When referendums are essential
The people are sovereign. UK democracy has evolved to embrace this basic precept, with a long gestation through Magna Carta, the 1660 settlement, the Glorious Revolution and universal suffrage legislation. Through direct political action of motivated groups, civil war, and Parliamentary led reform we arrived in the last century as a sovereign nation with ultimate power in the hands of the people. Government proceeds and is only possible with the consent of most of the people to how we are governed. Government needs the obedience of most people to the rule of law as laid down in Acts of Parliament and by our independent judges. Governments can undermine the law by wrongful deeds and by enacting widely unpopular laws. It is important governments can be removed peacefully.
In recent centuries the people have delegated their sovereign governing powers to Parliaments. Each Parliament is time limited, and its members know that if their laws and taxes displease enough people they will be swept from office at the next election. An incoming government will have a mandate to change any law and tax it has inherited that displeases.
Although there is no binding Act of Parliament to say so, most of us think that if Parliament wants to give away its powers to govern and to manage parts of the government to a superior power for a period longer than a UK Parliament, there should be a referendum. The people give power to Parliament for a limited time in the expectation that the power will be well used. Giving power away for long periods particularly to foreign jurisdictions with no ability to ensure good use ruptures the constitutional settlement.
Most of us think it was therefore right to offer the public a vote on the original entry into the European Community, which should have been called before entry. All agree it was crucial to have a popular vote to decide to leave. The principle of regular government accountability through elections was damaged by membership of the EU. The European Parliament could not be changed by the UK alone and did not offer much control of the Commission executive. The UK’s wishes were often ignored, negotiated away or voted down in a qualified majority vote in a meeting of EU Ministers without press and public present.
Some pro EU influencers sought to impose and enforce superior law and superior tax raising powers by getting more determined in Brussels and made legal through our adherence to an international Treaty. We the people could no longer remove laws and taxes we did not like by removing those from office who imposed them. The UK people as a result voted in a referendum to come out of this binding arrangement. They had previously voted retrospectively to stay in when they were told it was just a common market. It turned out to be much more.
We should embed the constitutional doctrine that any government wish to join or leave an international body that takes sovereign powers away from us must require a referendum. This need not apply to other international bodies which have no ability to override our Parliament. NATO for example is a close and important defence alliance, but it does not have any legal power to make us fight a war or use our forces in a particular way. It is a coalition of the willing deciding things by negotiation and agreement between sovereign countries. Our membership of the UN includes the all important right to veto any Security Council resolution that is against the UK interest.
We should also require a referendum to change the voting system and powers of Parliament. The Coalition government at the request of the Lib Dems put their chosen system of alternative voting to a referendum. There was 68% support for keeping the present single member constituencies with the winner of an election being the person with the most votes. It would clearly take another referendum to seek to change the system again.
There can be other times when it might help to ask people directly for their views instead of government weighing opinion alongside other considerations when making a decision. Our powerful Parliament can and does the ability to hold referendums on other topics, with voting systems of its choosing and in places where it sees fit. Use has been made of this to settle the future of some grammar schools and to see if people want elected Mayors and new systems of local government. That power does and will continue to reside with Parliament. It is good practice to allow local referendums on the powers and geographies of Councils where a government seeks change.
The UK is a Parliamentary democracy. We should be proud of our traditions. We should recognise the importance of the struggles of some of our ancestors to limit the powers of the Crown, to resist authoritarian government, to give everyone the right to a voice and vote, and to ensure a fair and enforceable rule of law.
Referendums are only essential where a government wishes to make changes in the way we chose our Parliaments and in the powers the Parliament holds on our behalf. The essential ones need to be embedded in our constitutional settlement as they have emerged from the trials and errors of EU membership in recent decades. Other referendums may be desirable and can be helpful to Parliament when splits in the country are recreated as uncertainty in the Commons. They are a good idea when Parliament wishes to make big adjustments to the shape and powers of Councils.
October 7, 2026
Come on, it’s “referenda”
The “re-join” side would win if a referendum on the UK’s relationship with the European Union were held today, based on consistent polling data. Recent surveys show that a clear majority of decided voters favour returning to the EU, driven by the widespread public perception that Brexit has done more harm than good.
