Ever keen to distinguish himself from Tony Blair, Gordon Brown has made much of rebuilding trust in politics. After his initial efforts backfired, undermined by a Labour party donations scandal, Mr Brown has now revived the theme of constitutional change to restore that trust. But he has made a mistake. In a desire to emphasise “Britishness”, he risks devaluing an important debate with gimmicky reforms.

To be clear: some of the proposals in Tuesday’s constitutional re­newal bill make sense. It is essential that parliament, after being sidelined for so long by Mr Blair, is put back at the heart of democracy.