Impeachment in Law- reserection

[Dartzap]

Ive just seen on the news that several Mps in Wales Scotland and a few in England itself, are planning on ressurecting the Impeachment laws, so that they can use it on Tony Blair because of his unjust invasion of Iraq.


Of course this law has not been used in 400 years, and its most likly be blown out of the Water if it ever even enters the House for discussion.

Ill find a link as soon as it is put up on the C4 news site...

and for the brits who know him, one of the first to sign a petetion for it was a B Johnson, editor in cheif of one Spectator newspaper...

[Jalinth]

Ive just seen on the news that several Mps in Wales Scotland and a few in England itself, are planning on ressurecting the Impeachment laws, so that they can use it on Tony Blair because of his unjust invasion of Iraq.


Of course this law has not been used in 400 years, and its most likly be blown out of the Water if it ever even enters the House for discussion.

Ill find a link as soon as it is put up on the C4 news site...

and for the brits who know him, one of the first to sign a petetion for it was a B Johnson, editor in cheif of one Spectator newspaper...

The UK has impeachment laws? Never realized that. I thought that either a non-confidence vote or a cabinet coup were the normal ways of dumping a PM outside of a general election. This isn't like Canada where the PM is an elected dictator - the Brits have a strong history of dumping PMs suddenly (think Thatcher). Given how often Blair is out of the country, just hold a quick Cabinet meeting, elect a new PM and go to the Queen. Blair goes out before he knows what has hit him, new PM comes in.

[Dartzap]

as i said, they are being resserected from about 200 years ago.

and besides that wouldnt be sporting,

it wont be taken seriosly even for a secound, i doubt it will get much in the way of support, and the few people who will be minor back benchers and opposition BB'ers, after all its all the idea of one eccentric MP, while he has good intemtions, he has gone over the top, he could have found some similer way, i suppose

[Prozac the Robert]

I can't see how it could be easier than a vote of no confidence. In the US impeachment requires a 2/3 majority doesn't it? I think no confidence votes here (UK) can be won by one vote.

Only possible way to bypass parliament would be a labour party leadership chalenge. (Or maybe royal decree, but I can't see the queen risking that.)

[LordShaithis]

Wait, what does the Queen do? Over here in the US it seems to be generally assumed she has no power, no interaction with the political system, except as a symbol.

[Patrick Degan]

Wait, what does the Queen do? Over here in the US it seems to be generally assumed she has no power, no interaction with the political system, except as a symbol.

IIRC, as the titular Head of State, it is to the Queen that the resignation of the Prime Minister is tendered, which formally dissolves the government prior to a new election. The new PM makes a formal call upon Her Majesty prior to taking office and she is the one who speaks to the nation regarding the policies of the incoming government. She is also, of course, the leader of the Church of England.

[TheDarkling]

Wait, what does the Queen do? Over here in the US it seems to be generally assumed she has no power, no interaction with the political system, except as a symbol.

It really depends upon what you mean by power.

She can veto bills technically and although this is largely ceremonial when the Tories proposed a crime bill which was going to limit peoples right to not incriminate themselves and a few other dubious measures she said she would "read it very carefully" to Thatcher.
Thatcher delayed and the public took to the streets whihc resulted in the Tories backing down.

There is also the matter of the weekly meetings between the Queen and her Prime minister, these meetings aren't little chit chats but are actually based upon policy.
One Prime minister said he prepared more for these meetings than he did for Prime Ministers questions, after all the Queen has been involved at the highest level of politics for over 50 years, giving her a political career few can match.
She does several hours work each day just reading her various governmental correspondence, a tale is told about her raising a particularly interesting telegram from the foreign office with Churchill and he hadn’t read it himself when it arrived in his box.
She also has regular meetings with other ministers and she is very involved with diplomacy.
With all of the above said we know very little about what exactly goes on in those meetings because no Prime minister has ever breached the confidence and revealed what happens, the most Thatcher revealed in her autobiography was
"Anyone who imagines that they are a mere formality or confined to social niceties is quite wrong; they are quietly businesslike and Her Majesty brings to bear a formidable grasp of current issues and breadth of experience."

So while the Queens power is largely ceremonial her influence is at an unknown level but does surely exist.

On the subject of a resigning Prime Minister, the process is one whereby the current Prime Minister resigns (not as an MP though which is impossible to do) and the Queen calls a new Prime Minister, this is usually somebody winning an internal leadership election but in theory the monarch can just ask any MP to form a government without this (previously an informal agreement was made within the party without an internal vote).

The change of Prime Minister does not require the calling of a general election and a change of leadership can and does happen without one (Major taking over from the Iron lady for example).

[tharkûn]

The Queen retains a whole crapload of powers on paper, she can still dissolve parliament for instance. However it is EXTREMELY risky for the monarchy to stand opposed to government, let alone the electorate. For instance, I think the Queen still holds veto powers with Royal Assent, however I think the last time it was exercised was back in the 1700's. There is always the possibility that if the monarch exercises reserve powers in the wrong situation a republic would be declared.

[Prozac the Robert]

On the subject of a resigning Prime Minister, the process is one whereby the current Prime Minister resigns (not as an MP though which is impossible to do)

Actually I believe an MP can resign. What I think happens is that the MP gets transfered to another post with a silly sounding name and no pay or responsibility.

As for the queen, technically I think she could disolve parliament and rule on her own until she needed to raise taxes. It's just that we wouldn't stand for it. You see, the funny thing about the UK is that our constitution is almost entirely unwriten and bits of it are rather old.

This might be worth a look. Constitution of the United Kingdom.

[Prozac the Robert]

Ah, here we are. Resignation from the British House of Commons. I was slightly wrong, the fictional new post must be "a paid office under the Crown", which disqualifies the MP basically due to a conflict of interest. The job is only nominally paid, and doesn't last long.

Examples include: Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham and Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.

[TheDarkling]

Ah, here we are. Resignation from the British House of Commons. I was slightly wrong, the fictional new post must be "a paid office under the Crown", which disqualifies the MP basically due to a conflict of interest. The job is only nominally paid, and doesn't last long.

Examples include: Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham and Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.

Yes, taking any paid office of the crown makes one ineligible for service as an MP but that isn't actually resigning (they technically get kicked out) because resignation was banned when it was something of a burden to be an MP.

Just one of those old "if it isn't broke don't fix it" things you get from having one of the oldest governments in existence.