However, the most popular overall option among the public remains a closer economic relationship with the EU (such as joining the single market or customs union) without fully re-joining the bloc
The recent “What UK Thinks” (Poll of Polls) had re-join on 59% with the stay-out faction on 41%
Reply And polls which ask about joining terms likely to be on offer show big majorities against
October 7, 2026
Both referendums and referenda are accepted as plurals of referendum, but referendums is the standard and most widely accepted form in modern English. We are not speaking Latin. we usually say Paris not Paree and Spain not Espain do we not?
With modern IT we could have far more referendum and we should. The people should not have to steer the country via often dishonest politicians who so rarely do as asked by the voters having their own and party interests and perhaps vested interest and consultancy fees witness tax levels, immigration levels, energy prices, red tape levels, the EU botched Brexit, the damaging counterproductive wars. THE ONLY real and true democracy is direct democracy.
October 7, 2026
Simon Heffer today in the Telegraph.
I begged my friend Jeffrey Archer to plead guilty – he never listened
No matter what I said, the writer and lovable rogue insisted he’d done nothing wrong. It would prove his worst gamble.
At least he died at a good age and with all his mental faculties intact to the end. I hope I will die that way too – so many nowadays alas do not.
I have not read any of his books – perhaps I should try one? Then again perhaps not.
October 7, 2026
@LL. Well said. Representative democracy has run out of steam. The people involved no longer have sufficient sense of duty to their electorate to act as their representatives. They govern on behalf of themselves and other interests.
October 7, 2026
SG. If you join the Single market and Customs Union you are full members in name only.
The economies of France and Germany are going down the toilet and with the prospect of right wing governments the future of the EU is in doubt.
Only poor countries are clamouring to join as they want handouts.
Why anyone would want to be part of this Marxist Union I will never understand.
October 7, 2026
Why would anyone want to play golf – hitting a small ball around in a big field? In the case of the EU you understand the concept of sharing or you don’t – simple as that.
murphy Dublin
October 7, 2026
If something as large as France and Germany are going down the toilet, someone should phone the Coastguard to warn what is on its way.
October 7, 2026
It’s all academic what the polls say about the UK joining the EU again. The UK can’t comply with the Maastricht Treaty on its debt levels.
October 7, 2026
SG – you need to get out of your bubble and look at the reality of rejoining the EU. People were not given Brixit. We got a half-in, half-out, fudged deal. When people are told the facts about rejoining, no one with an ounce of common sense would choose it. Why do you think Iceland just voted against it?
October 7, 2026
JR says “polls which ask about joining terms likely to be on offer show big majorities against”. Just as polls in 2016 which asked about leaving on terms likely to be on offer showed big majorities against. The rejoin referendum will be rejoin or stay out. The terms will not be specified, that will come later, and no referendum on the terms. Exactly as in 2016
Reply. Not so. Any future referendum will be about actual membership and its terms
October 8, 2026
So why were the terms on which we would leave not on the ballot in 2016?
Reply They were endlessly and rightly discussed in the campaign with Remain for example lying about how we would not roll over any of the EU trade deals!
October 7, 2026
Good proposal from Badenoch to raise inheritance tax threshold to £1million. Its not a lot these days but it has been a stealth tax for far too long.#
Farage is a great talker and made the point that Reform will look after people who have worked and paid into the system.
So far no sign of any rapprochement between Tories and Reform though.
Burnham probably hopes electoral reform promise might win over liberal democrats if needed after the next election.
However, there is talk that Sir Ed Dopey will not be leader much longer. Burnham himself seems to have generated some opposition within his own party.
So far it is a standoff between protesters and government over illegal migration. Caling them names and jailing the ringleaders seems to be working. I am sure Tommy Robinsons group and that of ‘Tommo’ will have been infiltrated as the most likely source of further conflict.
October 7, 2026
I read ‘Badenoch says Tories would scrap inheritance tax on family homes’.
A serious vote winner.
Of course promises and actual deeds have proven to be a million miles away when stated by political figures.
Where does she stand on halting ALL immigration for at least 2 years, and expelling more than 50% of those arriving over the last 2 years?
