The Death of Democracy? Date Saturday, April 20, 2024 - 05:09 AM PST Topic Politics The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill Read the bill here. Most of you probably haven't heard of this bill, whether you live in the UK, America, or elsewhere, it's been kept very quiet. So what is it? Well, you can take a look at the bill itself using the link above, but the basic idea of it is that a cabinet minster would be able to alter any piece of UK legislation, or draft an entirely new piece, simply by issuing an "order". What does that mean? Ministers will be able to pass, or ammend laws as they see fit. Although there are restrictions on it, one very important fact is that the bill can be applied to itself. It could be amended so that the restrictions are removed. What are the current restrictions? The most important restriction is that an order has to be voted into effect by Parliament. Apart from that, a minister has to be satisfied that an order is in line with party policy. An order can't be used to remove a freedom which members of the public could reasonably expect to retain - although the definition of "reasonably expect" is left to the ministers' interpretation. If an order is used to create a new crime, the punishment for the crime can't be longer than two years jail time. It cannot be used to increase taxation. That's okay then, isn't it? Well, if people were aware of what was happening, then maybe. The thing is that while in theory Parliament would have to vote on any given order, in practise it would also be possible for orders to come through groups of MPs, specially selected by the minister. Therefore the idea of removing one or more of the restrictions mentioned above could be passed through this select committee as one recommendation in an otherwise bland and boring report, and an order implementing this report could be slipped through quietly one night while few MPs are about. Surely you're assuming the worst? I'm assuming the worst about politicians? Okay, maybe I am. Even so, the idea of simply having to vote on an order reduces government to a "take it or leave it" situation. The Times newspaper says; "Instead of a full day's debate on the principle of the proposal, detailed line-by-line examination in committee, a second chance at specific amendment in the Commons and a final debate and vote, ministers will have to face at most a short debate in a committee and a one-and-a-half hour debate on the floor. Frequently the Government will face less than that. No amendments will be allowed." This bill will also allow ministers to change the very structure of the government - to quote from the Times again, as they put it a lot better than I could manage; "Any body created by statute, including local authorities, the courts and even companies, might find themselves reorganised or even abolished. Since the powers of the House of Lords are defined in Acts of Parliament, even they are subject to the Bill." The only comfort we have is that the ministers have promised it will not be used for anything controversial - just for streamlining existing laws relating to business. So that's all alright then... This article comes from Shmeng http://www.shmeng.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.shmeng.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=806