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0 pointsNtrails7mo ago0 comments

> 3. The likelihood of a British constitution is increasing, which would somewhat bind future parliaments.

It would be an extraordinary amount of work for a government that can barely keep up with the fires of its own making let alone the many the world is imposing upon them. Along with that, watching the horse trading going on over every change they make - I don't see how they ever get a meaningful final text over the line.

It's not a mainstream political priority at all to my knowledge, so I'm mostly curious why you disagree!

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jalapenos7mo ago

It's quite farcical to witness a whole thread of debate about whether there will be a British constitution when it already exists.

People are so quick to start typing their opinions to pretend how smart they are that they forget they have to know things first.

llbbdd7mo ago

They should just do the same thing many governments the world over have done - adopt a version of the US constitution. Easy, clean, and only massively ironic.

gargan7mo ago

Biggest mistake the Americans did was codify their constitution. I'll probably be pilloried for that but look at the evidence:

- US is about to have military on the streets during peacetime with no terror threat within a codified constitution

- UK has had military on the streets in response to terrorism in Northern Ireland (a real threat) and not for decades. The UK constitution is uncodified and spread over many (10+?) documents ranging from Magna Carta in the 1200s to the Bill of Rights in the 1600s to documents written in the 1800s and then more modern Acts of Parliament.

Importantly the UK constitution can slowly change which means the UK has never had a revolution and never will do. Whereas the US constitution is rigid which achieves the opposite: when it does change it'll be dramatic and as a result of another violent revolution.

danlitt7mo ago

Why do you think that the UK having an unwritten constitution means that revolution cannot happen? Of course putting aside the fact we did have a revolution in the 1600s, and the almost constant revolution happening in Ireland until the 1930s. A fluid constitution is no use when the government is intransigent, and very little can protect a democracy from half the voters voting for a coup.

A written constitution only really protects (or affects at all) the things it very specifically enumerates. And when I look at the judicial tools we have that do bind the government (the ECHR for instance) they seem on the whole to make a good difference. A UK constitution that enshrined certain rights (healthcare, free speech, and so on) would make me feel a lot more secure about what future governments could do. It might also provide a better example than the American constitution in the respects it is lacking.

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pastage7mo ago

While the US consitition is not agile a like a git log of a popular js project it does have over 10k declined PRs, I think the record is 100 years waiting for review. It does change, it has to change.

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diordiderot7mo ago

You can amend the constitution. Its been done many times

Saline95157mo ago

Political systems do not exist in a vacuum, but integrate into a specific ethnic, cultural and geographic landscape. In a nation of immigrants with frequent demographic changes, having a written constitution anchors the country and prevents some capture of the government.

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bratbag7mo ago

Pass.

Im glad not to be confined by historical rules invented by people who could not hope to predict the future, and would not choose to put that kind of burden on my descendents.

diordiderot7mo ago

Amendments can be made with a super-majority's approval

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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jalapenos7mo ago

It's quite farcical to witness a whole thread of debate about whether there will be a British constitution when it already exists.

People are so quick to start typing their opinions to pretend how smart they are that they forget they have to know things first.

llbbdd7mo ago

They should just do the same thing many governments the world over have done - adopt a version of the US constitution. Easy, clean, and only massively ironic.

gargan7mo ago

Biggest mistake the Americans did was codify their constitution. I'll probably be pilloried for that but look at the evidence:

- US is about to have military on the streets during peacetime with no terror threat within a codified constitution

danlitt7mo ago

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pastage7mo ago

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diordiderot7mo ago

You can amend the constitution. Its been done many times

Saline95157mo ago

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bratbag7mo ago

Pass.

Im glad not to be confined by historical rules invented by people who could not hope to predict the future, and would not choose to put that kind of burden on my descendents.

diordiderot7mo ago

Amendments can be made with a super-majority's approval

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse