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by martopix 1337 days ago
This is a typical misunderstanding of British politics. In theory the King is supposed to have power on a range of things, but there are very clearly set constitutional conventions that mean he does not. These are now so powerful that not even the "theory" is able to supersede them. This was found out the hard way by Boris Johnson when he tried to prorogue (suspend) Parliament using the Royal Prerogative. The supreme court cancelled his 'advice to the Queen' very quickly and restored Parliament.

Yes it's confusing and it would be better to write down a constitution reflecting how things actually are, but that's how it is.
1 comments
kranke155 1337 days ago
Honestly having lived in the UK I find the flexibility of the unwritten constitution to be both a good and a bad thing.

On one hand, the constitution where I come from (Portugal) is unnecessarily binding and causes a lot of issues the country suffers from. On the other hand in the UK you get this feeling that the PM can do almost anything, which in the hands of a decent person can heavily advance the country or in a period like now, can cause utter chaos.

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BerislavLopac 1337 days ago
> you get this feeling that the PM can do almost anything

Technically, whoever has the majority in the parliament can literally do anything, including introducing the laws that require photo ID for voting (in a country without a mandatory photo ID) [0], or that anyone who protested in past five years are required to wear an electronic tag [1]. Or, because why not, to get rid of the election process - completely or partially.

[0] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-...

[1] https://twitter.com/TheDonsieLass/status/1582642029762207744

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