Falconer rejects idea of written constitution

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 12:00 AM

The constitutional affairs secretary last night attacked the idea of introducing a written constitution in the UK.

Lord Falconer said such a move would open the door to a US-style supreme court that would interfere with the sovereignty of parliament and alter the relationship between the government and the judiciary.

"I'm not in favour of a written constitution that 'hovers' on the top of parliament," the lord chancellor told a fringe meeting at the Labour party conference.

Gordon Brown, the man widely expected to succeed Tony Blair as prime minister, has previously stated his support for a written constitution, which would protect citizens' basic rights and outline the constraints on government.

Mr Brown told the Labour conference on Monday that "we that British people must be far more explicit about the common ground on which we stand".

He added: "While today we do not have a written constitution it comes back to being sure about and secure in the values that matter."

But Lord Falconer told delegates in Manchester: "We [in Britain] don't want our judges to decide issues like abortion.We as a society want this sort of issue to be decided not by judges but by politicians."

Former home secretary Charles Clarke also expressed scepticism at the idea, saying: "I'm not against written constitutions as such, but I'm not convinced it will be of great assistance to us."

Some of the critics of the British 'unwritten' constitution were placated by the incorporation of the European Convention of Human Rights into British law. This created a Human Rights Act, outlining for the first time citizens' fundamental rights.

Conservative leader David Cameron has promised to scrap this and introduce a US-style bill of rights in its place. But yesterday Tony Blair attacked this proposal as being impractical - in what could also be seen as criticism of a written constitution.

"He wants a bill of rights for Britain drafted by a committee of lawyers. Have you ever tried drafting anything with a committee of lawyers?" he asked.

Britain is one of only a few democracies in the world without a written constitution - the government, judges and parliament are guided by a combination of what laws are on the statute books, convention and decisions taken by judges.

Tags:
• conferences
,
• constitution
,
• domestic policy
,
• government and administration
,
• labour conference
,
• written constitution