No 65 - Are you a Parliamentary Democrat or a Johnsonian Putschist James?

Dear James, 

I hope you are listening to views from outside the ‘Tory Box’? Today Tim Brake of the Lib-Dems states that no-deal ‘would “have wartime implications, in peacetime, all of them self-inflicted”. That sums it up. As the battle lines are being drawn from holiday homes and various beaches in Europe, politicians are talking, planning and yes, even conspiring. Conspiracy is no longer the monopoly of the ERG. Today everyone is at it. So, sorry to interrupt your own holiday James, but I thought I might inject a little bit of a history into the conspiracies. After all, our nation is in crisis and needs must.

Every battle needs an arbiter - a herald in mediaeval times and a referee in current sporting contexts. The arbiter represents a higher order of things. In the case of our country, that higher thing is our constitution and it is the Speaker of the House of Commons who is the nation’s referee as defined by our current views of parliamentary democracy. On 4th January 1642 the then Speaker, one William Lenthall, demonstrated to all, including the king, the primacy of parliament. Charles 1st had just burst into the House of Commons and sat in the Speaker’s Chair. The King then turned to Speaker Lenthall and demanded whether five troublesome members, whom he wished to arrest, were present. Lenthall responded, “May it please your majesty, I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak, in this place, but as the house is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here; and I humbly ask pardon that I cannot give any other answer to what your majesty is pleased to demand of me.” In other words, everyone is answerable to parliament.

Today we have another ‘king’ attempting to do exactly the same thing as Charles 1st.  Our new ‘king’ is not monarchical but has been imposed upon us by a tiny minority of Tory voters as our chief-executive. However, we live in a parliamentary democracy whereby we vote once every few years for our representative and then trust our vote to the selected MP to exercise his or her own judgement on our behalf. No one – not the monarch, not the executive, not even a vote in a direct referendum – stands above it. Parliament is sovereign. All power derives from the Commons and if that is not forthcoming the executive must resign. 

Until the coming of Mr Johnson and Mr Cummings that is. This unelected oligarchy of two has insisted that the UK will, ‘Do or Die’, quit the EU on October 31st. In other words, they will force the measure through parliament even if that parliament rules against it. We cannot let this happen today any more than we could in 1642.  

Today the divisions in the country are more complex than ever. We have Remainers, Anti-No Deal Leavers and ‘Brexiteer Ultra’ Leavers.  This week even the ex-Chancellor and vocal ‘Leaver’, Philip Hammond, said that a no-deal Brexit would be "a betrayal" of the 2016 referendum result and that Parliament would "make its voice heard", adding that a no deal "must not happen".  Yesterday we saw the leaks from government showing exactly what a catastrophe no-deal would be.

The battle will soon return to parliament James so let’s get back to Charles 1st. John Bercow is our present Speaker and he is the first to say that he is directed solely by the House of Commons. “The one thing I feel strongly about is that the House of Commons must have its way,” he said. “And if there is an attempt to circumvent, to bypass or – God forbid – to close down parliament, that is anathema to me.” Mr Bercow, much despised by your party, could save our democracy from the Borisonian putschists James. I hope that you agree?

Opinion is a fluid thing and it is democracy’s main responsibility to reflect those changes. The nation is angry James. It is angry that your party has hijacked government and has cut the people out of its deliberations. It is time to return the question to the people either through a general election or another referendum. Even if we choose the first, I think this will only delay the second since a new parliament is as likely to be deadlocked as the current one.

So James, as your party divides more clearly than ever, it is time for you to decide where you stand once and for all.  Are you a parliamentary democrat or a Johnsonian putschist? 

Enjoy the rest of your holiday! 

Kind regards, 

BH - Your Concerned Constituent