The island of Venice has been sinking perceptibly for centuries, but recent news is that global warming is likely to accelerate the cataclysm that will take the city below a viable water level in the lagoon. A possible parallel may be drawn with the unwritten British constitution that some reformers have long been threatening to abandon, but which continues to be the basis of a rather unusual system of government, one that is often visited and sometimes admired by constitutional tourists from other countries. To mix metaphors, the call to cut the constitution adrift from its historical moorings and to make a fresh start may be heard.
