Constitutional Maneuvers in Britain
GELB, NORMAN
Amid Tensions Over Iraq Constitutional Maneuvers in Britain By Norman Gelb London The blueprint of a new system of government for European Union (EU) members might be expected...
...The legal authority of aides to a prime minister—a matter relevant in the clash between Campbell and the BBC—has also come into question...
...Those people helped him revive a feeble Labor Party that couldn't defeat the Conservatives at the polls throughout the 1980s and early '90s...
...Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller has said his country is "very sensitive" to matters of "sovereignty and identity" and is not enthusiastic about a dominant central government for a united Europe...
...In Italy the people are focused on the antics and legal problems of billionaire Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi...
...How will a common European defense policy take hold in the face of such discord...
...They both entered Parliament in 1983 and were soon marked as contenders for the party leadership...
...But rumblings on the Left signal danger for the Labor Party as much as for Blair...
...So does the stipulation that EU governing bodies will act only when the member nations cannot achieve an agreed upon objective themselves...
...The question is not an insignificant one here...
...Germany, until recently Europe's supremely confident powerhouse, is similarly busy trying to shore up its plunging economy...
...Wilson, says, "He has been so lucky for so long that we rejoice at anything that would remove that monkey grin from his face...
...Recently, however, Parliament's decisions, as represented by the rulings of government ministers—notably on crime prevention measures—have faced challenges from senior judges...
...The occasion was marked by a performance of the EU's multinational anthem, Beethoven's Ode to Joy, at its Brussels headquarters...
...After much tugging and pulling, the source was said to be weapons scientist Dr...
...A famously dour Scotsman, Brown seems to be smiling more than usual, despite the barrage of criticism endured by his old friend and boss...
...Blair's vibrant Center-Left "New Labor" went on to win landslide victories in the last two general elections...
...Kelly's suicide a few days later is now subject to an official investigation, and the BBC has cited him as its source...
...He was defusing the claims of Right-wing British tabloids, whose shrill headlines have warned against a European "superstate" that could wipe out Britain's distinctive identity...
...it even has the power to pass retroactive laws, although it never does...
...Indeed, more attention has been devoted to constitutional changes Blair has announced for Britain itself...
...In the House of Lords members are of course appointed rather than elected, a state of affairs that some consider an outrage in this democratic age...
...This resurgence is being led by newly elected, tough-talking, hard-Left union leaders...
...But Alojz Peterle, a member of Slovenia's Parliament, has called June 20, when agreement on the draft was announced, "one of the brightest days Europe has seen...
...There has been a lord chancellor for more than a thousand years, three times as long as there has been a prime minister...
...But yesterday's allies have too often become today's tormentors...
...Legend—which neither of them will confirm—holds that when Smith died the two made a deal over dinner at the fashionable Granita Restaurant in London's Islington district...
...They are threatening a wave of strikes and have warned that they will seek to replace Blairites in the House of Commons with candidates of their own...
...Sir Michael Butler, Britain's former ambassador to the EU, says the constitution as drafted will cause endless wrangling and heighten the organization's unpopularity here...
...These days they tend to be more tolerant of U.S...
...He would then become prime minister, aposition assumed by the head of the dominant political formation in the House of Commons...
...What may be perplexing to a foreigner is the setting up of a Department for Constitutional Affairs, since everyone knows the British have never had a written constitution...
...After all, the nations involved may be submitting themselves to EU majority decisions on economic policies, foreign relations and even systems of justice that some find intolerable...
...establishing a Supreme Court for the first time in British history...
...Arguments over who possesses constitutional authority in such matters, the judiciary or Home Secretary David Blunkett, still have not been settled...
...How will a pan-European force undertake a joint military operation that, say, Spain or the Czech Republic might reject...
...Nevertheless, that the draft has not already stimulated a serious public dialogue is rather astonishing...
...The London Times said the proposed constitution "deserves close scrutiny," but has not troubled to provide it...
...She herself has observed, "The British constitution has always been puzzling and always will be.' Maybe not, if Blair or a future prime minister presses on with modernizing the country's institutions...
...This rift will become increasingly significant as more former Soviet satellites join the EU...
...The president will continue to be drawn from member nations by rotation, but will hold office for two and a half years instead of the current six months...
...It will be subjected to thorough inspection at an intergovernmental conference slated to begin in October...
...Some longstanding procedures of the House of Commons are also in dispute...
...Tony Blair...
...David Kelly, who admitted to meeting with the correspondent but told the House of Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs that he was not the BBC's "main source...
...Only the monarchy is older...
...They have come to believe not only that Blair was wrong to join the U. S. campaign but that he knowingly misled themwhenhe insisted Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction...
...Whether the term will prove long enough to accomplish more than the redecoration of his presidential quarters is an open question...
...To compound Blair's difficulties, the Iraq backlash has drawn further attention to the government's ongoing failure to deliver promised improvements of floundering public services—especially in the areas of health, education and transportation...
...No longer...
...and setting up a Department for Constitutional Affairs...
...than Blair, who prefers to take time out in Barbados or Tuscany...
...Thus far there has been no public outcry, but that is no doubt because the document has been overshadowed by the sandstorm Blair's handling of the Iraq situation has set off...
...Just such a Conservative revival now appears possible—for the first time since 1997, when Blair moved into Number 10 Downing Street...
...hege mony than France, Germany and others in "old Europe...
...France has been preoccupied with a rash of strikes as its government tries to rein in a welfare state it cannot afford to sustain...
...Moreover, through the centuries the accumulation of laws, judicial rulings, conventions, and practices that they call their constitution has not failed to maintain a well-ordered society...
