Later today Gordon Brown will speak to the Commons about his plans for Constitutional reform. The BBC predicts
that he is likely to propose a British bill of rights and to give
Parliament the decisive say on going to war and on the scrutiny of more
political appointments. These are all ideas also associated in various forms with David Cameron. We do not know for sure what Brown is going to
say because he is emphasising that he wants to tell Parliament first. It’ll be interesting to see how long that lasts!
Delayed by the terror scares this will be Brown’s first substantial announcement as Prime Minister. The Today programme have trailed it as being his big idea. Constitutional reform is unlikely to get voters very excited so why is Gordon Brown making such a big deal of it? It must be all about preparing the way for the possible need for a LibDem-Labour coalition after the next General Election. Staying in Number 10 is Gordon Brown’s real big idea and Constitutional reform is the big carrot he will dangle before Ming or whoever is LibDem leader after the next polling day.
The Express is speculating that Gordon Brown is secretly plotting to change the voting system for Westminster. A more proportional voting system for MPs would certainly win the backing of LibDems. I wouldn’t expect anything so bold from Brown but hints of PR for the Lords or even local government might be enough to snare them. We’ll blog on the Commons statement later.