CONSTITUTION

Advantages of an uncodified constitution;

Flexible and easy to change, constitutions need to be amended and

updated over time. Our constitution allows parliament to change statute
law very easily, as it is not entrenched, so no laws which as
constitutionally superior to other statute laws; meaning that a acts of
parliament can quickly and easily change the constitution. This means that
our constitution has developed organically alongside changing political
and social circumstances, to continually represent wider society, e.g.
devolution to respond to rising nationalism in Scotland and Wales.
Long unbroken democratic rule that the UK has enjoyed, is seen as a
evidence of the strength it constitutional system, which gains its
legitimacy through parliamentary sovereignty as the power lies with
elected politicians (MPs), so all constitutional changes come about due to
a democratic process, e.g. House of Lord reforms came about due to the
belief that an unelected chamber should be able to block legislation of a
elected chamber.
Effective government, the Westminster model concentrates power in the
hands of the executive, insuring strong and stable government. The
executive can be powerful forces for political and social change, as they
are the majority party in parliament in the Commons, which is where
constitutional changes are be made. They have considerable leverage,
which the Thatcher and Blair governments took advantage of, becoming
transformative administrations which introduced far-reaching reforms.
Accountable government, The government is still directly accountable to
Parliament and to the public during general elections, so constitutionally it
is easy for the public to hold the government to account.
Based on tradition and customs, It links present generation to
generation's past. Because of common law and conventions the UK
constitution has developed and grown over time organically, like a living
thing, the opposite of a codified constitution which has been created.
These constitutional rules and principles have stood the test of time and
have shown to work. It has evolved in a way that has helped keep Britain a
stable and prosperous democracy.
Promote harmony between the three branches of government available at
each other and must work together, a situation created by an uncodified
constitution.

Disadvantages of an uncodified constitution;

Uncertainty, because an uncodified constitution is in part unwritten it is

sometimes difficult to know what the constitution is actually saying. When
political dispute occur a codified constitution could reduce ambiguity,
especially around the many conventions that make up our current political
system. e.g. the convention of individual material responsibility requires
that ministers are responsible for mistakes made by their departments.

However it doesn't clarify whether it means that a minister should resign

when civil servants make mistakes, or only when mistakes are made by
said minister. Also does 'responsibility' imply that someone has to resign,
or just that ministers must provide answers and promises to put right the
mistakes. In these cases it's hard to escape the conclusion that the
constitution is being made up along the way.
Elective dictatorship, coined by Lord Hailsham, refers to how UK
government's can more or less actively please until they come up for reelection, this is due parliamentary sovereignty and the executive
dominating Parliament. This allows the government of the day to shape
and reshape the constitution however they wish, creating the impression
that the UK in fact does not have a constitution, it is simply 'what
happens'. It creates the possibility that governments could be oppressive
and tyrannical.
Over centralised system of government with weak or ineffective checks
and balances. One of the key features of Liberal democracy is that
government power is limited through internal tension between and
amongst government bodies, but in the UK there is not separation of
power so that can't happen. Power is centralised to the Prime Minister, and
his influence trickles down to local government. The PM tends to dominate
the cabinet, which in turn dominate the House of Commons, which is more
powerful than the House of Lords so therefore they control Parliament and
central government controlled local government.
Even though the 1997 reform aims to address this problem power is still
too centralised despite there now being devolution.
Power of MPs and parliamentary sovereignty is undermined, by unelected
bodies such as the monarchy, the House of Lords, quangos and the
judiciary having too much power and Influence.
Weak protection of rights and civil liberates, consequence of elective
dictatorships, as there's nothing except elections forcing government to
respect individual freedom and basic rights. Elections tend to empower
majority, so even then they may not be adequate enough, there is also a
traditional unwillingness to write down individual rights and freedoms as it
give them legal substance. e.g. 2004, nine suspected but not convicted
terrorist were held without trial at Belmarsh Prison, contradicting the
principle of habeas corpus.
The passing of the Human Rights Act 1998 help define right more clearly,
making it easier for them to be defended in court. However this has
caused criticism for being far too liberal e.g. not reporting illegal
immigrants who were violent criminals on technicalities, Abu Grail.
A Democratic deficient political system has been caused by the UK's
uncodified constitution. There's too much power in the hands of unelected
institutions, especially the EU which is where 80% of new laws come from.

Obstacles in the way of forming a codified constitution,

There is no process through which a written constitution could be

introduced.

No mechanism within the UKs political and legal system to establish

higher law. It appears impossible as the sovereignty legislator cannot bind
itself, so a process would have to be invented.
The major parties will most defiantly disagree about the nature and the
content of the constitution