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I should stop describing things like this as ‘extraordinary’: they’re becoming depressing commonplace, but I find it difficult, and don’t wish, to reconcile myself to that fact. /1 https://twitter.com/profmarkelliott/status/1345310885791805440
I don’t pretend to understand fully why conditions have developed that facilitate this sort of post-truth politics, and am conscious that others have thought and written about this carefully. But to some extent at least, the causes must include constitutional ones. /2
It’s increasingly clear that the Government is seeking to insulate itself from effective scrutiny, including by Parliament (see, eg, unlawful prorogation in 2019) and the courts (see, eg, current ‘independent’ review of judicial review). /3 https://publiclawforeveryone.com/2020/08/03/the-judicial-review-review-i-the-reform-agenda-and-its-potential-scope/
It seems to me that undermining and limiting opportunities for external challenge to Government must contribute to the existence of conditions that facilitate the broader failures of governance that are now an everyday reality in the UK, even though that is not the whole story /4
Governance has never been, and never will be, perfect, but it does appear that there is a clear and worrying direction of travel in the UK at present, including the rejection by Government of what I have described as basic ‘constitutional civility’. /5 https://publiclawforeveryone.com/2020/11/23/the-uk-constitution-under-pressure-a-lost-age-of-civility/
There’s no easy or single solution to these issues, and I don’t subscribe to the view that a ‘written constitution’ is any sort of panacea. But we need to reflect carefully on whether current arrangements are fit for purpose. The answer to that question is not obviously ‘yes’ 6/6
