On July 3, Gordon Brown made one of the most startling statements ever made by a newly installed premier before the House of Commons. Unless my ears mistook me, Brown pledged to transform the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland into the United States of Britain.

Opinion polls like the Pew Global Attitudes survey continue to testify to widespread anti-American feeling among British voters. Brown himself has hinted that he will pursue a less slavishly pro-American foreign policy than his predecessor, Tony Blair. Yet the “new British constitutional settlement” Brown promised last week owes an unmistakable debt to the American system.

“For centuries,” declared Brown, the prime minister and the executive branch “have exercised authority in the name of the monarchy without the people and their elected representatives being consulted.” His aim, by contrast, is to “entrust more power to parliament and the British people.” Nota bene: from royal authority to “We, the people.”

Brown offered to delegate the power to declare war to the House of Commons, albeit on the basis of a resolution rather than a statute. Again, this imitates the US, where (under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution) Congress alone has the power to declare war.

The government is to publish, on a regular basis, a national security strategy. Another import: President Bush has published two such documents since 2001.

There is to be a British national security council. The American model for this dates to 1947.

The House of Lords is almost certainly to become an elected body. Hey, Gordon, how about renaming it “the Senate”? Above all, Brown proposes to “codify — both the duties and rights of citizens and the balance of power between government, parliament and the people.”

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