The hidden wiring emerges: The Cabinet Manual and the working of the British constitution

Article

This paper presents an analysis of the draft Cabinet Manual, a potentially powerful document that codifies and unites the often unwritten conventions and rules that have governed and guided governmental activity for decades.

However, there are those who discern in it the prototypical nuclear core of what might become a written British constitution. By contrast, the authors think it is more a question of the hidden wiring of the constitution beginning to emerge: the process of codification to which the manual is a significant contribution should not be confused with full codification, as it might generally be understood. Nevertheless, while the manual may not be the constitution, it will impact upon it and may be interpreted as if it were that ultimate document.

Related items

  1. A busy high street in Kingston-upon-Thames, London. Shoppers walking beneath multi-coloured bunting

    Bricks vs clicks: The case for an online sales tax

    It's time to rethink how we tax retail.
  2. A close up photo of a bricklayer smoothing cement between a layer of red bricks

    Beyond boom and bust: The supply case for social housing

    How the government can use social housing to unlock housing supply and demand.
  3. A stack of large shipping containers painted with the UK and EU flags

    Aligning for growth? The benefits of an EU-UK mutual recognition agreement

    Scoping the potential next frontier of a deepening relationship between the UK and the EU.