As soon as the words "forcibly dissolve parliament" were uttered, the entire House of Commons felt like a cold wind blowing, and everyone stared at Benjamin in silence.
Does the British Prime Minister have the right to dissolve Parliament? This issue is very complex. Some people say yes, and some say no, because the rights of the prime minister are not static in British history, but have undergone very significant adjustments with the development of the times.
The dissolution of Parliament is not uncommon in the UK, because after the five-year term of each government, the King will announce the dissolution of Parliament, and then immediately organize the next Parliament. This is a procedural system, in which the King is nothing more than a rubber stamp. , the sounding board, his rights are not reflected.
This is the normal dissolution of Parliament, but the forcible dissolution of Parliament is rare in British history. Generally, there are two situations in which Parliament is forcibly dissolved. The first one is that Charles I forcibly dissolved Parliament in 1629, and then restored the feudal dictatorship. .
The other is the forcible dissolution of parliament led by the prime minister. This has happened many times in history, but under normal circumstances, no prime minister is willing to use such a big weapon.
Because this is a lose-lose outcome, any prime minister who has used the right to dissolve parliament has basically offended all members of parliament, and there will be no future at all. It will even be a harm to his party.
As we all know, the British Parliament is composed of two departments: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. In the historical development, the House of Lords once had far more power than the House of Commons because the members of the House of Lords were all powerful aristocrats, while the House of Commons Everyone chooses their own elected members.
Before the 19th century, human society was still ruled by kings and nobles, so the power of the House of Lords naturally increased.
However, with the development of the times and the awakening of people's consciousness, the energy of elected members began to increase, and gradually the power of the House of Commons began to approach that of the House of Lords.
From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the British House of Lords and the House of Lords were able to keep pace with each other, and no one can deny that the replacement of the House of Lords by the House of Commons has become an irreversible trend.
In other words, as the power of the democratically elected House of Commons expands, the Prime Minister's governance of the country will become increasingly inseparable from the support of these people.
In this context, if a prime minister has not yet finished his term, but his policies have greatly disappointed the entire House of Commons, then the prime minister's various policy proposals will definitely be restricted at every turn, and may even be completely blocked in the parliament. Unable to pass.
This is considered a bullshit. When conflicts cannot be adjusted, generally speaking, two situations will occur. One is that the parliament will file a motion of no-confidence to impeach the prime minister and step down, just like what Gladstone is doing now.
This situation is very common. After all, the parliament is composed of all political parties. The impeachment of the prime minister is basically a piece of cake and people are used to it.
The second situation is very extreme, that is, the strong prime minister is unwilling to give in. If he decides to be an enemy of the entire parliament, he will use his power to forcibly dissolve the parliament.
But this right is not his. This right is given to the king by the constitution. Historically, in 1784, Prime Minister William Pitt once asked the king to come forward to forcibly dissolve Parliament because he could not get the support of the House of Commons, so as to re-elect the House of Commons. member.
In other words, the historical precedent for the prime minister to forcibly dissolve Parliament began in 1784. It was only after William Pitt that the British political arena had such a practice, and it was finally written into the constitution.
But one thing that must be determined is that the Prime Minister does not have the right to dissolve Parliament. He only has the right to make a request to the King. Of course, since the British Constitution restricts most of the royal power, the King will generally not refuse the Prime Minister's proposal. , and the disbanded parliament also knew this, and would not blame the king even if it was forcibly dissolved.
Then the point of hatred and opposition naturally lies with the Prime Minister.
If you understand the history of British political evolution, you can also understand Benjamin's madness. He actually exercised this very dangerous power just because he was impeached.
Is he crazy? He is gambling with his political life and even the popular base of the Tory Party! Even if he succeeds this time, the people he offended will all be gone, and the British political arena will definitely be in a mess by then.
"Crazy! Benjamin, you are really crazy! Do you care so much about this right? In your eyes, are the interests of the country not as good as your personal honor and disgrace?"
Gladstone roared, "You are committing a crime! You are a lunatic! Where in British history has there been a prime minister who was not impeached? That leader was not scolded? Why do you have to be an exception?"
"Do you really think that you alone are smarter and greater than thousands of people in the entire Congress? How arrogant and arrogant you are!"
Benjamin was too lazy to pay attention to Gladstone's accusation. He straightened his bowler hat and turned away, without looking back and said, "I can't just watch you lead the empire astray. Whether I have committed a crime or not, you are not qualified to judge me!"
"Only history can judge me, and the descendants of England will naturally make a judgment! No one can judge me, only history can!"
It's so arrogant. You can just say this in public, but you actually said it in public, which instantly turned many fans into negative fans.
As soon as he reached the door, Benjamin realized that something was wrong with the atmosphere. The MPs blocking the door had no intention of giving way. They stared at Benjamin with frowns.
"Your Excellency Prime Minister, are you serious?"
"Benjamin! Do you dare to override the Constitution?"
"What does it mean that free history can judge you? You must explain it clearly today!"
"Forcibly dissolve parliament? Do you want to be a dictator?"
…
Doubts are endless, and now even the members of the Tory Party are dumbfounded, and they are helpless to watch Benjamin being besieged.
"Get out of the way, get out of the way! The Prime Minister is going to quell the rebellion. When the country is in danger, do you want to harm the country? Get out of the way..." Benjamin's secretary, adjutant, bodyguard, and close relatives rushed out to protect the Prime Minister.
But they underestimated the madness of these elected members. Forty or fifty people crowded at the door of the House of Commons and refused to let him pass.
"Don't use the riots in Ireland as an excuse. The first person responsible for countering the rebellion is the Governor-General of Ireland, not the Prime Minister! The Governor-General is still at his wits' end, and there is no need for the Prime Minister to overstep his bounds!"
"Answer our question, were you just flouting the Constitution? Answer us..."
The speaker, the justice, and the Duke of Newcastle on the rostrum looked at each other in confusion. They wanted to control the situation, but after looking at the broken gavel, they simply gave up their efforts.
"We are already crazy, who will listen to us..."
Note: No gentleman can support craftsmen! Thanks to all the gentlemen for supporting us this week, we are still in first place! Will add one more later!
