That was then. This is now.

That was then. This is now.

Cyclefree on attitudes to obeying the law

Britain does not break treaties. It would be bad for Britain, bad for our relations with the rest of the world and bad for any future treaty on trade we may wish to make. – Margaret Thatcher , Leader of the Opposition, April 1975

“The first duty of government is to uphold the law. If it tries to bob and weave and duck around that duty when it’s inconvenient, if government does that, then so will the governed, and then nothing is safe – not home, not liberty, not life itself.” – Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister 1979 – 1990

May 2020: Prime Minister, Boris Johnson defends his aide from allegations that he had failed to comply with the rules on travel outside the home during lockdown, saying that he had followed his “instincts”.

21 July 2020: When asked by the Chair of the Parliamentary Justice Select Committee: “If push everyone came to shove – it may never, but suppose it did – between the interests of party and the interests of the rule of law, where does your primary duty lie?” the Attorney-General, Suella Braverman, the Government’s Chief Legal Advisor, responds:

I think the rule of law, definitely. That was made very clear to me when I took the oath of allegiance and was sworn in as Attorney-General. This is an ancient role, and that oath makes it very clear that every lawyer has that abiding duty at the forefront of their mind: their first duty is to the court. I am a practising barrister. I am a lawyer in this role, and therefore my first duty will always be to the truth and to the rule of law.

Brandon Lewis, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland – 8 September 2020 to the House of Commons in relation to a proposed piece of Government legislation.

Yes – this does break international law , in a very limited and specific way.

14 September 2020: the Government is to make social gatherings of more than 6 people illegal.

And the governed should obey the government because?

Cyclefree

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