You Don't Get To Do This Every Day

Seizing the Mace

There is something magisterial about the passing of time.  Traditions imbedded over hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of years cannot lightly be laid aside.

Here is one of the latest examples from the UK:

The gold ceremonial mace which is carried into the House of Common’s debating chamber each day was wielded in the chamber Monday evening, as tempers frayed over Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.  The Member of Parliament for Brighton, one of the United Kingdom’s most clearly left-progressive cities, Lloyd Russell-Moyle marched up the centre of the chamber and took the golden mace from the table, before holding it aloft and walking towards the exit.

Speaker of the House John Bercow, who is responsible for the proceedings of the chamber and has the power to punish members for unruly conduct, was seemingly taken aback by the move by Russell-Moyle.  Bercow repeated the word “no” until the mace was taken off Russell-Moyle by a uniformed usher, who ceremoniously returned the item back to the chamber.  Bercow then ordered Russell-Moyle out of the chamber, barring him from the rest of the day’s sitting — which was already close to completion.

Charlie Proctor

✔@MonarchyUK

BREAKING: Utterly extraordinary scenes as Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP is expelled from the House of Commons after grabbing the Mace. #BrexitVote #BrexitShambles

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4:01 PM - Dec 10, 2018

Here is the chaser:

The mace is a gold-gilded silver symbol of the monarch’s authority in Parliament, and without it, the house cannot sit.  The mace has been seized on a handful of occasions in history, including during the English Civil War, and more recently by Michael Hesseltine in 1976. 

Such drama!  Such theatre! Such fun!

Understanding The Times

Timing is Everything--They Say

Here is an excellent summary of a key aspect of English constitutional development.  

We like to think that liberty is fought for.  Judging by occasional comments in the media and by politicians, a widespread belief is that liberty was won during the [English] Civil War.  The reality is different: the war almost destroyed liberty.  Only when the country rejected fighting, and zealots had to abandon their visions of a compulsory New Jerusalem, was liberty possible.

To the Whigs we owe the principle--Magna Carta restated in modern form--that rulers must obey the law and that legitimate authority requires the consent of the people.  From the Tories came the principle--fundamental to any political order--that people have no right to rebel against a government because they disagree with it.  

Combining these seemingly conflicting principles produced characteristics of English political culture:
suspicion of Utopias and zealots; trust in common sense and experience; respect for tradition; preference for gradual change; and the view that "compromise" is victory, not betrayal.