The Wrong Kind of Foreigner.

Up until now I haven't expected much from Gordon Brown when he takes over the leadership of Labour. While it will be great to be rid of Tony Blair and 'the cult of the individual' that followed with him, Gordon Brown seemed to represent the same authoritarian wing of Labour as Tony Blair did.

However, Gordon Brown's idea of a constitutional convention with the aim of establishing a written constitution is the best I've ever heard from a British politician (for more on Gordon Browns leadership vision see here). I could still be disappointed as it is not clear whether Gordon Brown understands that the essential elements of a written constitution are its enactment throught direct election and its function of limiting of the power of Parliament.

The thought of a social democratic Labour Party motivated by ideas and not empty rhetoric makes me wish I could be involved in British politics. I am, however, not a British subject and cannot vote and cannot be a member of Labour.

Britain does grant full citizen and voting rights to some foreigners, as any citizen of Eire (the Irish Republic) can vote in Parliamentary elections in Britain. Why Britain extends this right to people from a republic that is proud to be independent from Britain is beyond me and seems quite patronizing as well as discriminatory. I guess I am, in the eyes of the British, the wrong kind of foreigner!