Now, THAT would get her elected.
October 7, 2026
In 2025, renewables generated a record 52.5% of the UK’s total electricity (152.5 TWh)
In Q2 2026, driven by high seasonal winds, the renewable share reached a new historic quarterly record of 55.8% of generation (38.3 TWh)
For the full year of 2025, solar power generated 20 TWh
During the sunnier Q2 of 2026, solar generation matched its all-time quarterly record of 8.4 TWh, which constituted a 12.3% share of total generation for that specific three-month period
According to the government’s energy balance data, the growth of the UK’s renewable fleet directly alters import dependency and gas demand. In 2025, the displacement of fossil fuels by renewables meant that only 46% of the primary energy used to generate electricity had to be imported (down from 67% in 2013)
The 152.5 TWh generated by renewables in 2025 directly avoided the combustion of billions of cubic metres of “natural” gas. In terms of immediate offsets, recently approved clean energy projects are verified to displace the equivalent of importing 78 tankers of extremely expensive liquefied “natural” gas (LNG) annually.
Reply The problem is more renewables drove up the price of electricity to new highs.We have to pay twice , once for the renewable and once for gas stand by for when renewables shut down .
October 7, 2026
Yesterday at 5pm, wind was generating 4.5% solar 1.9%. Gas and nuclear 64% and we were Importing 9.5%. Of our electricity. Just wait till winter comes when power is really wanted.
October 7, 2026
Plus a little (quite absurdly) from imported and dried wood (young coal) at Drax I assume. While idiotically pretending that chopping down forests, drying them and importing them on diesel ships is green and renewable energy!
October 7, 2026
Renewable electricity production was driven by mandate not by choice.
Repealing the climate change act which constrains Parliament’s powers would be a good subject for a referendum
October 7, 2026
All issue would be a good issue for referendums with modern IT we could have them every week or so on multiple topics.. Border controls, immigration levels and quality criteria, tax levels, overseas aid, defence, reversing the botched and absurdly unfair to the English devolution settlements…, cheap reliable energy, making work pay…
October 7, 2026
‘Renewable electricity production was driven by mandate not by choice’
– That argument doesn’t wash. London’s sewers were built by (government) mandate not by (consumer) choice! But the sewers clearly benefitted everyone!
Government has to plan ahead in many complicated ways.
The anti-net-Zeroers are completely right how if we over-focus on Green, it could wreck our economy.
But there are also some strong arguments for not completely relying on Fossil Fuels. 1. We don’t want to be at the mercy of corrupt, foreign regimes for our fuel. 2. Many people in our urban areas don’t want loud, noisy, fossil-fuel cars pumping smoke and toxic fumes into their streets as they walk or cycle by or sleep in their beds with the window open at night in the summer! Same for noisy planes flying over. So fossil fuels becoming uber uncool with the younger and middle-aged generations.
So it should be a NUANCED debate! Not black and white. Although I still think we need to spend about 90% of our resources and time focuses on fossil fuels. For now. Slowly winding down our dependance on. But not in a way that disrupts our economy.
Nuanced – not black and white. And nuanced is the philosophy of the best creative, practical entrepreneurs. Black and white is the philosophy of ideologues ..
October 7, 2026
Apologies, I don’t mean to be over forthright in my views. But I think that if we’re 100% pro fossil fuels as opposed to more nuanced 90%, then the Tories will lose the argument on this in the General Election. Or lose out, a lot, rather.
October 7, 2026
SK – reflect on this: We are warned to stockpile food, made me in the form of tinned vegetables meats et cetera because of the likelihood of power cuts this winter. The supply network, without huge increase in subsidies and cost – including paying suppliers to not produce energy because of the network inability to cope with the huge variations in supply when the wind doesn’t blow, or blows too fast, or the sun doesn’t shine which of course is often the case in winter in the UK.
October 7, 2026
There was a mass power outage across London and parts of the South of England yesterday. This is just the start. Expect many more as we get into Winter. With the combination of mass immigration and net-zero, we are fast becoming a third-world country. If you don’t have reliable energy, no one will invest in the UK.
We are governed by fools.
October 7, 2026
Well it would have helped a lot if past governments had invested in nuclear energy (like France) and in gas storage (like Germany).
