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The London School of Economics has commenced a project to help pave the way for strengthened constitutional rights in Britain. The initiative is to be conducted over the next two years by the School's newly formed Policy Engagement Research Group that was founded earlier this year by Privacy International's Simon Davies and Gus Hosein.

The issue of constitutional reform, particularly a Bill of Rights, is on the agenda of the main political parties. This year, Opposition Leader David Cameron has made a commitment to replace the Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights, while the Liberal Democrats are committed to a written constitution. Currently Britain relies on the Human Rights Act as the basis for protections contained in the European Convention on Human Rights. The UK legal provisions are considered by many to be inadequate.

The LSE venture called "Future Britain" will undertake a substantial research effort and a national consultation to foster the debate about how Britain should choose and implement a new Bill of Rights. Its aim is to discover how other nations have considered such questions and then, through broad consultation and outreach, assess these options in the context of a modern Britain to see which may be most appropriate and which are most likely to succeed.

The project supporters say its most important contribution will be to create a neutral space for engagement. Future Britain aims to be the vehicle that engages and informs the UK on the issue of constitutional rights reform and might well be viewed as the first structured phase in the long road to entrenching rights in a written British constitution. It will be formally launched in February 2007. In the meantime the LSE will consult with constitutional experts and rights groups to arrive at the project terms of reference.

The initiative has the support of both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats and will work with a wide range of groups including Justice, Charter 88 and the UCL Constitution Unit.

Further information can be obtained through Simon Davies at s.g.davies@lse.ac.uk

Cameron proposes UK Bill of Rights (26.06.2006)
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/conservatives/story/0,,1805902,00.html

Attorney General considers written constitution (9.10.2006)
http://www.politics.co.uk/news/domestic-policy/constitution/monarchy/b... -should-seriously-consider-written-constitution-$454076.htm

Liberal Democrat commitment to Bill of Rights (01.2005)
http://www.libdems.org.uk/media/documents/policies/11CivilLiberties.pd...