MvdV> On Wednesday September 11 2019 15:16, you wrote to me:
MvdV>>> Have they? Well, here the media have gone silent after Monday MvdV>>> night when John Bercow announced his resignation and Parliament MvdV>>> blocked general elections before 31 oct.
DR>> Retirement, not resignation. There is a difference.
MvdV> There is? So what is the difference? He will no longer be mr speaker MvdV> after 31 oct will he? Will he remain as MP?
A resignation is usually made in protest or when someone is forced by circumstances to quit their job. Retirement is taken when someone feels that they have done as much as they can in their job. It's usually connected with giving up work when one becomes too old but it doesn't need to be. Someone may retire in order to follow a different career. In John Bercow's case he wasn't forced to retire even though some were unhappy with the way he did things. He has been Mr Speaker for ten years (I didn't realise it was that long) and he had decided some months ago that he would not carry on as the Speaker in the next parliament. He won't resign his seat as an MP because he won't stand as a candidate in the next election. That is retirement. Coming to the natural end of one's tenure.
MvdV> My expectation is that it will be interesting to watch how his MvdV> successor will be selected...
It is traditional that alternately a member of the two largest parties is chosen. As Bercow is a conservative the next Speaker will be from the Labour ranks.
DR>> But the news this morning is that the Scottish Supreme Court has ruled DR>> that the prorogation of Parliament was illegal on the basis that Boris DR>> called it for his own selfish reasons.
MvdV> I am puzzled. My intuition says that a Scottish court has jurisdiction MvdV> in Scotland. Not in the rest of the UK. Am I wong?
No, you're not wrong. But the ruling of the Scottish Supreme Court is a precedent. When it comes to be discussed in the UK Supreme Court, the precedent of the Scottish Court will probably be taken into account. This is how the legal system in the UK works. The Scottish Court were brought into this because someone in Scotland asked them to give a judgement on it.
MvdV> What if a Scottish court says "yes" and an English Court says "no" om MvdV> the same issue? Scottish law vs English law?
The UK court's ruling will have the force of law.
DR>> Next week the UK Supreme Court will also consider the subject. Never a DR>> dull moment.
MvdV> Is that the equivalent of a US Federal Court?
I suppose so, although Scotland has a supreme Court because of devolution. England doesn't have one.
DR>> Also the Labour Party cannot decide whether to have another referendum DR>> before or after the next election!
MvdV> If they can not choose, someone else will make the choice for them...
No, someone else won't. If the Labour Party win the next General Election the leader (who will then be prime minister) will decide.
DR>> Oh, and if the Liberal Democrats win the next election they've just DR>> said that they will cancel Brexit - assuming it hasn't taken place, of DR>> course!
MvdV> The LibDems are a small party. The chance that they get a majority is MvdV> small is it?
No, they're not a small party in the country. They run a number of local councils. They have a small number of MPs at the moment simply because of our first-past-the-post system of voting but they field a candidate for pretty well every constituency in the country. And more recently they have been coming second in election results rather than third or fourth. If the public are fed up enough with the Conservatives and Labour and vote for the Lib Dems it's not inconceivable that they might have enough MPs to form a government. Not likely, I agree, but these are strange times and I've never known such dissatisfaction with the two main parties. After all, look at the support the Brexit party has been getting.
DR>> Even "Yes, Minister" didn't get this chaotic! Who needs scriptwriters?
MvdV> That was a long time go. Since then a lot of water has flowed through MvdV> the Thames, the Tay, the Severn and the Foyle...
The Severn is not a Welsh river. It runs for a little of its length along the border between Wales and England but it is an English river (and actually the longest river in the UK!). If you want an example of a Welsh river, try the Towy or the Usk
David
-- Formerly ICHTHUS (Reading) UK (1987-2007 R.I.P.) (2:292/854.110)