France and Germany have the exact same challenges regarding greenies and mass immigration but there are things they have done different and better and that we can still learn from!
October 7, 2026
Correct
October 7, 2026
Often the sun does not shine much in winter indeed – and it never shines at night and winter nights are rather long. Unless you count the tiny moon reflections I suppose! Typically you might get 1/4 of the output in winter that you get in summer and winter is of course when you need electricity most for lighting and heating.
October 7, 2026
France on the other hand generates 70% of its electricity using nuclear power. If the UK had nuclear power to the same extent intermittent renewables would be redundant.
October 7, 2026
SG :
Lord John is correct. The low capacity factors (35% wind, 10% solar) makes renewables expensive through the need to overbuild and together with the added expense from grid expansion and stability measures to cope with their chaotic intermittency means that the higher the proportion of wind and solar on the grid the higher the price of our electricity. These costs are doubled again if reliable electricity is wanted as then backup gas generation is required which will again be very expensive because it is run infrequently and chaotically intermittently. This is all in addition to relying upon a single country, China, a state described by our security services as “hostile” for all our electricity infrastructure and devices and who use coal power, slave labour and ignore the environmental consequences of mining and toxic manufacturing tailing lakes. In the case of wind turbines the inner core of the blades uses balsa wood illegally logged in the Amazon and even the concrete bases are imported from China.
These two web pages show how renewables are more expensive than gas generation:
https://www.cfd-hub.com/
https://www.lowcarboncontracts.uk/resources/scheme-dashboards/cfd-historical-data-dmore prvelantashboard/
Finally, apart from the fact that the CO2 emissions saved are absolutely minuscule (only 3% of all CO2 emissions are anthropogenic), CO2 does not control the planet’s temperature. Water vapour which is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2 absorbing over a far wider IR spectrum and is 10 to 100 times more prevalent in the atmosphere than CO2, does all the warming necessary to make our planet hospitable for life. The Left’s CO2 climate crisis hoax would not exist if its “solution”, Net Zero, was not sabotaging our energy and thus destroying our industry, economy and national security. We desperately need a referendum on Net Zero.
October 7, 2026
Sorry, the correct link to the Low Carbon Contracts Company historical data web page is:
https://www.lowcarboncontracts.uk/resources/scheme-dashboards/cfd-historical-data-dashboard/
Only for 3 quarterly periods in 2021/22 when Russia invaded Ukraine have renewables been cheaper than gas.
October 7, 2026
Indeed and the UK CO2 is less than 1% of that 3% plus even a doubling of CO2 levels from current levels will make little difference just as another coat of paint make little difference!
October 7, 2026
Well said and appreciated,. It needs repeating often as some thinking the are the absolute ‘rule/authority’ get ahead of themselves. The fight always should be to strengthen democracy.
There is never any case to hand over any control from the people therfore Parliament to any other body. These things have a habit of being distorted, used by ‘actors ‘ for nefarious purposes. We have so-called treaties when there’s a supranational need, these are for mutual benefit all the time it suits both parties( they are not and never been International Law as some pretend)
The UK’s impediment is it’s Parliament, you could even suggest it has gone rogue. It’s inventing new powers new versions of democracy on the ‘hoof’. It seeks to pervert the very meaning power and democracy. The last thing the UK Parliament will do is seek validation for the direction it is taking. Here I would have to point to the USA, the last country practicing democracy, every two years some validation is sort for the direction of the administration. The UK kicks it into the long grass with its possible 5 year terms, and maximum mainly irreversible damage having been perpetrated.
Parliament should always be open to challenge, in fact it should welcome it. There is
gerrymandering, the manipulation of the authority given to Parliament at every level. Whether it’s to distort the voting system, give powers to those that are not answerable to the electorate, not seeking validation, having electoral candidates that are not selected by the electorate they wish to represent.
Keeping ‘us’ safe includes keeping a democracy safe.
