Parliamentarians must win all over again

Posted on

As a seventeen year old studying for an A level paper on the English civil wars I had to make up my mind on Cromwell.

Aware of my Irishness, Drogheda hung over him.

Aware of my developing political opinions I was a parliamentarian to my core. For all his faults Cromwell was a hero.

Nothing much has changed since. I am pleased to live less than a mile from his house in Ely: this East Anglian helped bring England into a new and necessary era of parliamentary sovereignty.

I believed when in the sixth form that the question of Crown v Parliament was resolved before the seventeenth century was out and celebrated the fact. I thought and hoped that this was the way it would always remain. Indeed it seemed inconceivable that it might ever be otherwise.

I am, therefore, astonished that we now have a government of such arrogance that the question is having to be tested in the Supreme Court today. And I stress, this is not, per se, a case about Brexit at all. It is a case about who governs. The Parliamentarians must win all over again. If not we face a return to the era of feudalism, prerogative and contempt for the rights of ordinary people. Have no doubt that this case matters: no wonder eleven judges are sitting. I wish them well.


Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:

You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.

And if you would like to support this blog you can, here: