Gordon Brown unveiled a route map towards a new constitutional settlement for the United Kingdom yesterday as he declared his intention to entrust more power to Parliament.

GORDON Brown unveiled a route map towards a new constitutional settlement for the United Kingdom yesterday as he declared his intention to entrust more power to Parliament.

The Prime Minister set out 12 key areas where his powers and those of the government would be relinquished to Parliament, including the authority to commit the country to war.

Under the proposals, Parliament would have to authorise any deployment of troops to overseas conflicts but ministers would retain the ability to order military deployments without prior parliamentary approval for reasons of "urgency or necessary operational secrecy".

In his first prime ministerial statement in the House of Commons, Mr Brown set out in a green paper entitled The Governance of Britain the means by which the government hopes to build a new relationship with citizens and ensure the government is "a better servant of the people".

Flagging up the possibility of a written constitution, a limit to the executive's powers and a greater say for the British people, he told MPs "the best answer to disengagement from our democracy is to strengthen our democracy".

Mr Brown argued for a settlement which answered two fundamental questions: to hold power more accountable and to uphold and enhance the rights and responsibilities of the citizen.

But he ruled out any possibility of English votes for English laws. "While we will listen to all proposals to improve our constitution in the light of devolution, we do not accept the proposals for English votes for English laws which would create two classes of MPs - some entitled to vote on all issues, some invited to vote only on some," he said.

Des Browne, the Scottish Secretary, added later: "(The green paper) recognises the key role devolution has already played in bringing power closer to the people of Scotland."

Many of the proposals were welcomed but David Cameron, the Conservative leader, expressed disappointment on at least three counts: Mr Brown's refusal to contem- plate English votes on English laws, no referendum on the European treaty and no intention of scrapping the Human Rights Act.

"The country is too centralised, Parliament is too weak, ministers don't get straight answers and people feel shut out of decision-making," he said.

Sir Menzies Campbell, the LibDem leader, claimed Mr Brown had taken a pick-and-mix approach to constitutional reform and complained about the absence of voting reform.

Angus Robertson, the leader of the SNP's parliamentary party, said: "It is noteworthy the Prime Ministers announced a raft of reforms for England which are happening in Scotland under the new SNP government."

But there was disappointment from the head of Scotland's Catholics that the centuries-old Act of Settlement, which bars Catholics from becoming King and Queen and prevents the monarch from marrying a Catholic, was not jettisoned.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien said: "I am deeply disappointed. I believe the Act of Settlement constitutes state-sponsored sectarianism."