Thursday, 27 May 2010
So it seems..
..that the government has withdrawn its Parliamentary Sovereignity bill. I wonder if I could publish a general article on the risks and impact of such a bill?
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Worst day EVAR
Everything is fine and dandy until about 5pm, and then - woops! Going to the toilet, I swivel awkwardly as I stand up and that infernal bitch momentum takes her toll. Most of my posessions scatter like confetti.
iPhone goes in sink. Fuck.
Wallet goes in urine-filled toilet bowl. FUCK.
Recover both, leave iPhone and Wallet to dry out, and go out for a cigarette to calm my nerves. With my lighter failing to work, I stupidly hold it up to my ear to see if the valve is screwed. One loud FWOOSH noise and the smell of overcooked bacon later, and I'm left with half my hair missing. Tonight, Matthew, I'll be Philip fucking Oakley.
Hopefully I'll be able to follow my cardinal rule and tomorrow will turn out better than today.
iPhone goes in sink. Fuck.
Wallet goes in urine-filled toilet bowl. FUCK.
Recover both, leave iPhone and Wallet to dry out, and go out for a cigarette to calm my nerves. With my lighter failing to work, I stupidly hold it up to my ear to see if the valve is screwed. One loud FWOOSH noise and the smell of overcooked bacon later, and I'm left with half my hair missing. Tonight, Matthew, I'll be Philip fucking Oakley.
Hopefully I'll be able to follow my cardinal rule and tomorrow will turn out better than today.
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Someone seems to have fired all the lawyers from the coalition government when I wasn't looking
So our Benevolent Dictator has long promised a Sovereignty Bill - check out http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6902986.ece, for example. The full draft text has been published at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmbills/048/10048.i-i.html, and makes for some interesting reading.
If I'm understanding it correctly, it states that the Parliament of the United Kingdom is sovereign, excepting the European Union stuff and a few other bits and bobs. There are a few problems with this idea. Firstly, to state that the United Kingdom Parliament is independent and can do anything (except the things it can't do) simply makes no sense. A body is either all-powerful or it isn't; it can't be "all-powerful, except for blotto".
The alternative, of course, is even worse. If the Act states that Parliament is all-powerful and independent including the EU stuff, our lives get a lot more difficult. This is what will happen; some little bastard will bring a case on the application of a directive or regulation that conflicts with UK law - a directive that hasn't been implemented would be the best option. That little bastard could well be me, given that if this passes my dissertation is rather fucked in the jacksie. The Supreme Court (because it WILL go there) will be asked to decide whether the directive/regulation or Act of Parliament takes precedent.
If the directive/regulation does, the court has to throw out an Act of Parliament (again), thus torpedoing the idea of Parliamentary Supremacy and causing a bit of a pickle. If the Act wins, the EU gets really, really pissy, and we get landed with a fuck-off big fine. So either way the Act is read, we're fucked.
My second objection is a purely academic one - a body cannot define itself. It is an accepted principle that Parliament could not define itself or it's Acts as supreme; Salmond writes that "No statute can confer [the power to declare force of law] upon parliament, for this would be to assume and act on the very power that is to be conferred", while Wade argues that "no statute can establish the rule that the courts obey Acts of Parliament". The ultimate law maker cannot confer upon itself the ultimate legal power. This Act breaks with centuries of law and could throw this country into chaos if challenged.
Plus it will rather fuck with my dissertation. I'm working hard to prove that Parliament isn't supreme and sovereign. Cameron, stop being a party pooper.
If I'm understanding it correctly, it states that the Parliament of the United Kingdom is sovereign, excepting the European Union stuff and a few other bits and bobs. There are a few problems with this idea. Firstly, to state that the United Kingdom Parliament is independent and can do anything (except the things it can't do) simply makes no sense. A body is either all-powerful or it isn't; it can't be "all-powerful, except for blotto".
The alternative, of course, is even worse. If the Act states that Parliament is all-powerful and independent including the EU stuff, our lives get a lot more difficult. This is what will happen; some little bastard will bring a case on the application of a directive or regulation that conflicts with UK law - a directive that hasn't been implemented would be the best option. That little bastard could well be me, given that if this passes my dissertation is rather fucked in the jacksie. The Supreme Court (because it WILL go there) will be asked to decide whether the directive/regulation or Act of Parliament takes precedent.
If the directive/regulation does, the court has to throw out an Act of Parliament (again), thus torpedoing the idea of Parliamentary Supremacy and causing a bit of a pickle. If the Act wins, the EU gets really, really pissy, and we get landed with a fuck-off big fine. So either way the Act is read, we're fucked.
My second objection is a purely academic one - a body cannot define itself. It is an accepted principle that Parliament could not define itself or it's Acts as supreme; Salmond writes that "No statute can confer [the power to declare force of law] upon parliament, for this would be to assume and act on the very power that is to be conferred", while Wade argues that "no statute can establish the rule that the courts obey Acts of Parliament". The ultimate law maker cannot confer upon itself the ultimate legal power. This Act breaks with centuries of law and could throw this country into chaos if challenged.
Plus it will rather fuck with my dissertation. I'm working hard to prove that Parliament isn't supreme and sovereign. Cameron, stop being a party pooper.
So we lost
By rather a margin! One million pieces of literature sent out. The entire constituency delivered in half a day. And we gain.. ONE PERCENT OF THE VOTE.
Still, it was the best result of any three-way marginal in the country, and we gained an improved share of the vote - can't really argue with that. In an election where we got shafted nationwide, the local party did better. We can't ask for anything more. Still, it puts us in an awkward position; on the one hand, we did better. On the other, we've had approximately 40k a year thrown at us by the national and regional party, and we got an additional percentage point in an election where the incumbent lost 9 percent. Both the regional and national parties essentially tapped themselves out at the general, and it remains to be seen whether we'll get any funding. The region's one seat was lost (goodbye 6.7k a year in tithes), and another seat was far closer to victory than us, so they're more likely to get the moolah. It certainly won't be as much as we're used to, and we could possibly see it all cut.
Still, it was the best result of any three-way marginal in the country, and we gained an improved share of the vote - can't really argue with that. In an election where we got shafted nationwide, the local party did better. We can't ask for anything more. Still, it puts us in an awkward position; on the one hand, we did better. On the other, we've had approximately 40k a year thrown at us by the national and regional party, and we got an additional percentage point in an election where the incumbent lost 9 percent. Both the regional and national parties essentially tapped themselves out at the general, and it remains to be seen whether we'll get any funding. The region's one seat was lost (goodbye 6.7k a year in tithes), and another seat was far closer to victory than us, so they're more likely to get the moolah. It certainly won't be as much as we're used to, and we could possibly see it all cut.
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