Guide to 'constitution' launched

[TRUTH]

Britons need to be convinced to treasure their votes as much as black South Africans, said Alan Johnson as he launched a guide to the constitution.

The education secretary said turnout was "depressingly low", with 15m more people watching at least one World Cup match than voting at the last election.

Mr Johnson, a possible future Labour leader, was speaking at the launch of the plain English constitution guide.

A copy is being sent to every school to help teenagers understand UK democracy.

But Mr Johnson said there also had to be efforts to educate adults about how the country was run.

Unravelling the unwritten

The constitution guide has been produced by the Citizenship Foundation and part funded by the government.

It aims to guide 15 to 19-year-olds how Britain's "unwritten constitution" of acts of Parliament, common law and conventions works.

Among its case studies, it uses the story of Cherie Blair being fined for not having a train ticket to illustrate the principle of equality in the eyes of the law.

Lord Phillips of Sudbury, president of the Citizenship Foundation, said constitutional lawyers had originally insisted it would be impossible to produce the guide.

"You can be sure that this book will be attacked for leaving things out and putting things in," he said.

'Cultural apathy'

Mr Johnson, seen as a possible future Labour deputy leader, said the guide was an "extraordinary feat" given the complexities of the constitution and would help people get involved in the democratic process.

"Such participation is a key part of the citizenship curriculum, but nobody can be active in a knowledge vacuum," he said.

People were wrong to blame the style of British politics entirely for turnout problems, argued Mr Johnson, pointing to the decline in membership of trade unions and the Church of England.

"We cannot sit back and allow this cultural apathy to continue," he said.

Mr Johnson said people needed to be convinced to look at voting "with the same sense of awe as a black South African or Eastern European".

He compared gaps in people's education on citizenship to the battle to improve numeracy and literacy among some adults.

'Avoid fuss'

Mr Johnson said that there was an age issue to be tackled as younger people were the group most unlikely to vote.

But he added: "This should be available everywhere and we have to look at how we get adults involved."

Campaigners for a full written constitution say the guide shows it can be done.

But Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said: "We are far better off without a written constitution.

"It means that when gaps emerge they can be plugged without there being a great fuss or palaver."

Voting age

The students who have been trailblazers for the guide said it would show teenagers they had rights too.

Speaking at the launch event, some of them said reading the guide would make young people want the voting age to be lowered from 18 to 16.

Lucy Menzies, 15, from Billingham, said: "As time has progressed, students have matured more and politics is more open now so if you are interested in it you can learn about it and make a decision."

Natalie Want, 16, from Woking, said if people were old enough to smoke and get married they should be able to choose the government.

But her schoolmate Miranda Moorghen, 16, said: "I'm not sure the age should be lowered because it would be an awful lot for young people to take on.

"I'm not sure at 15 or 16 you can fully understand what is going on."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5165392.stm

http://www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk/main/news.php?n359

[dodgy]

I just have to point out that Mr Johnson gets a demotion partway through the article - built up then dropped back down :