Gordon Brown unveiled his plans for constitutional change yesterday in his first prime ministerial outing in the House of Commons.

Gordon Brown unveiled his plans for constitutional change yesterday in his first prime ministerial outing in the House of Commons.

They were important but, as he told MPs, they were not the final blueprint for a new constitutional settlement but a route map towards it.

Mr Brown has been thinking about constitutional change and the future of Britishness, which he believes are inextricably linked, for a long time. He has argued for years that to make Britain a more confident country there must be a new relationship between citizens and government.

At a specially convened cabinet meeting on Friday to discuss the proposals included in The Governance of Britain' green paper, published yesterday, each of Mr Brown's cabinet colleagues contributed during the 90-minute discussion, and that in itself was a departure from the past.

Jack Straw, the secretary of state responsible for driving the constitutional legislation through the Commons, disclosed later that his colleagues' observations were taken on board before Mr Brown made his statement.

Such is the importance that Mr Brown attached to the need for constitutional change he was determined that it should be the subject of his first address to parliament. He had intended to make it on Monday but that plan was derailed by the terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow, which necessitated a parliamentary statement from Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary.

In the Commons, the Prime Minister set out how he was going to go about realising his ambition of making Britain a more confident country, with institutions fitted to the 21st century, now that he has his hands on the levers of power.

He said: "It is my hope that, by working together for change in a spirit that takes us beyond parties and beyond partisanship, we can agree a new British constitutional settlement that entrusts more power to parliament and the British people.

"Change with a new settlement is, in my view, essential to our country's future. For we will only meet the new challenges of security, of economic change, of communities under pressure - and forge a stronger national purpose - by building a new relationship between citizens and government that ensures that government is a better servant of the people," he argued.

He admitted that constitutional change would not be the work of just one bill or even one parliament, but he immediately handed power from the Prime Minister and the executive to Parliament. In a move which was as symbolically important as it was practical, he removed the Royal Prerogative from 12 areas of national life.

He said: "For centuries (the Prime Minister and the executive) have exercised authority in the name of the monarchy without the people and their elected representatives being consulted ... I now propose to surrender or limit these powers to make for a more open 21st century British democracy."

Mr Brown has often expounded a modern view of Britishness, founded on responsibility, liberty and fairness. And as was evident in the green paper he believes it requires a a new constitutional settlement; the serious consideration of citizenship; the rebuilding of civic society; the renewal of local government; and the integration of minorities while being internationalist at all times.

If the green paper reaches the statute book Mr Brown may have gone some way to achieving his ambitious goals - but as David Cameron pointed out during the Commons statement, actions have to match the rhetoric.

The Tory leader applauded many of the proposals but he pointed out it was Mr Brown as Chancellor who centralised public services by imposing 3000 targets.

Mr Cameron argued: "However worthy, however sensible, however desirable some of the changes you have outlined, let us not pretend they are the answer to restoring trust in politics. Constitutional change is not the solution to broken trust because the constitution is not the cause of broken trust. It's broken promises that are the cause of broken trust: A vote on Europe, no tax rises, fixing the NHS; these are broken promises and people will ask how the person who broke this trust can be the person to mend it," he said.

Angus Robertson for the SNP generally welcomed the reforms, while Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader, complained that the Prime Minister had no intention of changing the voting system.

Mr Brown also revealed his trenchant opposition to English votes on English laws, an issue that, however much he might wish it to be different, will not go away.

Mr Straw will present legislation pertaining to the green paper before the Commons rises for the summer recess on July 26 but last night, whatever the criticisms, there was general recognition across the political spectrum that Mr Brown had taken the first steps towards making the executive and parliament more accountable to the public.