| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Brexit impass | |
| Posted by: | T P Howell | |
| Date/Time: | 12/03/19 21:19:00 |
| At the risk of repeating myself (yet again): - "......the referendum was not "binding" or an "instruction". This is absolutely clear, and beyond any question, as a matter of English law. To state otherwise is to perpetuate yet another Brexit myth, and downright dangerous to usurp the rule of law. The United Kingdom constitution is based on the sovereignty of Parliament (I thought one of the Brexit arguments was about Parliamentary sovereignty). The electorate cannot give instructions to Parliament. This was confirmed in the 12th Report of Session 2009-10 of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution (Referendums in the United Kingdom). The Committee included the following recommendation in para 197: “Because of the sovereignty of Parliament, referendums cannot be legally binding in the UK, and are therefore advisory. However, it would be difficult for Parliament to ignore a decisive expression of public opinion.” A marginal majority by a minority of the electorate cannot, by any stretch of the imagination be called "a decisive expression". The UK government’s response as recorded in the Committee’s Fourth Report of Session 2010-11 was: “The Government agrees with this recommendation. Under the UK’s constitutional arrangements Parliament must be responsible for deciding whether or not to take action in response to a referendum result.” This was confirmed in the decision by the Supreme Court (the highest court in the land) in the Miller case (Miller & Anor, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Rev 3) [2017] UKSC 5 (24 January 2017)). (The "Enemies of the People" judgement, which tells you everything you need to know about the Daily Mail). Nothing that you, I, or the Government write on a leaflet can overrule the law of the land." In summary Michael, I could promise to give you Buckingham Palace. It might be a promise, but it's not mine to give so the promise is meaningless. |