Defensive Constitutional Reform

The threat to our democracy and the post-war social contract has not been greater in most of our lifetimes.

In response, together with our friends at Open Britain,  Take Back Britain, the NHAP, Alliance Now and Leeds Trinity University, we are initiating a new project. Our project will focus purely on defensive constitutional reform: many others are looking at ways a benevolent government might improve things (eg PR, citizens’ assemblies, greater devolution, etc) but protective measures seem to be largely overlooked – many are still relying on the ‘good chaps theory of government.’

The project will analyse the weaknesses in our unwritten constitution and the most likely lines of attack, set out practical steps a government could take to prevent future governments and those who would want to control future governments, and work to secure government support and action before the next election.

Why do we need this new project?

Democracy and the social contracts it brings are under threat in many countries.

In July 2024, European democracy seemed to be clinging on: in France, the newly formed Nouveau Front Populaire narrowly held off the far-right Rassemblement National; and in the UK, the Labour Party managed to defeat the increasingly far-right Conservative and Reform parties.

But in the US, an extremist version of the already very right-wing by global standards Republican Party triumphed in the 2024 election, winning the Presidency and securing control of both Houses. Having already taken control of the Supreme Court, they are now well placed to implement the agenda set out in Project 2025, a plan so radical that the Trump campaign was denying any links with it, until the election was secure. If enacted, the plan will remove remaining checks and balances on Presidential power, dismantle the post-war social contract – most aspects of state support for US citizens, even education and health may go – and threaten international efforts to tackle the climate emergency. Trump has also hinted at vastly reduced US support for global institutions like the UN and NATO.

Politicians in the UK who openly supported this Trump victory include: Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Suella Braverman, Jacob Rees-Mogg and, of course, Nigel Farage. And the UK experience under the last government (proroguing parliament, reducing the power of the courts for judicial review, outlawing peaceful protest, removing the independence of the Electoral Commission and making it focus on voter fraud, etc) showed that the idea of a UK government systematically unwinding the checks and balances on its power is not far-fetched.

If we do not act, the UK may go the way of the US.