Wednesday 14 October 2015

"The charter would legally prevent future governments from…"

The most important rule in the UK constitution is that a Parliament cannot bind future Parliaments. This government can pass whatever laws it likes and future governments can repeal and replace every last one of them.

So this bullshit started off under New Labour with legally binding carbon budgets and Boy George is trying the same stupid trick with the Charter for Budget Responsibility which would legally prevent future governments from spending more than they receive in tax revenue when the economy is growing.

This is so vague as to be a meaningless and reminds us of yet more New Labour bullshit, the Golden Rule. It also reminds us that even though the Tories insist that the economy is recovering/growing, they are spending money like a drunken sailor who knows he is terminally ill and who has just won the lottery while on shore leave.

So the only reason to vote for this - if you could overcome your inner pedant - would be that as soon as it receives Royal Assent, you could have the entire Tory cabinet arrested for breaking the law.

Which raises the next question, does the Charter actually say what the penalties are if a future government does not comply with the law or tries to repeal it..?

6 comments:

mombers said...

How about we have an utterly daft debt ceiling law like they have in the US? Difference is that under a parliamentary system, you're less likely to have a government shut itself down like they do in the US where the executive and the legislature can be controlled by different parties

Lola said...

Or, on second thoughts, all that this stupidity is, is a piece of political triangulation designed purely to corner Corbyn's Labour Party. In other words it is not economics. It's has nothing to do with law or any serious management of Government spending at all. It's all about politics.

Demetrius said...

If you get enough of these Charters and other fixed obligations at some time in the future you have a government so trapped by the difficulties, unintended consequences, conflicts of purpose and confusion that it cannot do much at all, if anything. Then you get revolution and dictatorship.

Steven_L said...

Since, as you point out, Labour started this many moons ago, they probably teach it on PPE courses now to wannabe SpADs. Hence it is now textbook strategy.

But I'm not convinced this kind of politics is pitched at the likes of you and your readers MW. The real tragedy is that it's very effective, not least at grabbing column inches.

Random said...

See also - video has PM on housing policy
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-defends-starter-homes-that-only-the-richest-can-afford-a6693751.html

dustybloke said...

Do we still hang people for treason?