Johnson wanting to overrule the judiciary !

Wherever did you get that from?

Parliament won't treat it with disdain, I'm afraid, because tory MPs will be whipped to pass the legislation and it will go through thanks to the huge majority the government has.

David Cameron deserves to rot in hell, along with the parents of little Arthur, for destroying the UK with his miserable referendum which has enabled this attack our constitution and the rule of law.

I can only hope that significant numbers of the UK population responds with massed civil disobedience. Governments aren't the only ones who can show contempt for the law. The most interesting issue would be whose side would the army be on if the police weren't sufficient to control us?

Germanshepherdsmum

Wherever did you get that from?

Front page of the Times this morning.

I haven’t seen it so have no idea what has been reported.

Four hours ago www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-reforms-judicial-review-b1970290.html

What does the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom have to say about this? Lady Hale would sort him out if she hadn't retired.

An independent judiciary is a cornerstone of democracy and uncorrupt government.

The Independant, The Times. Seems to be under the radar at the moment with so much else at the forefront of concern but the very idea any government could interfere in this way leaves me speechless.

Link

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-reforms-judicial-review-b1970290.html

If we had a Head of State who acts in the interests of the people instead of only being able to do what the PM asks her this would not be allowed to happen. Just saying

The link only works if you subscribe so I remain in total ignorance (not unusual for me).

"Boris Johnson will scrap the need for parliamentary approval to call elections, and ban the courts from questioning the dissolution of parliament under legislation that hands powers back to the prime minister."

This was predicted when Johnson was humiliated by the Scottish law lords' verdict on his plans to dissolve Parliament early so as to get Brexit passed.

Dictatorship, here we come! If this is alowed through, the next legislation will be easier. Will it be to give a Prime Minister the power to vote himself into the job for life?

For evilt to flourish, it is necessary only that good men should do nothing - and the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Two old truisms which should not be forgotten by a complacent electorate, or by complacent elected representatives who could find themselves mere rubber-stampers if they don't uphold the freedoms which greater men and women than them have fought for.

Germanshepherdsmum Try the guardian instead.
www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/01/boris-johnson-publishes-plans-to-take-power-back-from-courts-and-mps

The Guardian article was published on Tue 1 Dec 2020. It includes the prediction that "Many have assumed the poll will be in May but it could be as late as December" The poll must be imminent for it to have hit the fan now. Perhaps he hopes to push it through before the Christmas recess? A typical ploy.

The Times

My protesting days were over after the council tax debacle to be honest but this I will happily fight. This is not Democracy in any way, shape or form, as flawed as it is .I have no wish to see the return of Autocracy in this country - banners at the ready !!

Thanks Elegran, that's very helpful. Much appreciated.

A correction - he wanted to prorogue Parliament, not dissolve it. There is a difference.

A pertinent paragraph.

'Government' seem to have got their understanding of themselves a bit muddled here. It is Parliament that is sovereign, not the Executive (the government). 'Parliament' is the sum total of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. And being 'sovereign' does not mean being above the Rule of Law.

With a big majority and MPs who seem to be oblivious to the fact that the Executive is bent on overturning Parliamentary Sovereignty and the Rule of Law this proposal could well become law and the Executive would reign supreme.

We fought a bloody civil war in the 17th C to establish the supremacy of Parliament and prevent dictatorship by the Crown (which the Executive in parliament represents). Every Parliamentarian from then onwards must be turning in their graves in utter horror and disbelief at this proposal.

I will forebear to make comparisons with Nazi Germany...

"You know all those documentaries you've watched about a dictator's path to power?
You know there's always the bit where you think: "Why didn't people do something? They could have stopped him while there was still time"?
That's the bit we're at."

- George Monbiot (1 Dec 21)

... not my most favourite writer / columnist, but I believe he has a point...

There was another thread about how the Tories would replace Boris. This just shows why they won't. Only an unscrupulous meglamaniac would want this to go down as their legacy in government. Anyone with a smidgen of belief in parliamentary democracy would hesitate to do this.

trisher

There was another thread about how the Tories would replace Boris. This just shows why they won't. Only an unscrupulous meglamaniac would want this to go down as their legacy in government. Anyone with a smidgen of belief in parliamentary democracy would hesitate to do this.

We'll have to sharpen those pitchforks, trisher [grin

or even

I have been following this story for a while - there are sane Tory MPs who think this is a step too far. Whether enough of them are prepared to put their necks on the line to do the right thing remains to be seen (I doubt it).

Sorry, but prorogue was simply a tactic in that instance surely.
Time to get all your ducks in a row and ensure no buggers against you when you reconvene. Or have I missed the point ?

Dickens

"You know all those documentaries you've watched about a dictator's path to power?
You know there's always the bit where you think: "Why didn't people do something? They could have stopped him while there was still time"?
That's the bit we're at."

- George Monbiot (1 Dec 21)

... not my most favourite writer / columnist, but I believe he has a point...

That's precisely what I have thought when watching documentaries about Germany's build-up to the Holocaust. Never have I come up with a plausible answer.