Constitutional Reform Bill 2009

UKIP's Lord Willoughby de Broke has introduced the Constitutional Reform Bill 2009 into the House of Lords which, if hell freezes over and the LibLabCon pass it, would:

• Repeal the European Communities Act 1972
• Repeal the Human Rights Act 1998
• Introduce binding referenda
• Require the British Parliament to approve international treaties and declare war
• Hand powers down from the British Parliament to local authorities
• Fix the salary and expenses of a British MP and what expenses can be claimed for

The practical effect of the Bill would be to withdraw the UK from the European Empire and make the protection of fundamental human rights the job of our own constitutional statutes - the Bill of Rights, Magna Carta, Habeas Corpus, etc..

All in all the Bill is concise and well written, although it fails to address devolution properly so the Scottish Parliament and Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies would remain but power would be devolved to local authorities in England which could never hope to compete with one of the national assemblies.

I Lord Willoughby de Broke the best of luck with his Constitutional Reform Bill but I won't my breath on it getting past the first reading.