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NEWCASTLE JOURNAL 4.8.05
August should bring
the judgement of the Law Lords in the case brought by the Countryside
Alliance against the Government. Ah some will say it’s just those
bloody hunters whingeing on again, why do they not shut up and do us
all a favour. The Hunters will not shut up and by bringing this case
they are in fact doing YOU a favour. So sit up straight and pay attention.
I am not a lawyer,
but as far as I understand it, the case brought by the CA has profound
constitutional and legal ramifications. You will remember that the sack
of stinking fish that was the Hunting Bill was finally dragged through
Parliament by use of the Parliament Act 1949. The Parliament 1949 was
based on the Parliament Act 1911. This was brought in by Lloyd George
because the House of Lords was refusing to pass his budget – at
least, I think that that was what all the fuss was about – you
will appreciate that I was not actually around at the time. The essence
of the 1911 Act was that if the Lords refused to pass the same Bill
three times, the Commons was entitled to by pass the Lords and get Royal
Assent. The 1949 Act cut down the three refusals to two and this was
the instrument used to force the Hunting Bill through. To the best of
my knowledge the Parliament Act has only been used three times since
1949 – once for a Bill about war crimes and the other two I cannot
remember. The Parliament Act has never been legally challenged, heretofore.
Now it has been. The nub of the CA challenge would seem to be that the
1949 Act was unsound as it was based on the 1911 Act which was itself
unsound – unsound because the Constitution demands that a bill
can only become law if it has been passed by Parliament and that means
both Houses of Parliament. The Hunting Bill was not and neither were
either of the Parliament Acts. You can see what a potentially explosive
device we have here. If the Law Lords make a judgement in favour of
the CA, then not only must the Hunting Act be felled, but also both
Parliament Acts and any acts that have become law under either of them.
This would provoke an atomic bomb of a constitutional row. On the other
hand if Their Legal Lordships rule against the CA, then they are in
effect ruling the House of Lords and the Monarchy out of existence and
giving absolute power to the Commons, or as things stand (or rather
lie down, in the case of the present House of Commons) to the Executive.
The exec can push through anything that it likes and give the House
of Lords and the Law Lords two fingers as it cruises past them. So to
put this matter in simple terms the Law Lords are turkeys being invited
to rule for, or against, Christmas.
Since we have lived
in this area my wife has been addicted to shopping in Alnwick. Like
most addictions this has had unhappy side affects. The thought of going
to Alnwick always provoked what I came to call the ‘Alnwick Panic’.
The unhappy experience of parking and shopping in the place meant that
she always returned in an advanced state of stress. Both these conditions
resulted in collateral damage to innocent bystanders, or, as it might
be, Me. For years I pointed out (very quietly) that although Alnwick
might be necessary for certain things – like filling medical prescriptions
– it could be avoided for most things by going to Wooler and the
excellent village shop at Longframlington. Husbands may advise, but
may not on the whole dictate, not if they want domestic harmony that
is and the advice has to be done in a ‘still, small, voice’
and dripped into the feminine consciousness. It has taken nigh on twenty
years, but recently Mrs Poole has announced that she can shop much more
easily and pleasantly by going to Wooler and Longfram and was that not
a good idea? Of course it is and I could say – ‘I told you
so’, but what husband in his right mind would do that?
Once upon a time
if you went to the woods or amongst the brackens at this time of year
you would immediately be helmeted with flies, but for the last two years
this has not been the case. There is no doubt but that there are many
fewer flies about and much less insect life in general. I have not seen
a wasp so far this year and there have been fewer butterflies. My pond
used to be a rich stew of aquatic insect life, now it is forlornly empty.
What, I wonder, can this betoken?
