\n<\/p>\n
George Monbiot is right that having a written constitution would be better than not having one if the far right takes power (We must act now: without a written constitution, Reform UK will have carte blanche to toxify our nation, 23 October). But, as he points out, it\u2019s not a guarantee of sane government. At least 75% of what Donald Trump is doing is unconstitutional, but it\u2019s permitted by a compliant Congress and a rubber-stamp supreme court that is suddenly discovering\u00a0presidential powers in the constitution that its framers never intended. The true problem is that a large proportion of the US electorate is content to let\u00a0this happen.<\/p>\n
Marina Hyde noted the same trend here \u2013 too many people are so dischuffed (some with good cause, some not) that they are willing to press the \u201cF you\u201d button and smash the system. In 1795, as the first US government was getting under way, the writer Samuel Miller commented that \u201cpolitical prosperity resides, not in the words and letters of the constitution; but in the temper, the habits, and the practices of the people\u201d. With or without a constitution, there needs to be peaceful civic resistance to a future extremist regime until more people are persuaded that a humane\u00a0and tolerant government is\u00a0worth having. George Monbiot advocates a written constitution to defend against the threat of Reform UK. Do we really believe that it will win 40%-plus of votes and a majority of seats in a general election? I know it may be dangerous to dismiss it as a protest vote, but I can\u2019t believe that.<\/p>\n I was reading an entry from Alan\u00a0Bennett\u2019s Writing Home recently, where he opined that if Labour fought an election on the state of the NHS alone it would surely win hands down. Still true. Yet it is desperate to engage Reform on its home ground. I can\u2019t believe people think that migration and cutting public services are the country\u2019s biggest priorities. George Monbiot calls for a written British constitution to be created through \u201ca citizens\u2019 constitutional convention\u201d, with \u201cparticipatory events all over the country\u201d. But such events are likely to be dominated by people like him \u2013 educated, activist-minded liberals \u2013 whose values would then shape the constitution. Views that clash with theirs would be excluded by a process controlled by similar voices. In wanting to make his own values permanent, Monbiot shows an instinct not unlike Nigel Farage\u2019s \u2013 both seek to enshrine their worldviews as the national default. George Monbiot says we urgently need constitutional change \u2013 there is an immediate opportunity for citizens to contribute to this agenda. The public bill committee reviewing the English devolution and community empowerment bill is welcoming submissions right now. In the evidence I submitted, published on the parliamentary website, I point out how the rise of far-right extremist groups gives renewed urgency to the importance of providing constitutional protection for all elected local authorities in England.<\/p>\n It is a simple step for such a clause to be added to the bill. I explain how countries that outperform the UK on economic, social and environmental indicators, for example, Sweden, already enjoy such protections. Have an opinion on anything you\u2019ve read in the Guardian today? Please <\/em><\/strong>email<\/em><\/strong> us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our <\/em><\/strong>letters<\/em><\/strong> section.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" George Monbiot is right that having a written constitution would be better than not having one if the far right takes power (We must act now: without a written constitution, Reform UK will have carte blanche to toxify our nation, 23 October). But, as he points out, it\u2019s not a guarantee of sane government. At<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[1206,12485,8267,838,1119,9192],"class_list":{"0":"post-30732","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-justice","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-constitution","10":"tag-constitutional","11":"tag-reform","12":"tag-save","13":"tag-written"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Peter Loschi <\/strong>
Oldham, Greater Manchester<\/em><\/p>\n
Ray Flood<\/strong>
Dundee<\/em><\/p>\n
Nathon Raine<\/strong>
Bradford<\/em><\/p>\n
Robin Hambleton<\/strong>
Emeritus professor, University of\u00a0the\u00a0West of England<\/em><\/p>\n