Trussed Up

“We do not have a written constitution, but that is not to say the Government are not subject to constitutional law. A written constitution provides a degree of certainty but can also produce unintended consequences, such as the right for many Americans to carry assault weapons. As we do not have a written constitution we need the very best legal minds to rule on whether a Government has acted lawfully. Those legal minds are appointed to the judiciary. 

“When the recent litigation in connection to the EU Referendum and the decision to leave the EU began, the Government did not suggest that the matter being brought before the Court was something that was outside the jurisdiction of the Court. Nor did the Government suggest that any of the Judges who heard the matter should have been excluded from hearing the case due to their personal connections to any organisation. 

“The litigation was about the mechanism being utilized by the Government in order to invoke Article 50. It expressly and clearly did not involve the question as to whether we should or should not leave the Union. It was about whether the method that the Government sought to use was constitutional or unconstitutional. Whilst the Government do not agree that the ruling of the Court is correct and intend to appeal it, the Government do not view the decision of the Court as something which has in anyway subverted, negated or reversed the result of the Referendum. No matter what the result in the Supreme Court, the Government still intend to carry out the result of the Referendum. Brexit will still take place. 

“Essential to democracy and a free nation is the freedom of the Press. Where the Press disagrees with the ruling of a Court it is vital that the Press have the freedom to do so. But they also have a responsibility to report these matters in a way which assists the public’s understanding of the matter. Headlines that describe Judges as being “Enemies of the People” could not be further from the truth and are irresponsible. The fine, independent Judiciary that serve this nation are part of the machinery which protect each and every one of us. They protect our rights. They are part of the process which means that democracy and liberty continues to flourish in our nation.”

These are my words. Four paragraphs that took me ten minutes to write on a Sunday morning. I have done so to make the job of our Lord Chancellor really easy. She is completely free to borrow some, all or any of the words and sentiments expressed above. It is a really easy thing for her to do, which is unusual, because duties are often onerous to carry out. And this is her duty. Her duty to protect the rule of law. Her duty to inform the public (and many of her ill informed colleagues at Westminster) about the reality of the “Brexit” litigation. 

Her actual statement is breathtaking in its lack of comment on the furore that followed the judgment. The Lord Chancellor has displayed more passion in her promotion of the cheese industry than she manages to invoke in her defence of a vital aspect of our democratic society. 

There is only one judicial officeholder who should lose their job over the “Brexit” litigation. And that is one Mary Elizabeth Truss.