talk: The UK Needs A Written Constitution - Now! by Arvind Sivaramakrishnan
Thursday 27th January
discussion - in shop - 6.30pm - free entry
Please register via Eventbrite if you wish to attend. It helps us manage numbers on the day!
Join Arvind Sivaramakrishnan in the shop for a deep dive into the UK constitution and prime ministerial authority.
The talk will last 25mins, with the aid of Powerpoint slides, and then will be open for questions and/or discussion. Themes to be covered include:
A few (3-4) selected examples of well-known laws, events, and policies which show serious problems in our constitutional arrangements.
A brief outline of the unwritten UK constitution, i.e. Parliament, the government, the courts, and their respective powers. The main origins of the system.
Some of the main reasons why certain major constitutional problems cannot be solved in this system of state.
Selected proposals for a written constitution.
Arvind is a former Visiting Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Before that he was Senior Deputy Editor on the Indian national newspaper the Hindu; he combined this with teaching and research at a postgraduate college of journalism. Arvind studied at the University of Southampton, and his qualifications include a PhD in political philosophy. Since then he has taught in further and higher education in the UK, in India, and in Germany. Among his books are: Indian Democracy: Contradictions and Reconciliations (SAGE 2019), Introduction to Political Ideologies (SAGE 2017), Public Interest Journalism (Orient BlackSwan 2014) and Public Policy and Citizenship (SAGE 2012).
Some suggested reading - short articles:
Owen Paterson
House of Commons Committee on Standards report 2021, esp the Conclusions, which are on p 100
On skeleton bills, which greatly increase ministers’ powers to change Acts of Parliament significantly without going through Parliament:
Saunders, Robert. 2020. ‘Prorogation struck at the very heart of parliamentary democracy. But it was not an isolated incident.’ Mile End Institute Blog, 22 July.
Monbiot, George. 2021. ‘Jailed for 51 weeks for protesting? Britain is becoming a police state.’
International treaties removed from Parliamentary scrutiny:
Gracia, Dominique, and Alexander Horne. 2020. ‘Treaty Scrutiny - a Brave New Frontier for Parliament’. UK Constitutional Law Association, 18 March.
On the Internal Market Act:
Sargeant, Jess. 2020. ‘Westminster’s proposals on the UK internal market could lead to a constitutional collision’. Institute for Government, 14 July.
A short introduction to the Bill of Rights 1689:
Maer, Lucinda, and Oonagh Gay. 2009. The Bill of Rights 1689. London: House of Commons Library.
A short introduction to the Act of Settlement 1701
The Labour Party’s provisional ideas for a written constitution: Chappell, Elliot. 2021. ‘Starmer Urged to Back Radical Constitutional Reforms by New Report’. Labour List, 1 February.
Selected original documents (mostly short or very short):
The 1688 Bill of Rights, passed under the then calendar in 1688 (February 1689 by our calendar), usually called the Bill of Rights 1689:
The Act of Settlement 1700 (as it was called at the time it was passed):
Some longer items:
Griffin, Seán Patrick. 2020. Remaking the British State: For the Many, not the Few. A report produced on behalf of the Labour Party.
The Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance – 2021 report on the global state of democracy:
Register via Eventbrite to attend this event - there are limited spaces available and registering will help us manage numbers on the day.
Please wear a face covering during the event and whilst navigating the shop. We are operating with Covid caution here at October Books to ensure that everyone feel confident and welcome in the shop and Community Space. (You are required by law to wear a face covering whilst shopping with us.) Please be mindful of those around you when you join us at this event.
This is a free entry event, but if you'd like to sling October Books a donation, please do.
