However, as is sometimes the case where conventions are concerned, how it should apply in any precise circumstance can be difficult to establish with certainty and in a way that commands wide agreement. In March , the UK government held a debate and vote in parliament over operations in Libya, but only after they had commenced. The government initiated no debate or vote over its deployments in Mali in January Some parliamentarians and campaigners argue in favour of a war powers act they hope would clarify the position and place a legal obligation upon government to involve parliament.
But it has not yet come about. Ultimately, then, the decision May faces over whether to go to parliament before acting is of a political nature.
But if a sufficient number of parliamentarians take the view that May is flagrantly violating convention regarding their rights to consultation, this political decision could have damaging political consequences.
In strict legal terms, the statement is correct. The only likely negative consequences for taking military action in Syria without first seeking express approval from the Commons would be political in nature.
Yet, under the UK system, an action may be lawful but at the same time unconstitutional, that is to say in violation of a convention. A Cabinet minister said she was "absolutely gutted" to have missed the crucial Commons vote on Syria last week. International Development Secretary Justine Greening was in a room just yards from the Commons chamber but claimed not to have heard the bell which summons MPs to the lobbies to cast their votes.
Greening and Foreign Office minister Mark Simmonds missed the key vote on David Cameron's motion on Syria, which resulted in a shock Government defeat by a majority of just The Prime Minister said he had accepted an apology from the pair after they failed to back the Government's motion setting out the case for potential military action. The vote forced David Cameron to abandon any plans to for Britain to be involved in military action in Syria. But it sparked a public spat between the minister and Commons officials, who insisted the bells were working correctly.
Miss Greening and Mr Simmonds, minister for Africa, both took part in the first vote to defeat the Labour amendment to the motion.
But they then went off for a discussion on a Rwanda in the Reasons Room - a small, 'almost soundproofed' office reserved for ministers near the Chamber. A source close to Miss Greening suggested clerks 'confirmed' they had not rung the bell and by the time she realised the mistake, the vote had happened.
After MailOnline reported the claims, Commons officials carried out tests on the bells to proive they were working and had been rung. The Conservatives yesterday highlighted expenses claims by prominent Labour figures to pay for accountants to help them fill in their tax returns. Most of his earnings came from writing articles and books. Claiming for accountancy services is allowed under the expenses rules, but is likely to raise eyebrows among members of the public who believe the system remains too generous.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Argos AO. Privacy Policy Feedback. Share this article Share. Most watched News videos Kate Middleton: William has told me 'a lot about Sandhurst' Members of the royal family attend annual Festival of Remembrance Drug dealers face jail sentence after bragging about money on camera Boris Johnson: It's 'very difficult' to turn migrants back at sea PM: Loopholes that allow MPs to claim rent 'need to be looked at' Moment over 1, kebabs are delivered to migrant camp in Dover Hit-and-run killer caught on CCTV as he ploughs into grandfather Groom crashes Lamborghini on wedding night and ends up in hospital Prime Minister Boris Johnson warns Covid 'sadly still remains a risk' Moment Belarus troops shine strobes and lasers at the Polish army Prince Charles delighted by magic trick during south London visit Extinction Rebellion protesters moved by police at Lord Mayor's Show.
Meanwhile, public anxiety and a desire to avoid another rush to war were building. A poll by the Sun newspaper on Tuesday found the public two to one against military action. MPs called constituency association meetings and took to social media to canvass opinion.
Labour whips found MPs reporting very strong opposition. At least one member of the shadow cabinet made it known that he would resign if Miliband, who had not ruled out supporting military strikes, backed Cameron. Sarah Wollaston, the rebel Tory MP for Totnes , said her office was unable to keep up with emails from constituents who feared, like her, a repeat of Iraq and Afghanistan, and a wider war in the Middle East.
On Thursday morning she tweeted the results of her canvassing: " After asking my constituents views: no intervention , intervention 21, intervene with UN backing A gathering rebellion at Westminster was being bolstered through social media. On the Tory right, something else was going on. Eurosceptics were stressing the need for parliament to hold the executive to account and reject military action in line with the people's wishes.
Euroscepticism was morphing into romantic isolationism. We dislike the use of gas because it kills indiscriminately. So we'll respond by raining missiles on Syria? With the Daily Mail increasingly strident in its anti-war editorials — it said on Thursday that MPs had a "moral duty" to vote against war if they had even the slightest doubts about it — Cameron appeared to be losing the battle for public opinion.
Knowing there was an unpredictable group of around 30 MPs in his own party, and several Lib Dems who were anti-war, he had, therefore, to try to keep Miliband on side to avoid defeat. On Tuesday and Wednesday the Labour leader and the shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, had two meetings with the prime minister and a series of phone calls, which grew less friendly.
While Downing Street insists that Miliband was "playing politics" and was "buggering around moving the goalposts" by switching from sounding broadly in favour of military action on Tuesday, to his eventual position of opposing even a diluted noncommittal motion on Wednesday, Labour sees it differently. It says Cameron's "Flashman " approach, his anger and his stubborness, coupled with a determination to "rush to war" before weapons inspectors had reported and the UN route had been exhausted, were to blame for the prime minister's failure to build public and political support.
In one phone call on Wednesday, Cameron accused Miliband of "letting down America" and " siding with [Sergei] Lavrov", the Russian foreign minister , an ally of Assad.
Behind the scenes, worse insults flew around.
0コメント