...Constitutionally, the House of Commons is supposed to be the foremost institution in the land...
...Having been consigned to the shadows, Labor's usually obstreperous Left wing has seized on the Prime Minister's vulnerability, too, by launching a campaign to "reclaim the party" for the working class...
...A president will have a mandate to "drive forward" the work of the European Commission, the EU's executive committee...
...It is not every day that some 350 million citizens of different countries are presented with a document that will override many of their disparate national codes and create a single, cross-border structure of administration...
...Yet the fact is that complaints about shortcomings and confusions have been on the rise...
...Whatever the truth, if Blair continues to come under heavy fire from within Labor's ranks, Brown is well positioned to replace him as party leader, possibly as early as this autumn, at the party's annual conference...
...In many provisions there is a gray area as to when the central authority kicks in over the objections of individual states...
...It was there, under the chairmanship of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the august former French president, that 105 EU delegates labored 18 months to produce a document they believe will unite Europe more cohesively than ever before...
...Who will preside over the House of Lords has yet to be decided...
...The powers of the European Parliament, enforcement of the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights, immigration and asylum policies, the function of a pan-European public prosecutor—all these matters require resolution...
...Most Britons now doubt Saddam Hussein posed a sufficient threat to the United Kingdom, or the world, to justify the coalition's costly, disruptive invasion and continuing occupation...
...But in Britain and the rest of Europe, instead of pithy debate and penetrating analysis, the release of the EU's draft constitution has for the most part received cursory comments and yawns...
...That might not satisfy those on the Left most determined to bring Blair down...
...As chancellor of the exchequer, Brown has made Labor more friendly to business interests than ever, partly by striving to block massive government spending schemes...
...By contrast, the Eastern European nations due to join the EU next year have shown the greatest interest in the constitution...
...Six years ago, at decision time, Blair won the game of intraparty politics, and the top spot...
...But the move to diminish his role by shifting primary judicial authority to a Supreme Court is not surprising: the present system has become anachronistic, blurring the line between government and the administration of justice...
...With Labor in firm control there, no new national election would be required...
...While claiming neutrality in their news coverage, the television and radio services of the publicly financed British Broadcasting Corporation have, in effect, been severely critical of the London government's participation in Iraq...
...Urgently needed laws sometimes languish in limbo because of cumbersome conventions...
...And how will a projected European foreign minister, a prominent player in the future scheme, resolve differences between Atlanticist and anti-Atlanticist factions...
...Amid Tensions Over Iraq Constitutional Maneuvers in Britain By Norman Gelb London The blueprint of a new system of government for European Union (EU) members might be expected to generate profound interest this side of the Atlantic...
...Because he vacations annually at Cape Cod, viscerally antiAmerican elements on the Left perceive him to be more cozy with the US...
...To the dismay of his opponents, Blair had somehow managed to remain popular anyway...
...When Labor leader John Smith died of a heart attack in 1994, most thought one of the two would succeed him and then move in to replace Prime Minister John Major once his long-ruling Conservative Party lost popular support...
...Among those who have openly criticized him are several of his own ex-officials, including former Foreign Minister Robin Cook and former Defense Secretary Peter Kilfoyle...
...And what exactly is the role of Queen Elizabeth, who "reigns but does not rule...
...A greater potential challenger than any Conservative is the only other Labor Party figure who possesses enough stature to replace Blair: Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, the manager of Britain's economic policy...
...He is abolishing the office of the lord chancellor, which oversees Britain's judicial system and the House of Lords...
...Whether this will or will not affect Britain's ultimate decision on acceding to a constitution for a United States of Europe is anyone's guess...
...One of his more acerbic critics, author and journalist A.N...
...Blair's sagging support, rather than the efforts of colorless, unimaginative Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, has caused this swing...
...The row between Number 10 Downing Street and the BBC boiled over after a BBC defense correspondent claimed a highly placed source told him the government had interceded to "sex up" intelligence reports to justify the war...
...Over the last few months the Prime Minister has had to confront a hostile Parliament and press, and has watched his support shrink even within the Labor Party...
...The Economist glanced at the draft and then dismissed as rubbish what may prove to be the most important European treaty since the first stirrings toward an integrated community of nations almost five decades ago...
...With controversy and uncertainty festering in London, serious consideration of the proposed European constitution is low on the British agenda...
...An American could be forgiven for pointing to the lucid and passionate arguments concerning an effective central government made two centuries ago by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in the embryonic United States...
...In addition, the media have relentlessly exposed the holes in Britain's Iraq policy with a zeal that puts the American press to shame...
...Recent public opinion polls suggest that the Conservatives are capable of becoming credible competitors...
...Historically, whenever the Left has mounted a major challenge to Labor leadership, it has torn the party apart and cleared the path for Conservatives to reclaim the corridors of power...
...Norman Gelb reports regularly for The New Leader on British affairs...
...The draft constitution's preamble proclaims, "the people of Europe are determined to transcend their ancient divisions, and unite ever more closely, to forge a common destiny...
...On his end, Blair pledged either that he would hand the government over to Brown after a term as prime minister, or that Brown would serve under him and have unqualified control of the government's economic policies...
...The relationship between these men is something of a mystery...
...Prime Minister Tony Blair has called the process a mere tidying up of the loosely constructed Union...
...BBC broadcasts prominently and regularly highlight the Iraq controversy, inciting Alastair Campbell, Blair's director of communications, to charge that the "Beeb" has an "antiwar agenda" (read antigovernment agenda...
...In the alleged bargain, Brown quietly conceded the party leadership...
Vol. 86 • July 2003 • No. 4
