and ‘THIS country’ are a nagging error in the initial Burnham bounce. The talk of ‘Number 10 north’ is an arm wrestle designed and aimed at an English audience ONLY which could be a wise move to begin with as i’m sure he recognises the English political viewpoint is English centric only but whilst he is apparently giving birth to ‘devolution’, it is ENGLISH devolution. This is a brand new concept for England but if he plans to bypass the democratically concepted and six times voted on Scottish and Welsh NATIONAL Parliaments, consider Kernow here), he… Read more »
Getting power out of London and into a handful of mayoral English combined authority regions is a baby step not an endgame. Even if there’s nothing new for Wales at this stage this fundamental once unthinkable shift in centuries old Whitehall thinking sets the stage for more radical decentralisation that the other nations can only benefit from. It’s inevitable that the councils which see they’re losing out start to demand their own combined authority. Where it gets interesting is what happens when the Marches decide they want more powers but don’t want to be part of Greater Birmingham.
Not a new thing with Burnham, I’ve definitely heard Keir Starmer despite paying lip-service to devolution, reflexively switch to say “the nation (singular)” as well as the various Tory ones before him. Number 10 North isn’t even halfway up from Lizard Point to Dunnet Head by the way. It’s also a bit patronising really because it makes it sound like its just a branch office of something for which the main thing is in London. You have to ask whether the new England devolution will actually be real powers coming out of Westminster, or whether its going to be powers… Read more »