"I would have thought that the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870 would have placed all the in breach of the law. This would make it rather difficult for Parliament to acknowledge any kind of recognition for their illegal activities. Or does modern Parliament turn a blind eye to flagrant criminality when it suits?"

What criminality, please? We live in a democracy in which it is valid and appropriate to challenge silly laws. It was a bloody silly law to shut pubs in Wales on Sundays. It was a bloody silly law that made gay people criminals. It was a bloody silly law that allowed this country to hang people on the end of a knotted rope. Resorting to an act of 1870 yo make any sort of case, wow, such an enlighted time I don't think, is the resort of a charlatan and an idiot. If the cap fits...

Anyway, lobby your MP or don't bother. You and your ilk have poisoned a thread that was started with the best of intentions. I hope you're happy.