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Bush looks upon Blair in awe

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  • #46
    Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
    In some cases the highest court is the Law Lords (not the entire House of Lords, just those with legal training).
    Sorry, that's misleading - it's not just those with 'legal training', or well over half the upper chamber would be Law Lords. There are in fact only nine Law Lords; usually five of them sit to hear a case, but in extraordinary circumstances all nine do.

    Originally posted by Oerdin
    The British legislation seems pretty balanced. It allows ministers to act immediately but requires them to go to a judge as soon as possible for minor things while the major stuff the judge still must approve ahead of time. It even includes a sunset clause.
    (correction mine)
    All those things you mentioned weren't actually in the original legislation, but were compromises forced out of the government by the Lords and the Opposition in the Commons. Originally judges weren't involved at all, and Clarke (the Home Secretary) was adamant that they shouldn't be.

    To think that this bill could actually have been defeated in the Commons if all the damn Tories and Lib Dems had actually shown up. That would've been a sight to see - the first government legislation defeated on the floor since 1986.


    And those who say the Lords is just an advisory body aren't quite right. While the Parliament Act does indeed provide for the Commons to force through any piece of legislation delayed by the Lords after a year, its invocation is still rare and often hotly contested. The Lords still carries some weight, and the government is often loath to ride roughshod over them.
    "Love the earth and sun and animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown . . . reexamine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency" - Walt Whitman

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    • #47
      Osama Bin Laden should get some sort of public service medal - he's certainly turned things around for bureaucracy - budgets are growing, staff increasing, powers increasing. We haven't had it this good since the Cold War.
      Any views I may express here are personal and certainly do not in any way reflect the views of my employer. Tis the rising of the moon..

      Look, I just don't anymore, okay?

      Comment

      • #48
        Huh? They invented the idea.
        Isn't the Lord Chancellor both a member of the legislative and the head of the Judiciary?
        Last edited by DanS; March 12, 2005, 17:27.
        I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

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        • #49
          Nope. Member of the Lords, yes, the Cabinet, yes, the Commons, no.
          "Love the earth and sun and animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown . . . reexamine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency" - Walt Whitman

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          • #50
            Britain's problem is nothing to do with the power of parliament, and everything to do with the system that elects it.

            It basically ensures a two party system, and when both parties care nothing for regular people protest votes do almost nothing (since people won't vote against Labour for fear of the Tories).

            Britain needs proportional representation. That way you can have a variety of parties on the left and right and people have a realistic option if their usual party is screwing them about.
            Only feebs vote.

            Comment

            • #51
              I DanS'ed you, Clear Skies.
              I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

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              • #52
                Last edited by DanS on 12.03.05 at 21:27:40


                I thought DanSing only applied if the "Last edited..." never occured...
                You just wasted six ... no, seven ... seconds of your life reading this sentence.

                Comment

                • #53
                  The power of the DanS preceded the technology advance of no Last edited appearing.
                  I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                  Comment

                  • #54
                    The current Lord Chancellor has recused himself from the judiciary pending the abolition of the post, IIRC.
                    "Love the earth and sun and animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown . . . reexamine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency" - Walt Whitman

                    Comment

                    • #55
                      Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
                      Huh? They invented the idea.
                      Montesquieu was British?
                      DISCLAIMER: the author of the above written texts does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for any offence and insult; disrespect, arrogance and related forms of demeaning behaviour; discrimination based on race, gender, age, income class, body mass, living area, political voting-record, football fan-ship and musical preference; insensitivity towards material, emotional or spiritual distress; and attempted emotional or financial black-mailing, skirt-chasing or death-threats perceived by the reader of the said written texts.

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                      • #56
                        the British Head of State is completely seperated from power...


                        the British chief Executive, therefore, felt he must go one better and act completely seperated from reality...
                        "Wait a minute..this isn''t FAUX dive, it's just a DIVE!"
                        "...Mangy dog staggering about, looking vainly for a place to die."
                        "sauna stories? There are no 'sauna stories'.. I mean.. sauna is sauna. You do by the laws of sauna." -P.

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                        • #57
                          Britain needs proportional representation. That way you can have a variety of parties on the left and right and people have a realistic option if their usual party is screwing them about.

                          Although its not entirely due to left and right. Its just that most British people's interests do not correpond to to their class (as used to be the case) so having two parties - one for each class - isnt representative enough. People define themselves by, or view their interests through, a variety of factors now - sexuality, region, whether they work in the private or public sector.
                          It used to be that working class voted Labour, middle class voted Conservative and upper class sat in the house of lords () - from the 60s onwards this broke down. The Conservatives became the party of the private sector and suddenly, middle class public sector workers had no one to vote for (thus, to some extent the SDP).

                          There are a millions and one social cleavages at work in Britain now - thats why we need PR.

                          Montesquieu was British?

                          Yeah, and the American founding fathers invented democracy and Adam Smith invented Capitalism
                          Theory and practise are two different things.

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                          • #58
                            A written constitution is just a wasted piece of paper in a nation where parliamentary sovereignty is still acknowledged.
                            Exult in your existence, because that very process has blundered unwittingly on its own negation. Only a small, local negation, to be sure: only one species, and only a minority of that species; but there lies hope. [...] Stand tall, Bipedal Ape. The shark may outswim you, the cheetah outrun you, the swift outfly you, the capuchin outclimb you, the elephant outpower you, the redwood outlast you. But you have the biggest gifts of all: the gift of understanding the ruthlessly cruel process that gave us all existence [and the] gift of revulsion against its implications.
                            -Richard Dawkins

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                            • #59
                              I dont think that is necessarily so

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                              • #60
                                Well, we could write everything down in on document but like Gerenimo said, everything is either written down somewhere or is so entrenched that writing it down is kinda pointless.

                                Besides, a written constitution wouldn't be binding in anyway similar to the way the American one is. Anything passed by the current parliament (including a constitution) could just be repealed or nullified by a future parliament.
                                Exult in your existence, because that very process has blundered unwittingly on its own negation. Only a small, local negation, to be sure: only one species, and only a minority of that species; but there lies hope. [...] Stand tall, Bipedal Ape. The shark may outswim you, the cheetah outrun you, the swift outfly you, the capuchin outclimb you, the elephant outpower you, the redwood outlast you. But you have the biggest gifts of all: the gift of understanding the ruthlessly cruel process that gave us all existence [and the] gift of revulsion against its implications.
                                -Richard Dawkins

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