The House of Lords broke no constitutional conventions in referring back Osborne’s vindictive tax credit cuts. The Tories and their media supporters are talking utter garbage on the question. Taking Britain’s appalling “constitution” for what it is, the arcane rules of procedure were not breached.
Ever since David Lloyd George and Herbert Asquith forced, by threat of massive creation of peerages, the 1911 Budget through and with it the start of National Insurance and the demise of the workhouse, there has been a convention that the Lords do not oppose or amend Finance Bills.
But the tax credit cuts were not in a Finance Bill. Osborne instead tried to sneak them through by statutory instrument. This is secondary legislation whereby a Minister signs off laws under powers delegated to him by primary legislation. Secondary legislation gets much less parliamentary time and committee scrutiny. If Osborne had put the tax credit proposals in a Finance Bill, as they certainly should have been – it is Osborne who was breaking parliamentary convention here – rather than sneak them under the table as secondary legislation, the Lords would indeed not have been able to stop them without breaching constitutional convention. Which just goes to show it doesn’t always pay to be a weasel.
Osborne is hoist by his own petard.
Aah, Tories say. But there is another convention that the Lords do not block secondary legislation.
They are making that one up. There is no such constitutional convention and there are plenty of examples of the Lords blocking secondary legislation. There is a huge quantity of secondary legislation, thousands and thousands of laws – ministers continually are signing off legal changes.
But the entire basis of the secondary legislation is that parliament has delegated to ministers, in Acts, powers to sign off uncontroversial matter. This can be, for example, the detail of regulations needed technically to enforce primary legislation, and the occasional updates needed. Only a very low percentage indeed of secondary legislation ever gets queried by the Lords, but that is not because of a constitutional convention. That is because most of it is dull stuff. But when the government abuses its authority and tries to smuggle vital changes through secondary legislation, the Lords not only has the constitutional right to challenge this abuse, it has the constitutional duty to do so.
I wish they would do it more often. For example, when the Labour Party used Westminster secondary legislation to cede 6,000 square miles of Scotland’s sea to England without parliamentary scrutiny.
Finally, there is a constitutional convention that the Lords do not oppose manifesto commitments on which a government has been elected. But the Tories rather carefully did not put tax credit cuts in their manifesto, and indeed in campaigning said they would not do it.
The British constitution is appallingly undemocratic. The fact that an undemocratic chamber has fended off a proposal from an undemocratic executive which gained the votes of only 37% of the voting electors, is not a blow struck for democracy. It is however a temporary victory for human decency in mitigating an attack on the poor.
It is also an achievement for Jeremy Corbyn. Nobody can truly believe that Labour peers would have been organised to do this under Yvette Cooper or Liz Kendall.
UPDATE Wings Over Scotland has a very different take on the Labour Party performance. That the Labour Party was not radical enough to go for the “fatal” option I am afraid I find unsurprising. It remains a deeply conservative institution. But I had not previously encountered the argument that 90% would lose the money from universal credit anyway, and it is stunningly cynical. But on close consideration, I cannot work out what it means. Either there must be some additional cut to universal credit, or that those who lost tax credit could have regained it on universal credit anyway. If anybody could explain that one further, I should be grateful.
I doubt if this could be said about Glasgow. Gaza Could Become ‘Uninhabitable’ by 2020, U.N. Report Warns.
Clark, Apologies for taking the piss – but what you wrote upset me, and I read your own personal and other websites….
Well, I obviously knew you were a very clever and caring guy trying to take the weight of the world on your own shoulders – and I was expecting to see some spotty ugly geek with awful specs…
You Look Like a Fucking Rock Star….Mate…..I had absolutely no idea what you looked like.
You Can Ban Me Again Now…It’s O.K. I will go.
Goodnight,
Tony xx
”
Habbbakuk (Gaza Healthier Than Glasgow)
28 Oct, 2015 – 8:08 pm
Apologies for not posting for a couple of days; I have been attending a neocons Conference on Total World Domination and the Elimination of Dissent.
No apologies necessary. You have your priorities. Let’s take a minute to honor the absence.
‘Taking into account regional upheaval and changes throughout the Middle East, billionaire Saudi prince al-Waleed bin Talal says his country should work with Israel to contend with the Iranian threat. Significantly, and rare for a Saudi to admit in public, he emphasized that if the Palestinians launch another uprising, he will side with Israel.
Saudi prince al-Waleed bin Talal has stated that in the event of another Palestinian Intifada (uprising) against Israel he would side with the Jewish State, saying that “Saudi Arabia has reached a political maturity to constitute a durable alliance with the Jewish nation.”’
Saudi Prince: I Side with Israel – Not the Palestinians
http://unitedwithisrael.org/saudi-prince-i-side-with-israel-and-not-palestinians/
Enough said.
Alcyone; In the interest of comity. please refrain from flank attacks on me personally. It would be appreciated.
