The Constitution Society: Working to promote informed debate about constitutional reform

As previously reported the Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls MP, referred to our groundbreaking report; ‘Select Committees and Coercive Powers – Clarity or Confusion?’ written by Richard Gordon QC and Amy Street. Below is footage from the Parliamentary debate on ‘Professional Standards in the Banking Industry’ in which Mr. Balls cited our ‘very important’ report while calling for a judge-led inquiry into Libor rate-fixing scandal.

Robert Rogers, Clerk of the Commons, has published a new paper on the powers of select committees. Much of what he writes agrees with the key points of our own report, Select Committees and Coercive Powers – Clarity or Confusion a copy of which can be downloaded here.

Mr Rogers says of our report, “…The Constitution Society’s recent study by Robert Gordon QC and Amy Street, [is] one of the best considerations of the issues I have seen.” This follows on from its citation in the Commons by the Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, who described the report as “very important”.

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In a Parliamentary session on standards in the banking industry the Shadow Chancellor, Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, called for a judge-led inquiry into the Libor rate-fixing scandal citing The Constitution Society’s groundbreaking research into the power of Select Committees. 

Highlighting some of the key findings of report authors, Richard Gordon QC and Amy Street, the Shadow Chancellor said:

“We should consider the recent experience of the phone hacking scandal and all the deliberations we see in, for example, the very important report on the details and reality of Select Committees and coercive powers, entitled “Select Committees and Coercive Powers—Clarity or Confusion?”, from The Constitution Society.”

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