The dignified and undiginified parts of the constitution

There’s a febrile atmosphere in Westminster tonight. The coalition is poised for a frontal assault on the privileges of the House of Lords and there is an expectation that today’s dramatic developments in the phone hacking saga are the beginning of something not the end.

The coalition’s actions on the Lords have been prompted by Labour’s filibustering of the AV bill. But there’s no guarantee that it will succeed. First, it has no majority in the upper house. Second, a lot of Tories peers are worried about just how many Clegg inspired changes to the constitution the coalition is pushing through.

On the phone hacking front, there’s a sense that a dam broke today: the rogue reporter defence is no longer operative. Andy Coulson’s decision that his position as the PM’s director of communication was going to be untenable as long as this story rumbled on has been vindicated today. Downing Street must be privately relieved that he didn’t listen to the Prime Minister’s entreaties to stay on.