Edinburgh Legal ruling

The highest court of Scotland has ruled that proroguing of the UK parliament is unlawful. We now await the result of the case before the United Kingdom Supreme Court....

The Choice - It is entirely upto the British Government and Parliament to indicate the direction of travel. |More a.s.a.p.| 

Editor's comment

Aernout Fabius shares his knowledge and experience as a immigrant BeNeLux citizen and Tax Resident of the United Kingdom since 1971!

This BrExit decision and withdrawla agreement is taking far too long.... the UK's Exit without a deal has been protected and placed on the UK Statute book...It is not a guarantee that the European Commission and Parliament (EU27) will accept an extension without a new and practical British proposal or amendments to the withdrawal agreement ...

Brecon and Radnorshire recall petition

Aernout Fabius shares his knowledge and experience as a immigrant BeNeLux citizen and Tax Resident of the United Kingdom since 1971.

Under the Recall of MPs Act 2015, the local MP's conviction triggered a recall petition. After receiving notice from the sentencing court, the Speaker of the House of Commons indicated on 24 April 2019 that he would be instructing the constituency's petition officer to begin the recall process.

By Election scheduled for 1 August 2019.

Editor's comment.

It is sad to note that the sitting MP and the local constituency party waited for the sentencing court's Recall Notice to the speaker and did not step aside  voluntarily.

Bercow on Corbyn's lip move

Let us  stop and think it through for a moment.

The leader of the Opposition was remarkably amateurish to allow his lip movement to be seen on TV footage in the House of Commons.

No opinion expressed at this time, because there is a much more significant question that needs to be answered by the House of Commons in session. It is a blessing in disguise that the House of Commons breaks for the festive season today.

New Welsh First Minister

The First Minister of Wales (Welsh: Prif Weinidog Cymru) is the leader of the Welsh Government, Wales' devolved administration. The First Minister is responsible for the exercise of functions by the Cabinet of the Welsh Government; policy development and coordination; relationships with the rest of the United Kingdom, Europe and the wider world.

First Minister of Wales Prif Weinidog Cymru
Incumbent Mark Drakeford since 13 December 2018
Style	The Right Honourable
Appointer	Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Term length	While commanding the confidence of the National Assembly for Wales
Inaugural holder	Alun Michael (as Assembly First Secretary)
Formation	12 May 1999
Website	Website

The official office of the First Minister is in Tŷ Hywel, previously known as Crickhowell House, and the Senedd in Cardiff Bay. An office is also kept at the Crown Buildings, Cathays Park, Cardiff.

EU Referendum Act 2015

This act required a referendum to be held on the question of the UK's continued membership of the European Union before the end of 2017.

The bill did not contain any requirement for the UK Government to implement the results of the referendum, nor set a time limit by which a vote to leave the EU should be implemented.

Instead, this is a type of referendum known as pre-legislative or consultative, which enables the electorate to voice an opinion which then influences the Government in its policy decisions.

The referendums held in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 1997 and 1998 are examples of this type, where opinion was tested before legislation was introduced.

The UK does not have constitutional provisions which would require the results of a referendum to be implemented, unlike, for example, the Republic of Ireland, where the circumstances in which a binding referendum should be held are set out in its constitution.

Reference:
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The Supremacy of Parliament
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The New British Constition

The Meaningful Vote

BrExit review

In early November 2018 I discovered that DExEU (the Department for Exiting Europe) was in greater turmoil than I could have imagined. The resignation of David Davis and Dominic Raab is the tip of the iceberg. Those among us who have seen the film "The Titanic" or studied the incident in detail will know that serious human error can cause unimaginable damage.

 The European Economic Area (E.E.A.) 

The EEA includes all EU member states and also Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. 

It allows the latter three nations to be part of the EU’s single (internal) market.

Switzerland is neither an EU nor EEA member but is part of the single market - this means Swiss nationals have the same rights to live and work in the UK as other EEA nationals.

The ECJ Advocate General has confirmed that the ECJ is likely to conclude that the United Kingdom can revoke Article 50 unilaterally. The real problem that challenges MPs in Parliament is the slender majority who voted to leave the European Union.

The supremacy of Parliament

Parliamentary sovereignty means judges cannot invalidate legislation. In practice the UK consents to British and European courts to review legislation to comply with international standards under the Human Rights Act 1998, and consents to follow EU law under the European Communities Act 1972.

In the 19th century, A. V. Dicey, a highly influential constitutional scholar and lawyer, wrote of the twin pillars of the British constitution in his classic work Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (1885).

The pillars of Parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law.

Parliamentary sovereignty means that Parliament is the supreme law-making body of a nation: its Acts are the highest source of British law.

In the United Kingdom there has been some academic and legal debate as to whether the Acts of Union 1707 place limits on parliamentary supremacy

According to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, Parliament may pass any legislation that it wishes. Historically, "No Act of Parliament can be unconstitutional, for the law of the land knows not the word or the idea.

By contrast, in countries with a codified constitution, the legislature is normally forbidden from passing laws that contradict that constitution: constitutional amendments require a special procedure that is more arduous than that for regular laws.

There are many Acts of Parliament which themselves have constitutional significance. For example, Parliament has the power to determine the length of its term. By the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, the maximum length of a term of parliament is five years but this may be extended with the consent of both Houses. This power was most recently used during World War II to extend the lifetime of the 1935 parliament in annual increments up to 1945.

Parliament also has the power to change the make-up of its constituent houses and the relation between them. Examples include the House of Lords Act 1999 which changed the membership of the House of Lords, the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 which altered the relationship between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and the Reform Act 1832 which made changes to the system used to elect members of the House of Commons.

The power extended to Parliament includes the power to determine the line of succession to the British throne. This power was used to pass His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, which gave constitutional effect to the abdication of Edward VIII and removed any of his putative descendants from the succession; and most recently to pass the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, which changed the succession to the throne to absolute primogeniture (not dependent on gender) and also removed the disqualification of marrying a Roman Catholic. Parliament also has the power to remove or regulate the executive powers of the Monarch.

In the United Kingdom, Parliament consists of the Monarch, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. In recent times the House of Commons has consisted of more than 600 members elected by the people from single-member constituencies under a first past the post system.

Following the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, the House of Lords consists of 26 bishops of the Church of England (Lords Spiritual), 92 representatives of the hereditary peers and several hundred life peers. The power to nominate bishops of the Church of England and to create hereditary and life peers is exercised by the Monarch, on the advice of the prime minister. By the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 legislation may, in certain circumstances, be passed without the approval of the House of Lords. Although all legislation must receive the approval of the Monarch (Royal Assent), no monarch has withheld such assent since 1708.

The House of Commons alone possesses the power to pass a motion of no confidence in the Government, which requires the Government either to resign or to seek fresh elections (this principle was codified in the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011). Such a motion does not require passage by the Lords or Royal Assent. The House of Lords has been described as a "revising chamber".

Parliament traditionally also has the power to remove individual members of the government by impeachment (with the Commons initiating the impeachment and the Lords trying the case), although this power has not been used since 1806. By the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 it has the power to remove individual judges from office for misconduct.

Today in Parliament

Aernout Fabius shares his knowledge and experience as a immigrant BeNeLux citizen and Tax Resident of the United Kingdom since 1971.

 The impossible we do at once  
 Miracles tend to take a little longer  
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Mrs May's performance before the House of Commons liaison committee sounded hesitant. She gives the impression of a competent technocrat, but the question occurs to me:
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 Has Mrs May got the breadth of vision that sets a Prime Minister head and shoulders above the members of her cabinet?