UK Constitutional Reform thread

One thing I enjoyed from the debates leading up the scottish independence referendum was seeing apologetic politicians speak candidly about the need for political reform in the UK. The UK has been unusually stable for the past 300 years or so and has thus had no occasion to re-imagine the constitution or engage in anything other than piecemeal reform. So, if you were to stretch your imagination, how would you like a new UK political structure to look?

questions/talking points -

KILL THE QUEEN - how would you gently remove the monarchy?

MAGNA CARTA++ - how would you curtail the powers of the executive i.e. enshrine rights or the existence of other political powers e.g. local government, no more referenda on europe etc.?

what to do about excessive party power, especially whips, single party councils etc.?

would anyone like to defend the supreme court?

do you prefer a cabinet system or do you like the idea of a separately elected head of state or ???

we can debate electoral systems or the somewhat uninspiring idea of importing some republican bicameral system (obv the house of lords is absurd to the point of not being worth our time), but , focusing on the bigger prize, can anyone come up with a genuinely novel way of conducting representative politics that might suit the UK now?

change.org - would some digital utopian like to take up the challenge of arguing for an increased role for direct democracy?

do select committees function adequately?

is the right of recall febrile mob rule or a decent check on power?

is federalism, regional independence etc. a good idea or a waste of money that's only attractive bc westminster is such a decrepit crock of shit?

[jokes about eton] - how can the make-up of the political class be moderated?

should we address media ownership or is that outdated/nonsense?

is there a way of having a democratically generated/checked foreign policy rather than have a govt elected on domestic issues do as it likes?

is there any mechanism at a national level that could be used to enact constitutional reform, or is the smarter move to further undermine national sovereignty through international organizations/the free market/the EU etc.?

or put another way, is the age of truly significant political reform at the national level over, should we be investing our efforts in alternative systems that might in turn dictate national politics?

is it even possible to create a robust system that is still open for future reform?

and finally can someone please take the position that although the current system is absurd it's actually fine bc of economics or something

maybe I should have given this a snappier title

For another dose of pure excitement, see also my thread TS: Unicameral vs. Bicameral Legislative Bodies.

no really, I'm curious

some tories seemingly espousing unicameralism atm

unicameronism

... at least he went to a uni, and a good one too, unlike Jeremy 'A-Levels' Corbyn.

Seriously though, you couldn't make this up.

the current system is probably functionally closer to a unicameral system than a robust evenly-balanced bicameral system, but there's so little will or imagination to create the latter I wouldn't be surprised if it the whole issue festers until the palace of westminster physically deteriorates to the point that they have to move out and they decide they'd rather vote the house of lords away than build a new one

"The government has announced a review into the workings of Parliament"

oh is that all it is?

What about scrapping general elections and staggering votes for constituencies evenly over 5 years, poss with some right of recall

as it stands elections have such a strong negative influence on westminster, it warps everything

any hope for positive constitutional changes are currently dead

it was ever thus

i admit sometimes it's fun when no one knows what's going on

putting the um back in vellum