This Blog has recently drawn attention to an untrustworthy Establishment, following the lies and deception at the heart of the failure, for over twenty years, to reveal the truth about the Hillsborough disaster. Waiting in the wings are the outcomes to Leveson and Chilcot. There are high hopes that both will deliver emphatic conclusions in the light of evidence already seen or heard by the public, although Chilcot is delayed by arguments about the release of allegedly sensitive material seen by the inquiry but over which there is currently a prohibition of disclosure.
There is an important lesson at the heart of all this. We operate our state under an unwritten constitution, in which the rules governing the conduct of our public institutions are not codified, but rely on precedent, a few statutes, goodwill and honour. The notion is fine, even heroic, as well as popular and in keeping with the British pride in tradition and continuity. For the notion to work in the interests of the governed, rather than to the advantage of those who govern, honesty and integrity among all the organs of government and law enforcement as well the legal profession must be at an unimpeachable level.
It is plain that it no longer is, if indeed it ever was. In a modern world it is doubtful that it ever could be. For this reason it becomes all the more important for the debate to begin about the idea of a Written Constitution. Nothing would jolt the duplicitous culture at the heart of so much of public life, than the looming prospect of a codified constitution. Indeed it might spark a complete re-think in the way the untouchables enact their obligations to the people, to the point where it never needs to happen. Nevertheless this Blog will continue to press for Constitutional Reform. It is long overdue.