BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??

Subject: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: bubblyrat
Date: 06 May 07 - 11:16 AM

It now looks as if Gordon Brown is almost certain to become the next Prime Minister of what is left of the United Kingdom . However, I am concerned about the legality of his position. He was, after all, elected , as an MP, in SCOTLAND, which now has its own Scottish Parliament. In view of this, how can he possibly be entitled to govern ENGLISH people ?? I am TOTALLY opposed to the idea, and have no intention of obeying any laws emanating from this vengeful Caledonian psychopath, whose sole aim in life is to exact revenge for perceived wrongs by the English, against Scotland, hundreds of years ago !! Besides which , the laughingly and inaccurately - named " Labour " party is now FINISHED !! Can"t he see that ?? ---Discuss !!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 06 May 07 - 11:35 AM

It won't bother Gordon Brown if he's legal or not.

I'm just grateful that John Prescott is going, although he has ambitions to be an international ambassador - can you imagine it .......... with his history? We'll still be funding him for years.

We really need a completely fresh start. Gordon Brown isn't going to be able to salvage anything and he doesn't seem to have "presence" any more.

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 06 May 07 - 12:11 PM

Bubblyrat,
He was, after all, elected , as an MP, in SCOTLAND, which now has its own Scottish Parliament. In view of this, how can he possibly be entitled to govern ENGLISH people
By similar reasoning, what right can an MP elected for an English (or Welsh or Irish) constituency have to govern us all.
In fact, we are governed by a consensus of the 600+ MPs taken from all areas of the UK. Gordon Brown (or, at the moment Tony Blair) is just the person that the parliamentary party with the greatest current clout want to be a figurehead for Parliament.

CHEERS
Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 06 May 07 - 12:13 PM

There is also the view that (of late) we've been governed by a one-man dictatorship.

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: Captain Ginger
Date: 06 May 07 - 12:17 PM

and have no intention of obeying any laws emanating from this vengeful Caledonian psychopath
*snort*
I suggest you go to the library and take out any GCSE primer on the British Constitution, then go and have a lie down. If you're still frothing at the mouth after a rest and a cuppa, then I suggest you join UKIP, Veritas, the BNP or one of the other mad parties which seem to be addressing Daily Express readers like you.

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: GUEST,Terry McDonald
Date: 06 May 07 - 01:48 PM

We don't elect a prime minister - the Queen simply sends for the MP who she believes can command the support of a majority of members of the House of Commons. It would seem that Gordon Brown, an MP for a UK constituency commands enough support. Having said that, like (I suspect) a lot of people, I believe Brown will be the catalyst for breaking up the Union and the rebirth of an English state. The Commonwealth of England - nice historic title.

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: GUEST
Date: 06 May 07 - 03:42 PM

Has the Queen asked Alex Salmond yet to form a government in Scotland?

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: GUEST,Terry McDonald
Date: 06 May 07 - 05:50 PM

Good question - I'm not sure about the precise system there, but Mr Salmond doesn't command a majority of MSPs, hence the talks with other parties.

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 06 May 07 - 06:25 PM

Nothing that happens in the Scottish Parliamentary Elections has any direct effect on the UK Parliament sitting in Westminster, which is is the one Gordon Brown was elected to, and is one in which a would-be Prime Minister has to be able to win a vote of confidence.

I think the position in the Scottish Parliament is different from the Westminster one, and that the Pariament appoints the First Minister, and the Queen isn't involved. I suppose they would have some procedure for formally informing her.

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: GUEST
Date: 06 May 07 - 07:14 PM

The Queen asks the leader of the BIGGEST party to form a government, not the party with an overall majority. I'm glad she has nothing to do with the Scottish parliament.

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 06 May 07 - 07:50 PM

Captaan Ginger is right as far as he suggests that addressing the subject from the perpsective of apparent total ignorance of hte constitutional position is unlikely to lead to any worthwhile understanding.

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: folk1e
Date: 06 May 07 - 10:41 PM

Just a pedantic note.....
Anybody has the right to not follow the "Law of the Land", but there is a catch! If you break the law you commit an Offence which is punishable in law. Such comments as made above by Bubblyrat may be construed as an incitement to break the law ...... which is punishable!
And far from being attributable to a "one man dictatorship" it was Margaret Thatcher who was more responsible than any other!
This comment only applies to the United Kingdom! Even if is true elsewhere.

