Today's Observer noted that Brown and Clegg have been holding talks with regards to constitutional reform.

This was just a bit too geeky to be included in my previous post about constitutional reform. The situation whereby EU citizens who live in Britain and pay tax in Britain don't get to vote in general elections while ex-pat tax exiles get to vote Tory strikes me as wrong.

Gordon Brown launched his leadership bid pledging to

“build a shared national consensus for a programme of constitutional reform that strengthens the accountability of all who hold power; that is clear about the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen in Britain today; that defends the union and is vigilant about ensuring that the hard won liberties of the individual, for which Britain has for centuries been renowned round the world, are at all times upheld without relenting in our attack on terrorism.”

Let’s make this happen.

Peter Hennessy gave a really good interview of 18 Doughty Street last week in which he described in a relaxed way what he thought about many topics- ranging from the Falklands War to nuclear armament under Attlee. Its well worth listening to and is here.

Amongst the things he said though was his argument that during the Iraq war the Labour Cabinet behaved irresponsibly. None of the members of the cabinet asked for the legal advice to be given to them, it was the Permanent Secretary at the MOD and commander of the army who asked for it and none of them asked for written argument about the war even though the Cabinet Office had actually prepared such a statement for them to read.

If there's one lesson we should learn from the Iraq inquiry debate, it's that we need to reinvigorate the country's democratic processes.
 

Is this an idea that Labour should embrace?

Leaked memo reveals the possibility of Hereditary peers until 2050

10 August marks the 95th anniversary of the 1911 Parliament Act, the preamble of which declares an intention to replace the House of Lords with a Second Chamber "constituted on a popular basis," and so the Elect the Lords Campaign have decided to mark this day once again in an attempt to speed up the process!