Thursday, March 09, 2006

The end of Parliamentary Democracy

Right now there is a Bill quietly going through Parliament called the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill. This Bill - which you can read in full here - is designed to enable an individual Government minister to amend a law without ever having to consult Parliament or engage in any democratic process whatsoever. The only exemption in the Bill is the ability to increase income tax (whoopie fucking do!). However, under the Bill a minister (for example the Home Secretary) could suspend Habeus Corpus for all criminal acts, or we could see a suspension of the need for elections. To be blunt, a minister will be able to do pretty much anything they like that is in the remit of their department in term of changing or abolishing any law. Part 1, Section 2(3) gives the "provision [for] amending or abolishing any rule of law". No more debate, no need for scrutiny. This is not paranoia on my part, this is happening in Parliament right now.

The Bill will turn the Executive of government into an effective all-powerful Politburo. It is a fundamental affront to Parliamentary democracy and the core of the British political system. What can you do about it? Simple, write to your MP. Go here and find out how they will be voting on this Bill. It doesn't take a minute. Put your postcode in, click on the link and fill the form in, then hit the link in the email the site sends you as confirmation and it's done.

Do it now before we officially change the name of our country to Air Strip One.