October 7, 2026
Agree wholeheartedly, we need to fight for democracy, fight for fully elected mayors, fight for no boundary change, fight for fully elected second chamber, fight for the inclusion of 2 lines on every ballot paper (1) none of the above, and (2) disband/remove this position ….and fight for referendum
October 8, 2026
@glen cullen – you are promoting common sense and democracy, something that would be like asking 650 MPs to vote for Christmas, they find it easier to fight you that the purpose of a Democratic Parliament
October 7, 2026
Other problems are “renewables” take loads of fossil fuels to build, install, back up, maintain, later replace and to connect the collectors plus the grid and grid stability issues as well as pushing up the costs of electricity and thus damaging the economy hugely. Furthermore electricity is only about 20% of total energy use so renewable provide about 10% of energy less all the fossil fuel used to produce the collectors, grid, back up… so perhaps 6% and this is probable generous.
So 6% so called “renewables” and circa 94% still fossil fuels.
October 7, 2026
If I read you right, you seem to be suggesting that except in narrow circumstances, referendums should only be in the gift of parliament because if dissatisfied, voters can elect a different parliament.
That’s not enough! The establishment creates political Parties which regularly “promise” to do things when in power, then ignore the promises once in office. With 5 years between parliaments this is intolerable. Our FPTP electoral sytem compounds the problem by allowing Parties with minority popular support to have massive majorities in parliament.
Power to call referendums needs to be in the hands of the people. Look at the Swiss system, which works well.
There, even their basic, “mandatory referendum” is far more extensive than your suggestion. It’s not just for ceding sovereignty to supranational entities, but also for all constitutional amendments, accession to organizations of collective security, and certain emergency legislation lasting more than one year.
Beyond those basic safeguards for the people, they have their citizen-triggered referendums. This is where the people can control a parliament that ignores its electoral promises, or the overwhelming wishes of the people. Simplifying it, there are 2 kinds of referendum: the “popular initiative” (to demand new laws: requires 1.8% of the electorate to trigger it) and the *optional” (to challenge a law, 0.9%). There are various safeguards – eg. The popular initiative must have a majority of voters AND Cantons, to pass (cities/populous regions can’t bludgeon the countryside).
It works pretty well for the Swiss. We should have something like it. Our current system of parliamentary supremacy is leading to a nasty authoritarianism, as people revolt peaceably – or increasingly with varying degrees of violence – but either way the establishment reacts to protect its powers and privileges by reducing civil liberties ever more and punishing dissenters. Referendums would break this downward spiral.
October 7, 2026
The system is like trying to steer a ship with a wobbly rubber drive shaft between the steering wheel and the rudder, a bent helmsman, bent crew who can manipulate it at will and the public only allowed to instruct the helmsman on the direction to steer every few years – which he usually ignores anyway.
Such is the wonderful UK “democracy”.
October 7, 2026
you forgot to mention the luxury passengers who can be whisked away by helicopter anytime they want to leave it. Such is our democracy.
October 7, 2026
Wanderer:
Agreed.
October 7, 2026
Good morning.
As we have seen time and time again, unless referendums are written into the legal constitution of a nation (eg Switzerland) they are worthless unless all parties are ready to accept the result.
Whilst I believe in referenda I do not believe in the UK political system and those who manage it on our behalf. That is why I believe change will only come when we have political parties and politicians who truly wish to represent the will of the people. And this will never happen as all politicians and Civil Serpents swear loyalty to the Crown and not the people.
October 7, 2026
An inherent problem with democracy and referendums is that you are largely voting as to how your taxes are spent – but as so many people pay no net tax. About 50% + in the UK.
So some questions to these voters might be seen as – would you like to receive even more of other people’s money and not have to bother work much?
October 7, 2026
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has proposed a £10 billion Britannia Shield air defense system to protect the UK from missile and drone threats.
This statement alone shows she is not a remotely competent engineer and nor clearly are her advisors. £1bn PA with go no where to this end. In her right way she alas still clearly implies that she thinks deducting lowering CO2 will make a better environment for our children – wrong again Kemi the reverse is true it will make them poorer and less able to adapt.
She say:- ‘Net Zero by 2050 is impossible. I don’t say that with
pleasure – I want a better environment for my children
too. But after twenty years of politics substituting
slogans for delivery plans, Britain’s energy system
needs the truth before it needs another target.
