Theres much written about how a new Constitution could make politics and policy-outcomes better. But an important part of the Constitutions work is defensive - it is there to stop things getting worse (better is a bonus). We should remember that making things better is sometimes easier than stopping them from getting worse. You can make a house better by changing the carpets, putting up new curtains, maybe putting in a new bathroom and kitchen. But to stop it getting worse you need to get down into the foundations, and deal with rot and subsidence at the roots. Many proposed reforms - both at the Scottish and UK levels - would make things better, but few of them really get to the heart of what is needed to stop things getting worse. Any constitutional settlement that leaves a parliamentary majority in a position to make fundamental changes, without referring back to the sovereign people, fails to address the problem at the root.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 07:00:11 +0000
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