Tag: political constitution
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Bhavya Johari – The Political Constitution’s Broken Promise: Arms, Sanctions and Accountability after Al-Haq
In September 2024, the Government suspended around thirty arms export licences to Israel, having found a clear risk that United Kingdom equipment might be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law. It exempted one category, creating a carve-out for components made in the United Kingdom for the F-35 combat aircraft, which continued to…
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Stephanie Reynolds: Elon Musk: Stretching or Snapping an Elastic Constitution?
Elon Musk has recently utilised his extensive platform as owner of social media site X to intervene in British politics. He has labelled the UK Prime Minister ‘two-tier Keir’ in relation to allegations of police bias against white protestors during the 2024 riots, and after the Government announced changes to inheritance tax, declared that ‘Britain…
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Aileen McHarg and Alison L. Young: The Resilience of the (Old) British Constitution
In 2009, Vernon Bogdanor wrote about The New British Constitution. His thesis was that a decade of New Labour reforms had produced a shift in the nature of the constitution, from one based on parliamentary sovereignty, to one based on the ‘sovereignty of the constitution’. Since 2009, further constitutional reforms have been implemented by governments…
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Stephanie Reynolds: Celebrities, Social Media, and New Sites of Political Constitutional Accountability
Over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford has been credited with being instrumental in securing a series of government u-turns on free school meals. Although Rashford’s campaign has been frequently discussed in the traditional media and in Parliament, Rashford has also repeatedly turned to social media not only to campaign…
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Mike Gordon: The Prorogation Case and the Political Constitution
The decision of the Supreme Court in Cherry / Miller (No.2) [2019] UKSC 41 has been heralded as a significant moment in our constitutional history, a case which will be regarded as a defining part of the fabric of our constitution for centuries to come. Whether it will live up to this billing is a…
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Paul Reid: How Fixed Is a Fixed-term Parliament?
However unexpected the Prime Minister’s call for a general election may be, and however appropriate it may, or may not, be (see Jeff King’s discussion here), it invites the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011 to operate as it was designed: if two-thirds of the House of Commons resolves that there should be an early general election…