NO ONLY impossible but an undesirable aim for any date Kemi. Cheap reliable energy that is used wisely is the way to a better environment for our children Kemi!
October 7, 2026
At least it’s a new promise. What I have been hearing from the conference is the Tories making the same promises they made and broke during their time in power. Reducing taxes, a bonfire of red tape, reduction of immigration. All they do is remind people of their failure during their time in office and how unfit they are for government. Hardly a recipe to regain power.
October 7, 2026
Indeed. And of the Osborne £1m IHT promise that he ratted on about 18 years back it is still £325k.
Reply Pledge was for a couple, which he got to with family home allowance on top of 325 x 2
October 7, 2026
reply to reply….that applies to death of first not the estate of the second.
And you know what happens to Gifting, don’t you!
October 7, 2026
A caller to LBC radio after hearing Kemi Badenoch fail to describe how Britannia Shield would work, described it as BS. Abbreviations do save time, but he was making a critical point.
However ‘Britannia Shield’ is a strange description. What about NORTHERN IRELAND? Are those members of the UK excluded?
Further, if the term applied only to England, England Shield would seem odd. It might work as an imperative with a comma and exclamation mark: England, Shield!
Opinions vary, but if the Shield is intended to describe itself as British, British Shield would seem more appropriate. Britannic Shield would be the normal adjective.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what the precise title is. What does matter is that the leader understands how it works, and most of all that it does work!
October 7, 2026
Quite, LL. And if you look at Israel’s “iron dome” you can see that even without hypersonic missiles being fired at it, it does not work sufficiently well to protect those living underneath it. On a lesser scale, many of the US bases had significant anti-missile defences, but they have been destroyed and abandonded.
Money spent on such a project in the UK would obviously cost far more than it would elsewhere in the world (“UK Iron Dome: the HS2 of the air!”) and be just as ineffective, if not more. Finally, as many countries are learning, war technology is changing fast and it is much easier to develop new means to attack a target than future-proof means to defend it.
October 7, 2026
They’ll buy the ‘iron dome’ from china
October 7, 2026
‘Bull’ in a China shop?
October 7, 2026
Once again the fossil fuel lobby is trotting out that old winter chestnut “blackouts” They do this every autumn as the darker nights draw in, but they never happen. Expect the latest shadow Conservative energy minister to pronounce on it at Conference today
The UK has ample CCGT back-up supplies of electricity, a massive pipeline importing “natural” gas from Norway, 5 LNG terminals importing gas from America and truly huge amounts of windfarm juice being produced, over 55% of electricity demand. Plus our own N Sea gas, though there is less of it these days
Last winter the wind failed to blow for a total of 5 days. The lights stayed on. Do not believe the latest “project fear” propaganda being rolled out by the Big Oil funded right wing think tanks. It’s designed to frighten gullible folk.
The latest OFGEN energy price cap has risen this week by about 14%. Because of the unbelievable price gouging by Big Oil and Gas due to Trump’s failed war on the Ayatollahs. Oh, sorry I’ve got that wrong. Trump has said 17 times in the past week (Source; WSJ) that it’s Zelenskyy’s fault because he wont stop bombing Russian diesel refineries. And if its not Zelenskyy, it must be Sleepy Joe Biden’s fault.
October 7, 2026
Blackouts have been avoided by NESO importing very large amounts of electricity at very high prices. When the EU have severe electricity supply problems there will come a time when there will be no “juice” available to import at any price. Here are the official government statistics for electricity imported and exported from 2023 to 2025 inclusive:
YEAR IMPORT VALUE £M EXPORT VALUE £M
2023 3,550 1,165
2024 3,085 595
2025 3,135 720
October 7, 2026
“Government proceeds and is only possible with the consent of most of the people to how we are governed.”
Not when we live in a dictatorship which applies two-tier justice, white discrimination, goes against the largest referendum vote in the history of this country, and taxes us at the highest level to give our money away to terrorist supporting regimes.
Is it any wonder the British people are apathetic about voting? Whoever we elect rips up their manifesto and does whatever the hell they like.
When we try to resist an authoritarian government, we lose our livelihoods and, in some cases, our freedom.
October 7, 2026
@Christine. Very true. We’re like turkeys being asked to vote for Christmas, year after year.
