Burnham says devolution makes case for written constitution

The Mayor of Greater Manchester has argued that Britain's lack of a written constitution "disempowers" the public, according to the Independent and the Guardian. Andy Burnham made the case while pushing for deeper devolution.

GB News reports Burnham's claim that the absence of a codified constitution leaves citizens without clear rights. The Guardian frames it as a consequence of devolution plans - the more power moves from Westminster, the sharper the question of what limits that power and who decides.

The argument rests on a category error. A written constitution does not empower people - it restricts government. The American document begins "We the People" and spends the rest of its length telling the state what it may not do. Britain's arrangement distributes that restraint across statute, convention and the courts. The question is not whether the limits are visible in a single text, but whether they hold when tested. Devolution does not require a constitution - it requires an answer to which tier of government answers to the voter on which question, and whether the ballot box still reaches the decisions that matter.

What to watch: whether Burnham's push gains traction with the cabinet, and whether any party proposes a constitutional convention. If they do, the bench will ask who writes it.