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21 July 2016 / Roger Smith
Issue: 7708 / Categories: Opinion , Public , Brexit , EU , Constitutional law
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Grey days

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Is our Constitution fit for purpose following Brexit, asks Roger Smith

The British constitution has taken rather too much of a battering from public school boys in both major political parties. Chilcot and Brexit have, in different ways, revealed the inadequacies of an education that encourages confidence unmerited by circumstance. And Oxford University might care also to consider whether its PPE degree really provides adequately profound training for those who would be our leaders. The most immediate consequence of a comprehensive failure of our previous political elite is that the women have emerged to try their hand at getting us out of the mess that the boys created. But, there are deeper issues and we need to consider whether, in the language of our time, our constitution remains fit for purpose.

The Union

The first problem is our very survival as a coherent nation. The SNP has little political option domestically but to push for a further referendum on independence even if falling oil prices make that financially even more bonkers than voting for Brexit. Control of immigration will require hard borders in

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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