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Howard's Way.... a weekly column from the Rt. Hon. Michael Howard QC. MP. 

12 July 2007

Last week, in his first appearance in the House of Commons as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown announced a package of measures to reform our constitutional arrangements. Some of the measures contained within it, like the decision to legislate to place the role of the Civil Service on a statutory footing, are things I have been arguing for years. I welcome them. Others were more controversial.

 

Some have been left out altogether. I particularly regret the absence of any measure to recognise and remedy the imbalance of our constitutional arrangements following devolution. Mr Brown rejected the proposal that Members of Parliament from Scotland should not be allowed to vote on measures that only affect England and have no effect whatever on their own constituents on the ground that it would be wrong to create two classes of Member of Parliament. But, as I was able to put to him in a direct question, we already have two classes of Member of Parliament – those who are able to vote on all the measures that could affect their constituents and those, from Scotland, who cannot.

There is no convincing answer to this question and it will be asked again and again.

On Sunday came a sombre reminder of the sacrifices made to enable us to enjoy the freedoms we have today.

I always try to attend Battle of Britain Memorial Day at Capel. It is a very special site and I would urge any of you who have not already been there to visit it. On Sunday we were honoured by the presence of several Battle of Britain veterans and the Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy.

There was a fly past by a Spitfire and a Hurricane and the day as a whole was a timely reminder of the young men who fought, and in too many cases, died for the sake of the future of our country.

On Monday morning, by an ironic coincidence given the part its airfield played in the battle, I opened the Hawkinge Relief Road. It, too, was in its own way a reminder in that while we must remember the past and acknowledge the debt we owe to those who came before us we must do all we can to make the world a better place for those who come after us. That is the challenge for our generation.