Under the UK’s peculiar constitutional arrangements, The Queen is required (or assumed by convention to be required) to heed, & act on, the advice of her PM.
She is considered, under the same conventions, to have the right to be consulted, to encourage & to warn./2.
In the case of Prince Andrew giving up his military ranks & roles, his patronages & use of “HRH”, that means:
(a) The Queen is required to agree to those steps if the PM advises them
(b) the same goes for the timing
(c) she can’t take them without the PM’s agreement
/3.
The Queen has the (assumed) right to be consulted by the PM about the proposed steps. She has the right to encourage them to be taken. Or to warn against them being taken.
But she can’t make them happen. Stop them happening. Or change the timing. If the PM is determined. /4.
Sometimes it’s said that The Queen makes “personal” official decisions, such as the award of the Royal Victorian Order or the Garter.
But when push comes to shove, that’s a polite fiction.
If the PM is determined to prevent an award, it will be stopped. /5.
What if the PM wants The Queen to be party to something illegal?
Well, it turns out she does it.
We have - unbelievably - a high profile case study with the current PM.
Why does she do it? She has to take the PM’s advice. If he advises the action is legal, that’s that. /6.
So, back to Prince Andrew.
The actions announced are, of course, due to the dangers represented by the Epstein-related court case in the US.
Yesterday, Andrew’s motion to have the case against him dismissed was thrown out. But he can appeal that. He may. /7.
On the one hand, Andrew’s Epstein debacle has been unfolding for so long, a decision to strip him of titles etc could long since have been taken. On the other, Andrew’s case has far to run (unless, with the agreement of his accuser, he settles). /8.
The accusations against Andrew are most serious. In that sense special, of course.
But there’s nothing special about the current moment. Still less about Thursday 13 Jan 2021, the day after Mr Johnson was brutally taken apart at PMQs, with multiple calls for his resignation. /9.
As with the Chinese agent case (my separate 🧵, see above), “go figure”.
Really. It’s high time.
The disgraceful spectacle of Mr Rees-Mogg lying to The Queen on the PM’s behalf was a stark warning. /10.
The politicisation & debasement of the The Queen & the role of Head of State is just more collateral damage from the actions of an increasingly desperate, reckless occupant of 10 Downing Street.
Prince Andrew & Mr Johnson are sweating right now.
So should we all be. /11. End
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If you were truly sorry, @katejosephs, you’d have said this two years ago. And you’d resign. Now.
Your Twitter profile says you’re a “proud public servant”.
The pride many thousands of us have felt, at all levels of seniority, serving our country, is sullied by your misconduct.
For anyone thinking this is all a storm in a teacup, or a minor transgression, you’re entitled to your opinion. I strongly disagree with you. Here’s a brief, extra bit of context👇
The Home Secretary, reporting to the PM, is responsible for MI5.
There are no circumstances, without their permission, in which MI5 would pass to the Speaker a high profile warning about foreign agents active in Parliament.
Nor would MI5, if instructed by them, refuse to./1.
More specifically, if MI5 advised it shouldn’t be done, the Home Secretary/ PM could direct them nonetheless to do so. And MI5 would have to.
If MI5 thought it illegal, they would have to refuse. But that looks irrelevant in the current Chinese agent case. /2.
MI5 “self-actuates”, within its mandate, on much of its work.
Any security expert would tell you it has to be that way, for very good practical reasons.
But not on political matters. Least of all on high profile public announcements. /3.
You have to feel for Sue Gray. She wants to retain her integrity & conscience. There’s only one way. Force out the Prime Minister.
And to do that, she has to be ready ruthlessly to confront him with the fact she’ll resign in a manner devastating to him if he doesn’t go first./1.
She has enough of the receipts already.
By confronting him with the fact they’re with a trusted third party ready for publication if he doesn’t do what she requires, on the spot, he’s cornered.
“Sign this ready-drafted resignation letter, Prime Minister”. /2.
He can try to have her fired, or to ignore her & brazen it out.
If he does, she’ll have her own ready-made resignation issued instantly, alongside the publication of detailed, damning evidence, including multiple breaches of the Ministerial Code. And worse. /3.
In case you’d like better to understand the Downing Street & Cabinet Office layout, this short 🧵 will, I hope, help. All from the public record, BTW.
First, Google Maps satellite image of the No 10 site. /1.
The red-roofed, L-shaped, mini mansion at the back is part of “No 10”. You can’t see it, or imagine it, from the front door view in Downing Street. The ground floor plan👇is a historic document. Some details of usage, or even non load-bearing walls, may have changed slightly. /2.
- he didn’t realise it was a drinks party rather than work
- it was work
- the Downing Street garden is private, so it wasn’t work
- the garden is part of the office space, so it was work /2.
Or, any combination of the above. As long as it gets him off the hook.
It’s clear massive misjudgements were made.
By Martin Reynolds, No 10 Principal Private Secretary (a very senior, key official at the centre of govt). It pains me to say so, because I respect him. /3.
Most have no idea what the 10 Downing St set up is. Of course not.
Only a tiny minority of us do, from first hand experience.
I’m going to share a bit with you, because clearly we’re starting to hear a torrent of lies & misdirection.
A 🧵/1.
For years at a time I spent countless hours working in No 10: office work/meetings, conferences, dinners, receptions, having a cup of coffee with colleagues …
The (relatively) modest house you see on the news is just the front. A terraced house. With office space. /2.
The larger part is a small mansion, behind, with a walled garden behind & to the side of that, & containing the Cabinet Room, & numerous handsome rooms, some grand.
The terraced house at the front & the mansion at the back are interconnected. It’s one, integrated entity. /3.