The debates that began at St Mary's Church, Putney on 28 October 1647 pioneered the liberal, democratic settlement in England: a written constitution, universal suffrage, freedom of conscience and equality before the law. Four centuries later, treferendum raised fundamental questions concerning the constitution of the United Kingdom. Following the High Court ruling that the government, under a centuries-old Royal Prerogative, does not have the power to trigger Article 50 to leave the EU, MPs have claimentering a full-blown constitutional crisis. The parallels between 1647 and 2017 are striking. Government has been toppled, a new leadership has emerged, and the two main parties are in a state of internecine warfare. Parliamentarians do not understand how to reconcile thefor the common good and the result of the referendum. The people are divided and the four nations comprising the United Kingdom are at oddbrings togethgreatest public intellectuals of their generation to debate the constitutional crisis at the heart of today's politics. Featuring contributions from A.C.Grayling, Joshua Rozenberg, Onora O'Neill, Will Hutton, Timothy Garton Ash and Michael Mansfield, this book provides important new perspectives on the most important political debate of the twenty-first century.
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