Politics: `Lab-Dem' committee begins work on reforms
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The new "Lab-Dem" Cabinet committee joined by Paddy Ashdown and other Liberal Democrats met for the first time yesterday afternoon to discuss an agenda for constitutional reform.
After a 90-minute working session in the Cabinet room at Number 10 the Liberal Democrat leader said: "Building on the momentum of the referendums in Scotland and in Wales, we are modernising Britain.
"This is about opening a path for a more modern style of politics. We have had a very constructive meeting and we look forward to building on that so we can work together to modernise Britain's constitution in the future."
With the meeting bound by the confidentiality that surrounds all Cabinet discussion, Mr Ashdown and his four parliamentary colleagues refused to go into detail about the substance of the talks, but the Prime Minister's office said the main constitutional issues had been examined.
"In particular, they acknowledged the beneficial effects of working closely together on the referendum campaigns and agreed to co-operate closely on the legislation which follows," a spokesman said.
Members of the committee recognise that cross-party co-operation will help avoid some of the problems associated with the debacle over the failure of Labour's devolution package in the 1970s.
The meeting also included discussion about the incorporation into UK law of the European Convention on Human Rights, the 1999 Euro-elections - which will be the first national elections to be held under proportional representation - and the creation of a commission to consider an agreed option on PR for Westminster parliamentary elections, to be set up this autumn.
That commission will report within a year, and there will be a referendum offering the voters PR for general elections - to be staged before the next election. Completion of the process could then be one of the key offers made to voters by the alliance at the next election.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments