Meg Russell @UKandEU Senior Fellow opens by saying parliamentary sovereignty is confusing🤔 and Brexit made it even more so...
Meg explains that this stems from fundamental disagreements about what parliamentary sovereignty is.
Meg explains five different variants of parliamentary sovereignty. Meg states that what distinguishes them is ‘sovereignty over whom’.
Are we talking about sovereignty over the judiciary, the executive, devolved bodies, the people, or international affairs?
After the Brexit referendum came a reassertion of parliamentary sovereignty over the executive. This got tangled up with questions about sovereignty over the people.
Some claimed that parliament was usurping the people; meanwhile the executive claimed to speak for the people.
All five forms of parliamentary sovereignty have their different targets, & therefore different threats.
Meg concludes "parliamentary sovereignty really isn’t, and shouldn’t be, executive sovereignty. That’s the biggest confusion, and also arguably the biggest threat of all"
ENDS
Well done 👏 to @OxfordFLJS for some excellent discussions on parliamentary sovereignty.
The Working Group on Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland launches its interim report on 26 Nov.
This will contain a wealth of considered analysis.
But first, here’s what you need to know about the report and the Group 👇
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What’s the report about?
It explores how any future referendum on Northern Ireland’s constitutional status would best be designed and conducted. The Group is neutral on whether a unification referendum should be held & on what the outcome should be vimeo.com/444466668
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What is the Working Group?
The Group comprises researchers at universities in Belfast, Dublin, London, & USA, chaired by Unit Deputy Director @alanjrenwick. It is independent of both governments and all political parties. vimeo.com/439174225
Two more days of report stage for the UK Internal Market Bill are to come next week. The government was also defeated on two amendments to the Fire Safety Bill earlier this week, and are currently debating Commons amendments to the Private International Law Bill.
Total 39 Conservative rebels, incl. recently-resigned Lord Keen and Theresa May's former Chief of Staff Gavin Barwell.
Also Michael Howard and various other former Cabinet ministers.
103 independent Crossbenchers against the govt; just one in favour. All 7 Bishops against.
The vote was on the 'regret' motion proposed by former Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge.
To regret "that Part 5 of the bill contains provisions which, if enacted, would undermine the rule of law and damage the reputation of the United Kingdom.” lordsbusiness.parliament.uk/ItemOfBusiness…
@CommonsProcCom Chair Karen Bradley argues that the system of proxy votes + in-person voting for MPs during the pandemic is flawed & puts parliament at risk
Ahead of a debate today, she proposes a temporary return to remote divisions
2/14: The Commons Procedure Committee last week published its report on proxy voting in the House; today MPs will vote on whether to continue to permit its use for baby leave, and will consider proxies as a means of managing COVID-related absences.
3/14: Although the pilot scheme for baby leave did not satisfy everyone, the Procedure Committee concluded that it had worked well, and the motion to be debated today proposes to make that system permanent.
2/ The assembly was established by six select committees to inform their work on how the UK can meet its target of net zero by 2050.
It is designed to strengthen and support decision making in parliament by providing a valuable body of evidence about the views of the public.
3/ The 108 assembly members who committed nearly 60 hours to the process, came from “all walks of life and across the UK”. The youngest was 16 and the oldest 79, including people who work for the NHS, business owners, full time carers and many others.
NEW BLOG: With the Commons returning today, Meg Russell reviews 13 episodes in Boris Johnson's relationship with parliament during his 13 months as Prime Minister.
This relationship has often been remarkably rocky. But is that sustainable?