The traditional parliamentary reform problem has been how to reconcile a stronger, more autonomous House which can stand up to, and be an effective constitutional watchdog over, the Executive, with the twin countervailing internal pressures of the British ‘Government within Parliament’ model, and the central role of ‘party’ within Parliament. Nowadays that dilemma is even more acute and complex, with the growing recognition (especially with the advent of new technology and social media) of the more proactive role of ‘the people’ within government, and thereby within Parliament.

In other words, the old ‘ParliamentGovernment relationship’ problem (intermixed with the ‘party’ overlay) is now a triangle of Parliament, Government and People. It is no longer an issue of just strengthening representative democracy, but of synthesising representative democracy with more ‘direct democracy’. I would argue that a parliament is the obvious and constitutionally proper forum where these three forces should best meet and interact so as to produce a modern form of representative, democratic and accountable governance. But to fulfil that core function, a parliament needs to be autonomous and robust so as to be able to play its own distinct dual function of ‘constitutional forum’ and representative assembly.