tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5467119.post5874598398214803331..comments2023-10-24T10:09:22.146+01:00Comments on The Yorkshire Ranter: A Zero-Day Class Break!Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17153530634675543954noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5467119.post-16981177499500477922008-12-09T17:57:00.000+01:002008-12-09T17:57:00.000+01:00The biggest advantage of the prorogation is that i...The biggest advantage of the prorogation is that it has allowed time to pause and think, for the proposed coalition unity to demonstrate itself (and given the rumblings emerging from the caucuses it's clear that just the assertion of two leaders and one outgoing isn't enough) and also allow the Liberals to get a permanent leader in place.<BR/><BR/>One relevant precedent that a lot of people have forgotten lately is Ireland in early 1982. The previous summer general election had resulted in an ultra tight Dail - the Fine Gael/Labour coalition had about one more seat than Fianna Fail, with various micro parties and hunger strikers holding the balance - and was defeated on the budget in early 1982. Garret Fitzgerald immediately went to the President, Patrick Hillery, to request a dissolution and Fianna Fail leader Charles Haughey and other senior FFers started trying to ring the President to put pressure on him to deny Fitzgerald a dissolution but instead ask the Dail to nominate an alternative Taioseach (i.e. Haughey). Hillery would have none of this and gave Fitzgerald the dissolution requested. There was also a case in 1994 when the government changed mid Dail - Labour walked out of a coalition with Fianna Fail over a scandal than engulfed Taioseach Albert Reynolds, and then when the minority administration proposed Bertie Ahern in the Dail he was defeated by a new coalition of Fine Gael, Labour and the Democratic Left, led by John Bruton.<BR/><BR/>It's true that the Irish have added a formal vote in the Dail to nominate the Taioseach, but it's a clear Westminster system, just one that has a clear cut test for whether a new government has the support of the Dail before it's installed.<BR/><BR/>"Is there any way to stop a PM from proroguing again, and again?" The answer is yes - there are various powers, most notably the budget ("supply") that can only be secured from Parliament and the Governor General can quite easily draw a line between an initial "breathing space" prorogation and further prorogations to keep deferring the testing of Commons opinion.<BR/><BR/>As for anonymous letters to The Times, it was quite common in that period for senior civil servants and politicians to use that channel to transmit an opinion to the world without being seen to publicly wade in to what might be a contentious issue.Tim Roll-Pickeringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12589024696145675963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5467119.post-60987634620355626862008-12-08T00:19:00.000+01:002008-12-08T00:19:00.000+01:00Well said, this is exactly right. It sets an awful...Well said, this is exactly right. It sets an awful precedent. <BR/>In the case of Canada, the GG is almost purely symbolic and is pretty much expected to do as the PM asks, so the LDQN is just a stub.<BR/>I dread to think the sort of screaming fit Harper would have had if the GG did otherwise.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com