Saturday , October 12 2024

Tag Archives: Parliament

Dying in a ditch

Parliament has passed a bill which forbids the Prime Minister from leaving the EU without a deal. If he is unable to come to an agreement with the EU, or if that deal is not agreed by Parliament then he has to ask the EU for an extension. What happens …

Read More »

Against the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill

This speech was originally made by the author in the House of Lords on 10 July 2019 My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, has reminded us of his own deep commitment to devolution, and it is one that I share. In his remarks responding to the Minister earlier, the …

Read More »

Time to end the national humiliation – #LetsGoWTO

Yesterday epitomised the farce that Parliament has descended into. For the second time in one week (to say nothing of the multiple previous rejections), the Remainer Parliament rejected four Remain alternatives – hand picked for them by a biased, self-aggrandizing, buffoonish Remain supporting speaker. The lead proponent of Norway Plus …

Read More »

The Tyranny of Parliament

The sovereignty of Parliament is uncontested. The Supreme Court reminded us in the Gina Miller case as have a thousand constitutional commentators before and since. This is the law and it is correct. A recently formed group of MPs – the Independent Group – have proclaimed their independence of their …

Read More »

A National Disgrace and Bre(xit)trayal

A disgraceful thing happened yesterday. Parliament, having blocked, decelerated and harried Britain’s exit from the EU for two years, decided to delay Brexit. May had said a great many times that No Deal is better than a Bad Deal, but refused to acknowledge that hers was a bad deal, despite …

Read More »

It is not that complicated

How many times have you thought ‘Why does it have to be so complicated’? Looking for white sauce recipes I was confounded with requests to decide if I was OK with my data being used/searched for a better user experience. No I just want a sauce recipe. In the end …

Read More »

Where do we go from here?

It is now 28 months since the people of Great Britain and Northern Ireland went to the polls to enact the most important democratic political and economic decision this great country of ours has ever been called upon to make. Yes, we have had General Elections that in and of …

Read More »

The Christian Duty to Defend Democracy

Despite the attempts of every man-made ideology to persecute and annihilate it, Christianity has survived. From Nero and Diocletian to Hitler, Stalin and Mao; from Roman dictatorship to Nazi and Communist atheism; it has survived. Paradoxically, as Tertullian observed, persecution has proved to be the seed of the Church. Christianity, …

Read More »

If Parliament must leave Westminster let it tour Britain

The iconic Palace of Westminster has to undergo massive repairs and Parliament has agreed to move out for up to six years. While I  personally think it sends the wrong message to the wider world (one of national decline- leaving the nation’s most recongnisable landmark) to move out, the Houses …

Read More »

Resurrecting The Citizen Politician

After Brexit, attracting more exceptional citizen politicians and fewer mediocre career politicians is the next crucial step towards democratic renewal in Britain A worthwhile article by new Labour MP Laura Smith for LabourList underlines the urgent need for more politicians who look and sound like contemporary human beings rather than …

Read More »

MPs Allege Foreign Hacking Of The EU Referendum, Provide No Evidence

Cynical, calculating and alarmist MPs are undermining faith in democracy with their conspiratorial anti-Brexit shenanigans “A voter registration site that crashed in the run-up to last year’s EU referendum could have been targeted by a foreign cyber attack, MPs say”, screeches the BBC. The Guardian, spurred by its anti-Brexit bias to …

Read More »

Betrayal of Britain Continued- Is the future of Great Britain a matter for all the people of Great Britain?

Again, the country has never been asked. Is Great Britain any less a nation than Scotland, Wales or England? Does Great Britain not have a clear identity – clear enough to this writer at least as will be discussed later – with a long (300 years is a reasonable chunk …

Read More »

The Supreme Court case is a monumental waste of time

Yesterday I listened to bits of the Supreme Court hearing and some of the post match analysis. Something I have never understood in this whole business is that in 2015, the House agreed by a vote of 6:1 in favour that a referendum be held in the UK to determine the mandate …

Read More »

Betrayal of Britain- Chapter 3 Continued- Chaos or Worse

Without this principle of democratic consent, Parliament is empowered to make fundamental changes to how Britain governs itself. Parliament overturned the practice of the past fifty years; it crossed a constitutional Rubicon. Unless this is checked, the real winner of the Referendum was Westminster itself. The surprisingly large vote for …

Read More »

Chapter 3 Continued- A legal referendum

Consultation A legal process was followed for the referendum. Legislation by the UK Parliament was necessary as the devolution legislation specifically denied the Scottish Parliament the power to decide on independence, amongst other things. These were the “reserved matters” (section 29 of the Scotland Act 1998). There was consultation. A …

Read More »

With David Cameron’s Resignation From Parliament, British Conservatism Can Begin A New, Bolder Chapter

Finding himself prematurely out of power and seeing no value in life as a mere backbench MP, David Cameron brings the curtain down on a bland, centrist, disappointing and entirely forgettable political career Having successfully completed Tony Blair’s fourth term of office and having a premature end called to his fifth, David …

Read More »

Mandatory Reselection Of MPs Should Be The Norm For British Political Parties, Not A Scandalous And Controversial Idea

MPs do not have a divine right to represent their constituencies forever once selected by their local party, Jeremy Corbyn is quite right to consider mandatory reselection for MPs and all political parties that profess to care about democracy should follow his lead The Telegraph leads today with a breathless …

Read More »