Its one of those parliamentary moments when high theatre, some would call it farce, is on magisterial display in the House of Commons. As with everything these days it's about Brexit and the withholding from Parliament of legal arguments regarding the "back stop arrangement" along the boarder between Ireland and the North of Ireland, which is the only point of contact between the European Union and the United Kingdom. With friction less trade within Europe goods travel over the boarder without hindrance but when we leave, goods will have to be examined to be assessed for the amount of import duty owed.
The controversial "back stop" arrangement allowing Northern Ireland to stay within Europe for a period of time after the rest of the UK had left has, amongst other things allowed the politicians to kick into the long grass a final definitive arrangement which will suit both sides regarding the boarder and it's the complexity of the arrangement, especially the period at which the arrangement will be voided, and has caused much dissatisfaction.
The 'Attorney General' is the person given the job by Government of being its Lawyer and providing it with legal opinion. A statement which was tabled in the House by the Government explaining the next moves of the Government in its negotiation with the EU Commission and it's this statement the House has to vote on agreeing or otherwise on whether the proposal is satisfactory. Part of the deliberation by parliamentarians is to scrutinise the legal arguments but unfortunately the Attorney General has refused to surrender his legal argument and has provided a synopsis of the argument instead. Parliament has stated this evening that this is an abrogation of Parliament and have demanded to see the legal opinion. They have gone so far as to say the AG is in contempt of Parliament.
That's the background but to me, apart from the constitutional implications has been the imperious performance of Geoffrey Cox the Attorney General who proved a tour de force in his performance at the dispatch box with a mixture of legal surety and a barristers hubris.
"If all the world were a stage and all the men and women measly players", Mr Cox would win hands down. At times passionate, at other times bombastic, his was a Churchillian performance and one can see how top flight barristers earn their money. Parliamentarians have flights of fancy as to there own talent when speaking, it's their job after all but Geoffrey Cox was in a class of his own. A deep baritone voice, a range of linguistic skill and a quick agile brain had him fielding off disgruntled MPs for two hours.
I was impressed not so much for his argument, that we are in a negotiating phase and ones legal arguments have to be kept to ones self, set against parliaments argument that it can't vote on a matter that has large elements of ambiguity attached to it.
It was such a relief to hear high quality argument and debate away from the metronome of Mrs May, her statement and rebuttal which makes up so much of what goes on in Parliament these days
No comments:
Post a Comment