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Governments loses cases on judicial review all the time.. so what makes yesterday's #supremecourtruling so special - its not that it found ministers acted unlawfully
Its that they found that the effect of what the government was trying to do was to "frustrate" parliament - to stop it legislating - but in the circumstances more importantly - holding it to account..
The Government's reasons did not hold up - they could have explained why it takes this govt a 5 week break to prepare a Queens Speech (whereas other govts can do it with a few days) - but they chose not to
If they had a good case on that, they should have done - and they might have convinced the judges. They also failed to provide any reassurance that they would not use the same power in the same way with the same effect in the future
which may have been what compelled the judges to act to protect Parliamentary sovereignty. What this illustrates though is that the safeguards we rely on in our constitution to prevent this were not working.
We do not know what rationale the govt gave to the Queen (if any) for prorogation - which is why the Court could not take a view on whether the PM misled her. But the view of constitutionalists is that the Queen had no option but to accept her govt's advice
The brakes on that advice being given did not work: did noone in the Palace query the plausibility of what the govt wanted to ask before the formal request? Did the Cabinet Secretary warn the govt they risked putting the Queen in a difficult position?
which points up the void in the middle of our constitutional set-up - if we can't rely on the safeguard of the Queen intervening if the govt plays fast and loose with convention (and we really can't for a whole range of reasons)
its probably better to have a backstop than none.. and that is the role the Supreme Court has just made clear it is prepared to play.....
and for all the people saying this will frustrate Brexit (which the govt said was no part of their thinking in prorogation) - the govt actually did that far more effectively by rushing MPs into legislating quickly
to frustrate the government's attempt to frustrate Parliament.. anyway its great to live in a country where the key constitutional players are all women older than me...
NB for official @instituteforgov views on this read @Raphael_Hogarth @DrHannahWhite @cath_haddon . Back in my Brexit box.