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: GUEST,Terry McDonald
Date: 07 May 07 - 03:30 AM

Sorry, Guest - she would normally ask the leader of the biggest party to form a government because its leader would command the support of a majority of MPs, but if no party had a majority, she would take advice (from privy councillors?) about who to send for. It could be the leader of the second largest party who'd already done a deal (or thought he could) with a lesser party. In the nineteenth century, after a governing party had been defeated in an election, it continued in office until it was defeated in a Commons' vote. Constitutionally,this is still the case. Remember Heath in February 1974? Although defeated by Wilson, he didn't concede for a day becauyse he thought he might be able to to deal with Thorpe's Liberals.

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: Grab
Date: 08 May 07 - 07:49 AM

this vengeful Caledonian psychopath, whose sole aim in life is to exact revenge for perceived wrongs by the English, against Scotland, hundreds of years ago

What size cod have you got on the one shoulder to balance the chips on the other...? ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 May 07 - 08:37 AM

British politics according to the Mudcat political police...

SNP - Perfectly valid and acceptable party. Main objective. Independance for Scotland. Noble and honourable goal.

Plaid Cymry - Perfectly valid and acceptable party. Main objective. Independance for Wales. Noble and honourable goal.

Anyone daring to suggest that English independance may be an honourable goal - Racist right wing BNP thugs with swasikas tatooed on their foreheads.

I'm not even going to try and explain why the Irish question should not be brought up here either but it is very significant that on this day, when the peace process does seem to have reached a significant zenith, there has been no mention of the momentous happenings there.

I think your point, bubblyrat, has a lot more merit to it than people give it credit for. The legality argument will never hold water of course but just watch yourself now. You have been outed as, at worse, a nasty racist thug or, at best, a xenophobic little Englander. At least you now know being English is in fact the only crime that can be commited here;-)

Cheers

Dave

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 May 07 - 08:39 AM

Whoops - sorry Welsh cousins. Plaid CymrU of course. My Grandmother would never let me back into Rhuddlan again...

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: Paco Rabanne
Date: 08 May 07 - 08:54 AM

Time for England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales to go their own separate ways. Independence all round.

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: Captain Ginger
Date: 09 May 07 - 03:14 AM

As an Englishman born and bred, it is only since leavig England that I've been able to see the narrow-minded insularity and chippiness that seems to colour so much of the national character these days. It would take a latter-day Orwell, and certainly a better polemicist than me, to uncover the root causes of such a decline, but it does seem to be there - as exemplified by the original post.

There seems to be a national passion for whingeing these days. Whatever happens, it's always unfair, we wuz robbed and the glass ain't half empy; it's in shards on the floor.
As such, it's little wonder that the BNP find the English underclass such a fertile recruiting ground for their brand of bigotry and vitriol; their policies are just the 'logical' extension of the arguments of the Mail and the Express, which in turn are the canteen and bar-room whinges of the average Englishman. Blacks, asylum seekers, Jews, Europe, the Scots, the Welsh, Socialists, Political Correctness gone mad - hell whatever's wrong with the country, it's always someone's else's fault!

SNP and Plaid may be nationalist parties, but they don't have the appalling spineless chippiness of the English nationalists. Plaid states that it is the party for for anyone who wants to make Wales their home, and openly boasts of its aim "To build a national community based on equal citizenship, respect for different traditions and cultures and the equal worth of all individuals, whatever their race, nationality, gender, colour, creed, sexuality, age, ability or social background."

Somehow I can't see the BNP having such an aim.

(and the legality argument won't hold water because it is patently absurd)

Subject: RE: BS: Brown as PM---Legal or Not ??
From: GUEST,Terry McDonald
Date: 09 May 07 - 03:56 AM

Why is the BRITISH National party being seen as a purely English one? They fought seats in both Wales and Scotland lsst week, getting over 5% in Wales, and increasing their vote in Scotland. There will always be parties of the hard right and the hard left (anyone know the difference?) but fortunately their share of the vote is usually so small that it can be ignored. In the 1970s, at parliamentary by-elections, the National Front won over 10% of the vote on several occasions. The BNP would love to do that well these days!