Prof. Andrew Blick, Professor of Politics and Contemporary History, Kings College London was the guest speaker at the April dinner of the Eastbourne European Movement. He spoke in a relaxed, engaging but serious manner and his points were well illustrated with historical examples.
In his talk about the prospects for the UK constitution, Prof. Blick remarked that he had last visited Eastbourne in 2020; since then there had been a pandemic, a war and government scandals and things could still get worse.
Prof. Blick observed that the UK’s current political system was a representative democracy in which the electorate selected their representatives in the national legislature, i.e. the House of Commons. Referenda are in fact a challenge to representative democracy because the precedence of the result of any referendum relative to decisions of Parliament is not clearly defined.
In the case of the 2016 EU membership referendum, the consequence of voting for the UK to leave the EU was defined mainly in terms of a slogan and a bus with a number painted on its side. Brexit was not defined overall, either in terms of scope or duration. In the absence of consensus about its meaning, Brexit therefore meant what anyone wanted it to mean. As its meaning continues to be debated, it therefore remains a live issue. Events since 2016 have confirmed this conclusion, for example: the expulsion from the Conservative party of MPs preferring a softer form of Brexit; and the resignation of David Frost from the government: his definition of Brexit seems to be a one of gross deregulation not accepted by other members of the government.
Prof. Blick considered that democracy around the world was under threat. He noted that in many countries the hard right was eroding democracy by attacking the judiciary, suppressing the media and flouting the rule of law. The current UK government had used the mandate from the Brexit referendum to justify such attacks in Britain. The unlawful attempts to implement Brexit without Parliamentary approval and to prorogue Parliament were examples of the current Prime Minister seeking to over-ride the courts when they interpret the law in ways disagreeable to him. Having been fined for violating Lockdown rules, i.e. breaking the law, he is required to resign under the Ministerial Code but was currently refusing to do so. Prof. Blick noted that there were historical precedents for dismissing Prime Ministers during war-time in situations graver than the current international crisis, e.g. Lord Aberdeen (1855), Asquith (1916), Chamberlain (1940) and Churchill (1945).
Asked if he saw a good news story on democracy currently, he suggested that the House of Lords and the Civil Service were institutions defending democracy, but that they were under attack by the current government.
The next European Movement Eastbourne dinner is on 11 May 2022 when the speaker will be Catherine Bearder, former MEP for more than 10 years. If you would like to know more about the European Movement in Eastbourne or attend one of its dinners, please call Paula Welch on 07510 851722.
