Memorandum by Anthony Tuffin
1. The power of modern Prime Ministers to
use the royal prerogative to make war is paradoxically less democratic
than when the Sovereign exercised the power personally.
2. This is because the Sovereign's power
to make war was balanced by Parliament's power to levy or withhold
taxes but, now, the Prime Minister not only exercises the royal
prerogative but also in effect controls the House of Commons which
has the power to levy or withhold taxes.
3. Nevertheless, I do not advocate returning
the royal prerogative to the sovereign.
4. The most obvious solution would be to
transfer war-making powers to the Commons, which is the body that
is supposed to represent the electorate.
5. However, as mentioned in paragraph 2
above, the Prime Minister in effect controls the Commons so that
alone would not be enough. At the same time, the Commons should
be made more independent of the Government generally and of the
Prime Minister in particular. For example:
5.1. The Prime Minister's powers of patronage
would be reduced if there was a wholly elected House of Lords
or there was a change to a unicameral system (with appropriate
safeguards to prevent dictatorship by the Commons).
5.2. The powers of the Government and the
Opposition leadership would be restricted if MPs could freely
elect members of their committees and the committees could freely
elect their own chairpersons.
5.3. The powers of MPs and their electors
would be increased and the powers of the Government and the Opposition
leadership would be reduced if MPs were elected by Single Transferable
Vote because they would then be more accountable to their electors
than to their party machines.
11 October 2005
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