United Kingdom/Addendum

The Royal Prerogatives

The royal prerogatives operate in three distinct ways, as the sovereign’s constitutional prerogatives, as the legal prerogatives of the Crown, and as the legal prerogatives of the Crown.

The sovereign’s constitutional prerogatives

The personal discretionary powers of the Sovereign include the rights to advise, encourage and warn Ministers in private; to appoint the Prime Minister and other Ministers; and to assent to legislation. The Sovereign may, in a grave constitutional crisis, act without or against ministerial advice. In ordinary circumstances, however the Sovereign, accepts and gives way to Ministerial advice.

The legal prerogatives of the Crown

There is a range of traditional legal prerogatives which can be exercised by the Crown. They include the principle that the Crown can do no wrong, and that the Crown is not bound by statute "unless named". Many of them been amended by parliament and many are obsolete.

The prerogative executive powers

Prerogative powers that are used by Ministers as agents of the Crown include:.

• The making and ratification of treaties (subject to the provisions of Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010[1]);
• The conduct of diplomacy, and the appointment of ambassadors and High Commissioners.
• The declaration of war;
• The use of the armed forces in support of the police;
• The appointment and removal of Ministers by the Prime Minister;
• The granting of peerages, and honours;
• The granting of pardons and the Attorney-General’s power to stop prosecutions.

Those powers may be exercised without the prior assent of Parliament but Ministers may be accountable to parliament for their application

Devolution

Independence for what is now the Republic of Ireland in 1922 provided the major solution the 'Irish Question'. Northern Ireland (and the short-lived Southern Ireland) were the first regions of the UK to have any form of devolved administration. Southern Ireland became a Dominion known as the Irish Free State in 1922 and Northern Ireland's devolved government was suspended in 1972, when its Prime Minister resigned. Competing demands for a united Ireland or continued union with the UK have brought civil strife and political instability most notably since 1969 when then Prime Minister Harold Wilson sent troops to Northern Ireland as peacekeepers, embroiling them in the so-called "Troubles" for the next thirty years. There has been a gradual decrease in violence since the late 1980s, though the situation remains tense, with the hard line parties, such as Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists, now holding the most parliamentary seats (see Demography and politics of Northern Ireland) in the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly. The Assembly had been suspended since October 2002 due to a lack of cross-community support, but was fully restored on 8th May, 2007.

Though 'nationalist' (as opposed to 'unionist') tendencies have shifted over time in Scotland and Wales, with the Scottish National Party founded in 1934 and Plaid Cymru (the Party of Wales) in 1925, a serious political crisis threatening the integrity of the UK as a state has not occurred since the 1970s. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each possess a legislature and government alongside that of the UK. However, this increased autonomy and devolution of executive and legislative powers has not contributed to a reduction in support for independence from the UK.

There is currently little appetite for a devolved English parliament, although senior Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have voiced concerns in regard to the West Lothian Question. Proposals for English regional government have stalled, following a poorly received proposals for devolved government for the North East of England, hitherto considered the region most in favour of the idea. The proposal were rejected by referenda in the regions. England is therefore governed according to the balance of parties across the whole of the UK.

Signs of small-scale resurgence in Celtic, Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Cornish culture, as well as 'regional' politics and development, have contributed to forces pulling against the unity of the state, there is little sign of any imminent 'crisis' (at the last General Election in 2005, both the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru saw their percentage of the overall vote drop, though the SNP gained two more seats and are the largest party in the Scottish Parliament as well as the government there). Nevertheless some in Scotland would like independence although most English do not.