VOTERS are being asked whether Britain needs a new Magna Carta, ahead of the 800th anniversary next year of the most famous constitutional document in history.

The Commons Political and Constitutional Reform (PCR) Committee is inviting submissions to a consultation, which will run until January, on the future democratic settlement for the UK.

The committee wants to know whether people believe Britain needs a written constitution or should retain its current constitutional settlement based on an uncodified collection of common law, acts of Parliament, treaty obligations and conventions.

PCR Committee chairman Graham Allen said: "The question is, do we need a new Magna Carta to shape Britain's relationship with its people, Europe and the world for the next 800 years?"