October 7, 2026
Many would agree to another EU in/out Referendum being held on 12 July 2057. We were previously stuck into the EU for over 41 years 18 days, so keeping the dates equally spaced would be ideal for balance.
Those eligible to vote should be born in the UK having at least one UK-born parent too. Heritage is important as ‘place of birth’ is often regarded as a person’s nationality, even if their pregnant mother from another continent happened to give birth on a passing two-day visit to the UK and never returned.
By similar means, if a hen laid an egg in a stable which hatched into a chick there, would the hatchling become a horse?
October 7, 2026
That’s all very well in theory, but just as labour are doing now, rogue parliaments can inflict severe damage while that regime holds power.
In recent years we’ve seen parliament act with childish glee by making a mockery of democracy and not only not doing their job but at times sabotaging the wishes of the public and stopping normal processes.
Blair removed counter checks that would have made parliament behave, but we need the Monarch involved to quell the worst extravagancies. He should be given powers to make MPs act like the professionals they should be.
The King should also be able to stop a government that is bringing in legislation against the wishes of the people that was not in any manifesto. Finally he should be able to abrogate a parliament when it becomes oppressive or rogue.
October 7, 2026
@Bryan Harris. I wish there were a principled, independent, benign power to which we could give some powers (but not absolute – the people have to retain the ultimate say). The trouble is, no such person exists. Personally, I wouldn’t trust the current king to act in the interests of the people, and even if you disagree on that point you will acknowledge that our history is littered with monarchs whose conduct was far from irreproachable. We are in a bind. I think referendums would help and should be powerfully instituted, not introduced in the manner in which we were served our “Brexit” (BRINO).
October 7, 2026
I should add something not generally known, that the King has more power over the Canadian and Australian parliaments than he does over the UK one, which is odd.
He ‘rules’ them via the local privy council, is legally able to force a recall of these parliaments, and force resignations.
First off we need to get the Monarchy up to scratch and remove the woke element then we can get the Monarch to start doing a proper job of protecting the people of the UK from the excesses of a parliament that still fails to recognize who they work for.
October 7, 2026
No person with a brain would even contemplate rejoining the EU. No person with a brain would build two systems to generate electricity when only one is needed. No person with a brain would allow unlimited immigration, both
legal and illegal, without realising the consequences. Yet we have a parliament stuffed with MPs who are happy to do all three. Referendums are fine on important matters, provided all sides respect the result. But what we need, desperately, is a recall system for MPs, so they cannot ignore voters for five years, or say at a by-election that rejoining the EU is not an immediate priority, then change their minds and say it is when elected!
Conclusion: our MPs are not very bright!
October 7, 2026
I heard Kemi’s keynote speech, sadly for hardworking Conservative party members, I don’t think it is a winning speech.
Falls far short of what is needed.
Shame really as the country badly needs far better.
October 7, 2026
418 illegals on 4th October
609 illegals on 5th October
338 illegals on 6th October yesterday
October 7, 2026
GC: Appalling numbers. 01 Oct to 06 Oct inclusive / last 6 days total: 1620 arrivals in 21 boats. How many hotel rooms is that – 800 maybe ?
Noted Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary has stated, in government he would immediately close Labour’s recently announced proposed Safe & Legal Routes all the while “illegal migration is rife”
October 7, 2026
The boats carrying these illegal immigrants are escorted to the mid point of the Channel by French naval vessels. We should just inform the French that the RNLI and Border “Force” are not coming out to “save” them as they are clearly in no danger having been escorted all the way from the French beaches. If the French complain we should just say “You’re not going to abandon them in mid Channel are you? So You’ll have to escort them back because we’re not coming out to collect them.” And even if they do manage to land on our beaches we should put them up in tents in a secure compound and not allowed to roam our streets.
October 7, 2026
The world is heading into a period of enormous change driven by emerging technologies. In my view, UK Governments and the Civil Service have very limited experience as to how to help the economy adapt to these changes – the relevant experience lies within the private sector. I therefore advocate direct democracy (with greater use of referendums) as a way of enabling both better decisions to be made and also decisions which reflect the wishes of the electorate.