Daily Globe British Values, Global Perspective
Related Articles
In a recent BBC article I was shocked to read the following line, “Boris Johnson’s government seemingly on a collision course with Parliament over Brexit”.
The left coupled with those who are not fully informed on Brexit may think that the Government is at war with the Parliament when the greater danger being hidden by lines such as these is the fact that the Parliament is at war with the people of the United Kingdom over Brexit.
The fact is that Parliament was created to uphold the will of the people and protect from any abuse of power. As a matter of fact Parliament is derived from the French word which means “discussion meeting”. The first incarnation of Parliament where power would be balanced with the wishes of the King and representatives of the people was formed in 1258 when Simon De Montfort, Earl of Leicester worked to take over Government and have a council of nobles elected.
In 1258, King Henry III of England faced a revolt among the English barons as anger had grown about the way the King’s officials were raising funds, the influence of his Poitevin relatives at court and his unpopular Sicilian policy; even the English Church had grievances over its treatment by the King.
Within Henry’s court there was a strong feeling that the King would be unable to lead the country through these problems.
On 30 April, Hugh Bigod marched into Westminster in the middle of the King’s parliament, backed by his co-conspirators, including Simon de Montfort, the Earl of Leicester, and carried out a coup d’état.
Henry, fearful that he was about to be arrested and imprisoned, agreed to abandon his policy of personal rule and instead govern through a council of 24 barons and churchmen, half chosen by the King and half by the barons.
In essence we can see that the early incarnations of Parliament were geared at protecting the greater public and fulfilling their will or wishes.
Therefore, hundreds of years later, the greatest threat to our Commonwealth Westminster Parliamentary system is not a legitimate, constitutionally allowed, commonly practiced prorogation of Parliament but rather the attempts of individuals within the Parliament to overturn the democratic decision/votes of 17.4 million people, who in a majority of 1.3 million beat the remain vote to exit the European Union.
Parliament’s main duty in any jurisdiction is to uphold the will of its citizens. Therefore any attempts to use its sittings and Parliamentary agenda to derail the democratic decisions as well as the manifesto promises/commitments of the two major parties (within the UK) could be seen as the real danger.
The real danger is using Parliamentary time to defeat the will of the people, a will which was thoroughly demonstrated by the Brexit result.
The real danger is using Parliamentary time to satisfy the wants of few as opposed to the needs of the majority.
Therefore the question must not be “Has Boris hampered democracy?” but rather, “are remain sympathetic MPs intent on using the Parliament to defy the will of the UK people?”
It is even more important to fully state that the will of the UK people is with Brexit. How does one derive at this assumption?
We must admit that 16.2 million people voted to stay however in our form of Westminster democracy, we submit to the will of the majority, regardless of how large or small that majority is.
In this case the majority is approximately 1.2 million votes more for Brexit.
Therefore we must not be fooled by the TROJAN horse of democratic destruction.
The Global community must understand that Prime Minister Johnson is right when he says that No Deal must not be taken of the table as it “shackles” the United Kingdom.
If the European Union knows that the United Kingdom, the nation which literally saved France and Europe after the destruction of the Germans in World War Two, would only leave with a deal then they would give the worse possible deal to the UK as their only intent is to suppress the UK from leaving.
However with no-deal on the table, it sends a message to the EU that if they want to continue benefiting mutually from the UK they must actually work towards an agreement that satisfies both parties.
Even more importantly, the global community must understand that the Brexit War of Jeremy Corbyn has nothing to do with the EU. For the Leader of the Opposition this appears as just another opportunistic approach for electoral gain like the student debt fiasco in 2017.
We must remember that in addition to Jeremy Corbyn spending his career fighting the control of the EU, his party stood on a manifesto which pledged to leave this body.
However it would seem that in an effort to grab power and support from remainers he is willing to have the UK turn into a Vassal state. The fact is, regardless of the promises during the referendum or the views of MPs at Westminster, it is a slap in the face to all who have fought for Parliamentary democracy when MPs are putting their personal wishes above the population.
If Parliament moves to block a “no deal option” today, then Boris Johnson would be right to call a General election. That way both remainers and leavers get a second referendum to choose between the parties they want to help them leave the EU or flip flop on democracy.
The big problem is the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011, introduced by David Cameron, that prevents the government from calling an election. The Act should have included a section dealing with what happens when a Government no longer enjoys a majority in the House. It is now obvious that it was shockingly flawed legislation but Parliament cannot easily amend it until 2020 even if it wanted to do so.