Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill: Open Letter to MP
Dear Mr Hendry:
Specifically, we write today out of tremendous concern about the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill (LRRB), which seems to have passed through a second parliamentary reading with very little public awareness of the bill's existence, let alone the crippling effect which this legislation would have on democracy were the bill to become law.
Although several excellent articles have been written -- across the political spectrum -- in British newspapers, magazines and journals, the general public seems not to have noticed that a bill which would fundamentally rewrite the rules by which legislation can be amended, replaced or repealed, and which would undermine the checks and balances inherent in the parliamentary system, is dangerously close to becoming law. Even citizens and legislators of other countries whose respective parliamentary systems are based on the British model watch with grave concern for their own democracies as this bill proceeds along the legislative process with apparently scarce opposition, in or out of Parliament.
The Save Parliament website provides a general overview of the bill, and includes a number of recent articles which demonstrate that those relative few in the UK who are aware of the bill are shocked and fearful of the sweeping legislative powers which such a law would hand to the ministers of Government.
Democracy would, in effect, be dead.
Below is an excerpt from the Save Parliament website:
We, therefore, are writing to request a meeting with you to discuss this matter, and to ask for your advice as to how we may be able to build upon existing efforts, like that promoted by Save Parliament, to help educate the public of the dangers of this bill.
Thank you, Mr Hendry, for your consideration.
Yours sincerely,
Sean M. Madden
Rebecca L. Hurst
Simon Johnson
Specifically, we write today out of tremendous concern about the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill (LRRB), which seems to have passed through a second parliamentary reading with very little public awareness of the bill's existence, let alone the crippling effect which this legislation would have on democracy were the bill to become law.
Although several excellent articles have been written -- across the political spectrum -- in British newspapers, magazines and journals, the general public seems not to have noticed that a bill which would fundamentally rewrite the rules by which legislation can be amended, replaced or repealed, and which would undermine the checks and balances inherent in the parliamentary system, is dangerously close to becoming law. Even citizens and legislators of other countries whose respective parliamentary systems are based on the British model watch with grave concern for their own democracies as this bill proceeds along the legislative process with apparently scarce opposition, in or out of Parliament.
The Save Parliament website provides a general overview of the bill, and includes a number of recent articles which demonstrate that those relative few in the UK who are aware of the bill are shocked and fearful of the sweeping legislative powers which such a law would hand to the ministers of Government.
Democracy would, in effect, be dead.
Below is an excerpt from the Save Parliament website:
[...] More worryingly, the minister involved can amend any existing legislation; nothing is protected. So, as was pointed out in The Times by 6 law professors from Cambridge, a minister could abolish trial by jury, suspend habeas corpus (your right not to be arbitrarily arrested), or change any of the legislation governing the legal system.Mr Johnson, Ms Hurst and I intend to work in coalition with others to raise awareness of this issue amongst the general population.
That's 700 years of democracy and the rule of law, thrown away in a heartbeat. What's left of the Magna Carta, the foundation of just about all modern democracies, would be finally gone, and our Parliament, which has influenced democratic systems all over the world, would just be a footnote in history.
We, therefore, are writing to request a meeting with you to discuss this matter, and to ask for your advice as to how we may be able to build upon existing efforts, like that promoted by Save Parliament, to help educate the public of the dangers of this bill.
Thank you, Mr Hendry, for your consideration.
Yours sincerely,
Sean M. Madden
Rebecca L. Hurst
Simon Johnson
posted by Sean M. Madden at
5:29 PM
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3 Comments:
Another excellent site for learning more about the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill follows: Our World Our Say.
The site includes links to: Save Parliament; the LRR Bill itself and explanatory notes via the Parliament publications website; various articles written about the Bill; and the views of the major political parties.
Provisional good news follows via two article excerpts, below.
Our MP, Charles Hendry, replied to our letter via email last night. He has agreed to meet with us should we continue to have concerns regarding the details of the Bill re-draft when they emerge, perhaps this week.
Blair backs down over regulatory reform bill
By Jean Eaglesham, Chief Political Correspondent
Published: April 13 2006
Financial Times
Sweeping ministerial powers in a proposed bill designed to cut red tape are to be curtailed following a row over their constitutionality, the minister responsible said yesterday.
Jim Murphy, the cabinet office minister, said the government would back down from the highly contentious plans to cut the bureaucracy burden on business and amend the proposed law, which has been dubbed a shortcut to dictatorship.
Labour backs down over regulatory reform bill safeguards
Tania Branigan, political correspondent
Thursday April 13, 2006
The Guardian
The government is to write new safeguards into a controversial bill giving ministers sweeping powers to change the law after Labour's chief whip in the Lords warned it would otherwise face defeat.
Critics claimed the legislative and regulatory reform bill would allow the government to change almost any law it wished - even introducing new criminal offences or altering the constitution - without scrutiny.
Lord Grocott wrote to Tony Blair and John Prescott warning them it would be "exceptionally difficult" to pass the legislation without making changes.
Click here for the full Guardian article.
The Financial Times article is by subscription only.
good letter and a useful response. But I'm not convinced the amendments will go anywhere near far enough.
k
from http://freecommonwealth.blogspot.com
P.S. Do visit our new blog and add comments if you have time - I think your perspective would be helpful.
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