A new magna carta? The written constitution debate in the United Kingdom

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Abstract

Is there a need for a (fully) written constitution for the United Kingdom? This key question guided Dr. Blick’s work at King’s College (London) as well as on the five-year unprecedented inquiry of the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee chaired by Labour MP Graham Allen up to the publication of their final report: A new Magna Carta?. The PCRC was initially set up to hold to account the deputy prime minister of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition (2010-2015) - Nick Clegg - in charge of constitutional reform, but also to consider political and constitutional reform more widely. Dr. Blick goes through the overall historic development of the UK parliamentary select committee system and what it means for the UK constitution. He provides readers with a unique testimony from within since he devoted five years of his life to this joint project. He begins by examining the political and policy background to the inquiry focusing on the “unsuccessful Brown written constitution initiative” which paved the way for the 2011 Cabinet Manual. He uses the setbacks and progress of the devolution process from the nineteenth century down to its contemporary revival under the 1997 Labour government to show the many obstacles to the constitution-making process, drawing a parallel with Magna Carta which resulted from “a prolonged deliberation and negotiation”. He then lists the arguments of the supporters and opponents of a codified constitution for the UK before explaining the process itself, what a codified constitution should include and how it should be enforced. He concludes that writing: “Magna Carta is not only comparable to a written constitution; it influenced the development of the very concept of a written constitution, in the US and elsewhere”.

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APA

Blick, A. (2016). A new magna carta? The written constitution debate in the United Kingdom. In The Rights and Aspirations of the Magna Carta (pp. 89–107). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42733-1_5

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