Republicofdscotland
” I’m pretty sure most folk know what’s wrong with the world today. We dont need the rantings and raving of a charlatan guru, posing as a “World Teacher”…etc…erc”
_______________________
No more than we need the splutterings and expostulations on Scotch independence from someone who is neither Scotch nor lives in Scotland.
The troll can’t count.
29/154
“Gaza healthier than Glasgow2
__________________
The reference is to male life expectancy, which is higher in Gaza than in Glasgow.
Baltimore Sun: JLENS [Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System] blimp returns to Earth in Central Pennsylvania; military recovery ‘in progress’:
I was totally unaware of the existence of this thing, even though I am within the area that it covers. I wonder what the resolution of its images is.
27/10/15, 18:08 Mary: “Ad hominems are not allowed.”
28/10/15, 20:44 Mary: “The troll can’t count.”
The lady cannot follow her own exhortations. Or do you really believe rules are only for people you don’t like?
Many quasi-prophecies have been confounded over the years.
As, for example, the one from the 1980s which warned that the earth could run out of oil by the year 2000.
Or confounded in even shorter order: who was it who wrote the following on here in April about Lord Janner?
“I would say it is likelier and likelier that Janner will soon die in an unfortunate accident”
🙂
David Cameron’s ‘Lies’ On Child Tax Credits Revealed In Pre Election Television Footage
20/10/2015 17
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/10/20/mash-up-video-exposes-david-camerons-broken-promise-on-tax-credits-_n_8337702.html
Quotes included.
Moral. Never believe a snake oil salesman.
Dear Glenn I expected you to pipe up. I was responding to a puerile attack from the troll.
Ten shekels to whoever divines the identity of the commenter of the above post from April.
The Guardian: Gaza infant mortality rate rises for first time in 53 years, UN study reveals
The number of babies dying before four weeks old has risen from 12 per 1,000 live births in 2008 to 20.3 in 2013, agency for Palestinian refugees says.
And 2013 is before the latest Israeli attack on Gaza, which is devastating in its effects, as detailed by Max Blumenthal’s eyewitness account in his book The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza.
Conditions in Gaza in 2012, before that war, were already bad enough, as they are detailed by Lillian Rosengarten in Survival and Conscience: From the Shadows of Nazi Germany to the Jewish Boat to Gaza , one chapter of which describes her 2012 visit to Gaza.
Ben-Outraged by the Cannabigots,
Apologies for the flank attack – but it maybe of interest
When my sister was dying as a result of her taking procainamide for Myatonia Congenita, a relatively mild inherited muscular disease that does not progressively get worse – well except for the effects of old age…I just do more exercise…
I asked her husband to ask her daughter for some cannabis afghan black (no one knew – but I knew) I knew my niece…ask her…and she did…and it really helped her Mum (my sister) over the last year or so. (She was Senior NHS Medical)
I researched procainamide when I was 19 in the Reference Section of Manchester Central Library (I couldn’t take the books out)
I have never taken any pharmaceutical drugs for my inherited disease…and I am perfectly fit and healthy still.
I even know how it works….and I understand the genetics of the disease..Both parents have to have the same genetic defect…a chance in a million…So the disease doesn’t and hasn’t been passed on to any of our families children…and wouldn’t unless they married a close relative (my sister-in-law) is a geneticist.
But its still illegal…so be careful.
Tony
These are some of the effects of the austerity cuts on the poor in our midst.
Malnutrition and ‘Victorian’ diseases soaring in England ‘due to food poverty and cuts’
Cases of Victorian-era diseases including scurvy, scarlet fever, cholera and whooping cough have increased since 2010
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/malnutrition-and-other-victorian-diseases-soaring-in-england-due-to-food-poverty-and-cuts-a6711236.html
Duncan Smith has been giving evidence to the Work and Pensions Select Committee committee. He is now trialling a scheme that places job advisers in food banks. Does he ever stop to think how heartless he and his lot come across? There is a continual beating up of the poor and underprivileged.
Job advisers placed in food banks, Iain Duncan Smith reveals
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34658755
Habbabkuk (today, 20h08):
“PS – 25 “comments” from Mary, out of 143 (that’s about one sixth of all comments. Good to see there’s still life in the old girl!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary (today, 20h58) :
“Dear Glenn I expected you to pipe up. I was responding to a puerile attack from the troll.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary (the great kow-tow thread, 21 October, 21h)) :
“U No Who U R
26 comments since 3.15pm”
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Bedtime, Mary?
Approx 20% of the comments so far.
Male adult life expectancy higher in Gaza than in Glasgow.
Lysias
Are you turning down the chance to win ten shekels?
🙂
Lysias
I want you to win ten shekels.
Here’s the “comment” again (20 April 2015):
“I would say it is likelier and likelier that Janner will soon die in an unfortunate accident”
Dear Mary, to win a moral argument you must occupy the higher ground. Blatant hypocrisy makes that difficult.
