‘THE MAKING OF THE
ENGLISH CONSTITUTION’
Almost a hundred years ago an American historian Albert
Beebe White in his text of the above mentioned work emphasized the importance
of the medieval years of our history in providing the firm foundation of the accumulated
Customs and Traditions of our Nation, which eventually led to our
Modern Constitution.
The key to the success of this early growth was the
participation of the majority of the population in some function of local
accountability (local government) which since the Civil War in the 17th
century and the Reform Acts of the 19th century has steadily
declined to the present day when only almost 60%( at times even higher) of
those with a vote do not do so. This makes a mockery of a supposed Democracy, which
is at present being destroyed from within.
The
Government has been considering reducing the voting age to 16. It is not the
number of voters, which are the important criteria today. It is for Politicians
to obtain the respect of the People by protecting the Conventions and Values of
our society. For this present Government to appear to favour the extension of
the Franchise must only mean that it will they hope, bring them many converts
to support their destruction of those Values which stand in the way of our
further involvement in a European Super State.
There
have been many times in our island history when the People have revolted
against the government of the time in order to claim the ‘Rights and Liberties’
of Englishman.
In
the 17th and the 19th century for the right to vote
–which was always considered the ‘ultimate right’. Many of those believers
fought and died in battle in order to acquire this’ right’. Today! What have we
done with this great inheritance? Not much! Many will say, and argue of the
value of this inalienable right in order to be heard in our present age.
What
is evident is the almost total abandonment of the Democratic process in our
country today because of the disingenuousness of many politicians since the
early 50’s. It is not Regions that we require but True Representation of the
feelings of the People at our historic Westminster.
What
is needed is withdrawal from the despotic and corrupt European Union which will
enable us to not only save vast sums of money but also for once, we will be
able to control our own destiny and borders. In the
world at large we can again trade as we have always done throughout our long
history, and also be able objectively and freely, to give our help and support
to those who need it.
* * *
TO RECLAIM THE FREEDOM OF
YOUR COUNTRY SIGN THE PETITION TO
HM QUEEN & PARLIAMENT
-DETAILS ON OUR BULLETIN
BOARD.
* * *
The
following text from ‘The making of the English Constitution’ will show that the
major part of our Constitution was complete by the end of the 15th
century:
INTRODUCTION
English constitutional history is not
national history; it is world history. The justification of its study does not lie in national consciousness or
preference, but in the fact that through England’s governmental story, and
through that alone, can be known the advent into
the world of one great side of man’s attained civilisation- political
democracy.
‘Civilised man has
drawn his religious inspirations from the East, his alphabet from Egypt, his
Algebra from the Moors, his art and literature mainly from Greece, and his laws
from Rome.
BUT HIS POLITICAL ORGANISATION HE
OWES
MOSTLY TO ENGLISH CONCEPTIONS, and constitutional systems all over the
world are studded with words and phrases which can only be explained by
reference to the medieval English parliament.’ - A.F.
Pollard- The Evolution of Parliament,
‘One easily
undervalues the thing that is familiar. The principle of representation, habeas corpus,
trial by jury, the rule of the majority, universal suffrage- such things we know from our youth
up, and in this time, notable but peculiar in its spirit of reckless waste of
the past, they are often thought of as things rather easily disposed with and
replaceable by ready-made substitutes [as are the
actions of Tony today.] Democracy
is based on the idea that government is everybody’s business – the hardest kind
of obligation to enforce. It is amateur
government for the vast majority, and men tire of being amateurs. It can only endure if People have an overwhelming conviction
of its value; and its value can best be weighed and its workings understood by
a study of the long labour and suffering by which it has been wrought…. [These
words were written in 1908 but they are important to us all today the 11th
December, 2003.]
To study the constitutional history
of England means to study the origin and growth of those institutions, which
have to do with government of the English People. It is true that nearly
everything in a People’s life has at least an indirect bearing upon the making
of its government; but in the study of this subject it
is a practical necessity to fix attention especially upon certain phases of the
people’s activity. Probably no two scholars would agree as to just where the
domain of constitutional history ends and that of such subjects as legal or
economic history, political science or sociology, begins. Such agreement is
neither possible nor necessary; there will always be debatable ground. But one
cannot go far upon the wrong road, if he keeps his eye fixed constantly upon
the sole purpose of his study. - An understanding of how the present English
government has come to be what it is [prior to Blairland] and how
in recent centuries it has touched and influenced political thought and growth
throughout the world….
The part played by the People in
English government went back, in some of its phases, Beyond Record; but since
the Conquest the use of the People, especially in local government, had worked
into a settled royal policy. A Share in the government, even at the end of the middle ages, was
not felt to be a privilege except in the case of the few:
the great ministers, possibly some members of Parliament or the local magistrates, and minor officials who
received stipends and in whom government service was a means of livelihood. But
to the great mass it was a burden so long borne as to be commonplace of life,
as much a heavy accompaniment of life as bodily ills and weariness. A share of
government was not a boon, but a duty that someone must do; and it had been the
king’s will that the many should share in it. This long training surely did much to make
our modern democracy possible.
…. The period with which it is concerned is primarily that
of structural growth in the Constitution, also the time when many generations
of Englishmen got their hard discipline in government; but full political self-
consciousness, the questioning of grounds of authority- first in the Church and
then in the State- and the struggle for political liberty belong to the
centuries following.
The final outlawing
of absolute monarchy [We now have an Absolute First Minister today – 11th
December, 2003] In the seventeenth century and the principles of
popular government then set forth were made possible by the structure of The
Medieval Constitution, acted upon by maturing political thought and Democratic
Ideals sprung from the Protestant Revolution and also by the English People’s
long training in Public Duties and Responsibilities.
At the Restoration of Charles the II the first Parliament
was brought together in an irregular manner, the Lords meeting by their own
authority, and the Commons in pursuance of writs issued in the name of the ‘Keepers
of the Liberty of England.’ We respectfully bring this
to the attention of the members of the House of Commons of which I’m sure many
of its members are aware and will ensure that this Declaration from their
Illustrious House will be borne in mind in the future to Defend the Principle stated in this
solemn and historic document.
With
the present dangers to our Constitution and Freedom it is as
well to emphasise that Power must always be a matter of responsibility, whether
it is exercised by an Individual, a Parliament, or a Trade Union. It is a Trust, and the idea
that its possessor is responsible to and for no one but himself is as
pernicious for the voter as for an Absolute Dictator.
Finally we conclude
with the words of a great Statesman of the late 20th century who
gave the correct definition of:
What Liberty of
Englishmen Stood For.
A Leverage For
Liberty
( No 81 –101 Reasons)
Words
of a great Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone, are much to the point:
‘’The finance of any country is ultimately associated with the liberties of the
country. It is a powerful leverage by which English liberty has been gradually
acquired. If the House of Commons by any possibility loses the control of the
grants of public money, depend upon it, your very liberty will be worth very
little in comparison. That powerful leverage has been what is commonly known as
the power of the purse – the control of the House of Commons over public expenditure’’ (1891)
To
rid yourselves of a Dictator sign the Petition to HM the Queen and Parliament