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Category: Parliament

Where will Parliament relocate to during the Westminster restoration?

Where will Parliament relocate to during the Westminster restoration?

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StarSports have a betting market up on where Parliament will decant to during the restoration of the Palace of Westminster, it is understandable why York is the favourite following reports and comments by the Prime Minister in recent days. I can see the attraction of why Parliamentarians would want to move to York, a wonderful city in the finest county in the United Kingdom, close to Yorkshire Dales, which undoubtedly was the site of the Garden of Eden. It also…

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Nothing up my sleeve

Nothing up my sleeve

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Boris Johnson has been Prime Minister for under a fortnight and he has immediately put his imprint on government. Boris Johnson is seeking to play hardball with the EU over revising the withdrawal agreement’s terms. He has made no attempt to charm his putative negotiating partners, refusing to talk with them until it is accepted that the backstop is dead. Indeed it is not at all clear who in Brussels currently could negotiate with him, given that the new Commission president has not…

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Sounding the alarm. Britain’s democracy is under direct threat

Sounding the alarm. Britain’s democracy is under direct threat

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In two weeks’ time, Britain will have a Prime Minister whose commitment to democracy is contingent. Boris Johnson has repeatedly refused to rule out proroguing Parliament in order to secure a no deal Brexit by 31 October 2019. Let us call proroguing Parliament by its proper name: suspending democracy. The United Kingdom operates with an executive that is supervised by the legislature. If the executive suspends the legislature (which is what proroguing is), it is suspending the democratic control of…

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If Boris Johnson tries to deliver on his promise of a no deal Brexit on Halloween then a parliamentary vote of no confidence seems inevitable

If Boris Johnson tries to deliver on his promise of a no deal Brexit on Halloween then a parliamentary vote of no confidence seems inevitable

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‘Never trust anybody who spells gonorrhoea correctly on the first attempt’ is a maxim that has served me well in life, I might revise that maxim to ‘Never trust anybody who says a no deal Brexit will be fine.’ I suspect many MPs are also guided by the latter maxim. If Boris Johnson does attempt to take the country out of the EU without a deal (and in contradiction to his claims during the 2016 referendum campaign) then I expect…

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The final step. Why the leader of the Conservative party does not automatically become Prime Minister

The final step. Why the leader of the Conservative party does not automatically become Prime Minister

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Professor Brian Cox was once asked to explain string theory in a sentence. His answer: “It’s probably not true.” The same one sentence explanation could be used to explain the theory that the next Conservative leader might not become Prime Minister. But since it’s being talked about quite a bit, let’s have a look at why. The current Parliament was elected at a general election held on 8 June 2017. It resulted in a hung Parliament. It is forgotten now,…

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New Rules. Britain’s changing constitution

New Rules. Britain’s changing constitution

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Sometimes it only takes a small change to alter the shape of things radically.  In Backroom Boys by Francis Spufford, the developers of the 80s computer game Elite explained that the introduction of a scoop for a tiny dollop of memory transformed the possibilities, allowing players to become pirates as well as traders. The Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011 is a similarly small change and similarly it allows MPs to play as pirates as well as traders. The Act transferred…

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Forget the Lewisham East by election this will be the most important political event of June 14th

Forget the Lewisham East by election this will be the most important political event of June 14th

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June 14th is set to be High Noon for Mrs May and the type of Brexit we get. This could be the most important Commons vote since the Norway Debate of 1940. Story by @ShippersUnbound. https://t.co/9w0nsWPE5x pic.twitter.com/nIvY0LBi92 — TSE (@TSEofPB) June 3, 2018 If Mrs May loses this vote I'm not sure what happens next, the end of her Premiership, her government, and Brexit delayed are all possibilities. — TSE (@TSEofPB) June 3, 2018 I wonder if Andrew Bridgen advised…

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If the DUP can make Martin McGuinness Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland then we shouldn’t rule them out making Corbyn Prime Minister

If the DUP can make Martin McGuinness Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland then we shouldn’t rule them out making Corbyn Prime Minister

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A Brexit deal that separates the Six Counties from the rest of the UK could rupture the DUP and Tory alliance for years. Over the last few years many observers on politics, myself included, have made assumptions that turned out be very wrong. Lib Dem incumbency would save them from a catastrophic seat loss in 2015, the electorate wouldn’t vote to make themselves poorer by Leaving the European Union, and Jeremy Corbyn’s backstory & a divided Labour party would see…

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