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By Ned Simons - 4th November 2010
It doesn't seem to have any moral or legal authority, it lacks legitimacy
Graham Allen MP, chair of the political and constitional reform committee
Civil service head Sir Gus O'Donnell was in front of the Commons political and constitutional reform committee this morning.
He explained why the government has so far failed to publish in full the Cabinet Office manual that helped guide politicians during the coalition negotiations.
Drawn up by the Cabinet Office, the manual offers an official interpretation of aspects Britain's unwritten constitution.
While it covers a wide range of constitutional areas, so far only the draft section that sets out procedures for the formation of a government following an election has been published.
MPs on the committee raised concerns about the legitimacy of the manual given that it has been drawn up by unelected civil servants and has not been subject to parliamentary scrutiny.
The manual is believed to contain guidance on important constitutional questions such as the monarchy and Privy Council, the role of the prime minister and ministers, collective cabinet decision making, ministers and Parliament, minsters and the law, ministers and the civil service, relations with devolved administration and local government and relations with Europe and international institutions.
Committee chair Graham Allen said Parliament and the public should be given access to the "blockbuster" document without further delay.
"Parliament would like to see this in the public domain, this is an extremely important document, there needs to be an extended debate," he said.
"It doesn't seem to have any moral or legal authority, it lacks legitimacy."
Lib Dem MP Stephen Williams suggested the manual was now the "nearest thing we have to a written constitution" and asked whether it would be a "good starting point" for one.
While Sir Gus stressed as head of the civil service he had no view on the merits of a written constitution, he agreed the document he had helped author would be a likely starting point.
"It is certainly true that if one was working toward such an event you would want to bring together certain laws and conventions," he said.
"In that sense the cabinet manual will be useful very much in its own right, but it will be useful, those in favour of a written constitution I think will start with it, they may not end with it, but they will certainly start with it."
Asked by Williams whether he had studied the written constitutions of other countries, Sir Gus said he had looked at them "briefly" but was concentrating on the cabinet manual itself.
Conservative committee member Eleanor Laing suggested that the current situation would lead people to question the legitimacy of the document and any actions informed by it.
"There is in existence a cabinet manual, it is a codification of rules, it has been acted upon, therefore it is a document of some importance," she said.
"It has never been before Parliament, it is the property of the Cabinet. It is a useful practical tool which has been very useful and acted upon in recent months.
"If it is Parliament which makes important rules, which makes all of the rules in the United Kingdom, should it not be that a document of this kind should be before Parliament for scrutiny and authentication?"
Laing said that while she was opposed to a written constitution she was convincing herself over the course of the two hour committee session that one was on the way.
She asked: "It is a strange constitutional position that it should be owned by the cabinet, should it not be Parliament that has the final say on this?"
Pressed further by MPs on why it had still not been made public, the cabinet secretary said it was up to a cabinet committee chaired by the deputy prime minister to decide when to publish it and that he was not a "guardian of the constitution".
"They have decided to pause; they want to consider the document first. One of the reasons is they have [constitutional] legislation going through Parliament at the moment.
"This is a very important document; a number of them haven’t immersed themselves in constitutional issues. They want to look at it and understand the implications of it."
He added: "It is perfectly reasonable for them to take a bit of time and then put it out in draft."
And questioned by Isle of Wight MP Andrew Turner, Sir Gus admitted that it might not be published until shortly before the next election, which under the coalition's fixed-term Parliament plans will not be until May 2015.
"I hoped we would be able to do it by the end of the year, the truth is it is a matter for ministers not me," he said.
"My advice to them will be I think it quite a good idea to get this out well in advance of, lets say, the next election.
"I look forward when we can have this discussion with the document in front of us."
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