Parliamentary language should be updated, but themodernisation of our political institutions mustn’t stop there

John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, recently suggested that the old-fashioned language in use in Parliament may further reinforce the public’s sense of distance with democracy. Assessing his claims, Andrew Scott Crines argues that language is a problem, but that it would be a mistake to stop there, with the physical shape of the House of Commons, and the voting system in particular acting as a barrier to public engagement.