constitution Archives | MelaniePhillips.com

Goodbye British constitution

September 24, 2019September 25, 2019 Melaniebrexit, constitution, prorogation, Supreme Court

Well that’s it then. Goodbye, British constitution. It was lovely while it lasted. The importance of the Supreme Court judgment – and it is seismic – rendering the prorogation of parliament null and void is not about any effect it will have on the prospects for Brexit. This remains no more or less opaque as a result of the fresh chaos that the ruling has now inflicted upon the political system. Of infinitely greater importance is the axe the Supreme Court judges have taken to the delicate but hitherto sacrosanct…

Audio

The moral maze of the British constitution

January 31, 2019January 31, 2019 Melaniebrexit, constitution, Moral Maze, MPs

BBC Radio’s Moral Maze, on which I am a regular panellist, started its new run last night with a discussion about the moral duty of MPs. With the Brexit crisis setting government against parliament and parliament against the people, we asked whether the principal duty of MPs was to their constituents or to their conscience, and whether sovereignty lay with parliament or the people. Is the British constitution currently working as it should, or are MPs trying to subvert it – and is it ever going to be the same…