Brexit and the Monarchy
The Conservative Party hustings that are taking place to identify a new leader for the Conservative Party and a new Prime Minister for UK have led to renewed controversy around the question of a possible "no-deal" Brexit and what Parliament can do either to block it or to facilitate it over the head of Government.
Some commentators have likened the current situation to the position of the English Long Parliament, which remained technically in place from 1640 to 1660 because it could not be technically dissolved throughout the period of the English Civil War or before or afterwards because of the political paralysis of parliamentary democracy and the absence of a constitutional monarch able to break the deadlock.
In Queen Elizabeth II, we have a much admired constitutional monarch who has acted fastidiously throughout her reign in observing the principle of political neutrality which is the necessary hallmark of a constitutional monarch.
Increasingly, however, the Crown is coming under some pressure to act to break the impasse between the political parties over the "no deal" Brexit issue. It has been reported, for instance, that at least one of the pro-Brexit candidates for Conservative Party leader and PM has suggested that the Crown acts under its royal prerogative to prorogue Parliament and not convene a new Parliament until the current "exit date" ( 11pm UK time on 31st October 2019) has passed - with the inevitable result that the UK would have exited from the EU by default.
There has also been speculation about the Crown's role, were the UK Parliament to be dissolved as result of a Parliamentary "no confidence" vote in the UK Government under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 and how quickly the Crown would then act to proclaim the summoning of a new Parliament following the Parliamentary election that would follow such dissolution of the UK Parliament.
Constitutional historians have referred to the role of Queen Anne, the last of the Stuart monarchs, who in 1708 withheld assent from a Parliamentary bill to revive the Scottish militias because of a perceived impending external to the UK from France.
Whilst most politicians continue to stress the great importance of preserving the political neutrality of the Crown, there is a growing risk that continued political deadlock over "Brexit" will result in an intervention by the Crown being made to break the deadlock.
Perhaps the possibility of such an intervention will focus the mind of parliamentarians on managing their procedures so as to avoid such an eventuality .
