Senate The UK Politics discussion

Look at the Government's confidence ....

Withdrawing the whip from rebel MPs minutes after the vote.... by text.

Classy.

 

Turns out what happened to Johnson last night had in fact last happened in 1894 to the Earl of Rosebery.

 

Boris getting booed and shouted at for refusing to share his plans at PMQs.

 

Today's PMQs are a demonstration of "incontinent mendacity".

And under the spotlght it is all Johnson has.

 

An interesting titbit I learned while listening to LBC this morning; After being spotted stumbling down a hall looking for a particular press office, wine in hand, apparently Dominic Cummings was later seen drunkenly screaming at Jeremy Corbyn.

I really hope the wheels fall off of this clown car sooner than later, because during saner times such behaviour would result in immediate dismissal.

 

For those of us sitting way in the back who don't understand all of the intricacies of UK governance, how does the House of Lords come into play with regard to what happened yesterday?

 

A GE is happening no matter what. Boris cannot command a majority of the House and it comes down to FPTA passing or the PM resigning and the Queen requesting Corbyn to try.

Just depends really on if the opposition parties will attemot a govt of national unity first.

 

@Bilbo Fett - nothing yesterday, but if the Commons today passes a bill to eliminate no-deal Brexit the Tory Lords can attempt to kill the bill by talking it out.

 

I wish our congress were that entertaining. But no, they just politely kill people using budgetary language.

 

The Lords are about to be discussing a motion to mandate that the Benn-Burt bill must be voted on by Friday at 5PM. However, knowing that debates on the House of Lords don't follow a fixed schedule, and a debate on a particular amendment can only be stopped if a vote on a motion of closure passes, the Tory Lords have put forward over a hundred amendments.

They don't have a majority to pass those, but every amendment requires two votes: one on a motion of closure to stop any filibustering, and then one on the amendment itself. Each vote takes at least 15 minutes (often a bit more), and every amendment will have to be read and will at least get a presentation by the Peer moving it. The process could take nearly an hour per amendment, and there's over a hundred.

There aren't a hundred hours until Friday at 5PM.

Note that even if the Lords might end up letting the Benn-Burt bill through, there's another issue: since it directly infringes on a prerogative of government (ie. deciding to invoke Art. 50(3) TEU to request an extension) and no current law gives Parliament that power over what is normally a government prerogative, before a third reading can take place, the government has to confirm the Queen's Consent (not to be mistaken with Royal Assent) to let the bill through its third reading, which it must go through if it's going to become law.

I'm not sure Boris Johnson can be trusted to confirm the Queen's Consent.

EDIT - Note that Bercow, who does speak on that matter with legal advice from the clerks, has just ruled the bill does not require Queen's Consent. That might be challenged, but not in the House.

 

What's the difference between the Queen's Consent and Royal Assent? Which one did Boris use for proroguing?

 

Queen's Consent is required before Parliament can debate a bill that may modify the prerogatives attributed to the monarchy (in practice: to HM's government).
Royal Assent is given at the end of the legislative process (and concludes it).

To prorogue, Boris needed Royal Assent.

 

Thanks. I wasn't aware of Queen's Consent.

 

I wasn't either until today ^^

 

First vote on bill to delay Brexit (this is for the second reading of the bill): Ayes - 329 Noes - 300. Next vote expected around 7PM, I believe.

 

You know, the House doing a full Klingon style discommendation to Johnson and co would be less humiliating.

 

So if the house rejects a call for an election before end of Oct. what the hell happens then?

 

Not sure. (I don't think the BBC are either). Boris could resign and trigger an election but then that leaves the Tories without a leader. There could be a no-confidence vote in Boris that could trigger an election but that also leaves the Tories without a leader. Tories could try to pass a simple bill rather than following the formal election procedure but the bill would have to specify the election date (date could be changed with the formal procedure). However the Tories are now a minority government so no guarantee of that bill passing.

 

How do you legally enforce blocking No Deal?

Surely if the 31st of October arrives we go out regardless.

 

The Conservatives are screwed by the very Fixed Parliament act they voted for all those years ago. Probably in the belief it would screw over Labour.

 

I believe part of the bill being debated includes asking the EU for another extension. No guarantee they'd say yes though - UK has already gotten extensions and nothing has been done to take things forward..

 

Short of an agreed deal, there will be one option left - revoke article 50.

 

I believe you'd still have to get that through Parliament, though I might be wrong.

 

Possibly. 2 days ago I would have said no chance of that, now? All bets are off.