The Independent: Police use terror powers to seize BBC Newsnight journalist’s laptop: Exclusive: Secunder Kermani joined the show early last year and has produced a series of reports on British-born jihadis.
As Glenn Greenwald notes, this was precisely the same authority that was used to detain David Miranda.
Glenn, Prefer not to continue a pointless exchange. It only fills up the comments as per https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2015/10/garters-in-a-twist/comment-page-1/#comment-559325 as an example.
Also prefer not to be lectured, or channelled. Not the first time you have chipped in.
I do not occupy any ground, higher or lower. I leave that to the Israelis!
I do kind of understand the rules here..maybe I’ve got 10 mins left…well you can delete it if you want, but I just wanted to share a bit of personal joy (all very recent personal news)
My Grandchild to be born in March will Be a Boy – so I will have someone to play football with when I am 70 years old. (Our Son & Girlfriend & Now Our Daughter (After 6 years away) Live at Home)
My last surviving sister is fit and healthy – and her daughter who lives lives in the USA (loads of kids) emailed me…
Well are you coming then…to your sister’s 70th Birthday…
So I asked them all(my lot)..Sure..We are All Coming…
It will be a surprise..My sister doesn’t know. We have our family secrets too.
She might have to hire a Castle (Cheap Up North)
Tony
Tony; Much regret about your sibling. It’s a crying shame that the civilization known as Great Britain could be so backward in cannabis research and commensurate laws.
I would direct you to research on Cannabinoids which seem to work best in concert. One cannabinoid of recent note is Cannabichromene, which seems to mimic a valve for what the body needs. Good luck in the UK, the most backward of all Western nations on this issue.
Katie
28/10/2015 12:46pm
Thank you for making us aware of this case. I have signed this petition.
I am considering what to say about this issue with some care. I remember that Craig Murray was attacked with extraordinary vehemence some months ago by one or two people who considered that he had treated a transgender issue without due care and sensitivity. I believe he had written in support of a friend of his who had spoken dismissively about transgender issues. I am afraid I do not remember the exact details, just the extremely hostile tone in which responses to Craig were framed. Perhaps you remember it too. If Craig felt that trans issues were something he wished to stay away from as a consequence, I hardly feel that I could blame him.
Unfortunately, the transgendered are without doubt faced with at least as much hostility and prejudice as gays and lesbians were decades ago. There is a lack of understanding (and I am far from guiltless in that), and I think there is a lot of irrational fear of the transgendered which manifests itself in hostility. There is very little knowledge of the kinds of issues which transgender people face. It is only now beginning to be recognised, I think, that there is enormous human variation in internal consciousness of and attitudes towards gender, and also much more physical variation than is commonly supposed – and there is a right to those internal differences of opinion, and as a society we are still not doing a particularly good job of accommodating this developing knowledge (for example, see Germaine Greer’s recent comments, which I do not regard as particularly helpful). These are social arguments which are going on right now. I think they are very interesting, and I think there are going to be victories for the transgendered which will be very similar to the victories achieved by the gay, lesbian and bisexual communities.
The more I write, the more uncertainty I feel. I am not sure even if the language I am using is right, or is offensive. I hope my comments have been worth reading. This is a clear-cut case to my mind where this woman should be treated as a woman no matter what her birth certificate says. I do wonder if her solicitors, or trans activists, or family, or all three, could assist her to obtain the necessary gender recognition certificate. That would seem the simplest solution, but I do not know how easy it would be, or how long it would take.
Kind regards,
John
The troll’s (I use that term as it’s accurate, but any insult taken is nice too) latest name (and I thought posters were implored to stick to the one name) is based on a feigned incomprehension of simple arithmetic, one of a miscellany of traits endemic amongst its type. The figures for Glasgow referred to, do in fact pertain certainly to some specific streets, districts or housing schemes, within Glasgow, not to the city as a whole. The comparision is not valid, insulting to Glaswegians but far more by some magnitude positively vile in downplaying the plight of the incarcerated and dying of Gaza, in the rest of stolen Palestine, Jerusalem and the West Bank. The most monstrous and protracted of war crimes known, against a far better people than those who imprison them or excuse this moral outrage. This poster ‘^[Hh]abba.*$’continues to post in bad faith, has done from the outset, through numerous sock-puppeting and impersonation incidents. The best course is to ignore it and the other similar known malefactors.
Mary, don’t you understand? I’d like to think better of you. Plenty of others here I don’t care about – the more they show themselves up, the better. Take the moral high ground, and your detractors shame themselves in comparison. Be grossly partisan in your criticism and it makes it far too easy for them.
Tony Opmoc: Sorry about your loss. I lost a very close old friend just last Sunday, this fellow was like a brother to me. Still can’t believe it.
But you’re right about Clark – he does look like a rock star!