should the UK introduce a codified constitution?

Question 1

AGAINST - flexibility

Answer 1

the current constitution allows the UK to adapt to the changing world without major moves

• after 9/11, there was a threat of international terrorism, and if the UK had a codified constitution, it would have been hard to introduce anti-terrorist measures
• after 2010 general election, the flexibility of the constitution allowed the government to adapt to the coalition

Question 2

AGAINST: executive power

Answer 2

• when the constitutional safeguards are weak, it can give the government more power, however, this can be seen as a good thing, as it is good to have a government that can handle crises independently

Question 3

AGAINST: conservative pragmatism

Answer 3

the conservatives suggest that it has been successful in changing the constitution naturally and in the interests of everyone

there has been no violent revolutions

Question 4

AGAINST: dangers of politicising the judiciary

Answer 4

a codified constitution would involve making the courts more political

Question 5

FOR: human rights

Answer 5

it would ensure stronger safeguards for individual and minority rights, as the Human Rights Act would be entrenched and it wouldn’t be able to be overriden

Question 6

FOR: executive power

Answer 6

over powerful government threats individual rights, minorities and the influence of public opinion, whereas a codified constitution would would decrease executive power

Question 7

FOR: modernity

Answer 7

it can be argued that the UK is backward in a political sense, as many other countries have a codified constitution

Question 8

FOR : checks and balances

Answer 8

they are made clearer- there is more separation of powers