posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
purplecthulhu at 06:06pm on 10/06/2007
purplecthulhu at 06:06pm on 10/06/2007Its possible that the UK is acquiring a new set of checks and balances (not that we had many to begin with) - the devolved parliaments.
For the first 8 or so years they've been dominated by Labour and have thus largely been the puppets of westminster. With the SNP becoming the biggest party in Scotland, that is no longer the case.
Now, it seems, that Alex Salmond is going to set up the SP's own enquiry into the CIA rendition flights that have allegedly flown through Scotland. At the moment there is legal disagreement within Europe as to whether these happened. A European parliament investigation says they did, but the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO - who knew they had an investigative wing?) says they didn't.
The European parliament is easy to ignore. If Salmond goes ahead with this and reaches the same conclusions as the Europarl he's rather less easy to ignore - at the very least he has monthly meetings with the Prime Minister about Scottish affairs. Its also possible that there are devolved powers that the SP could wield that might make things more difficult for any future flights.
This is of course all part of the plan to keep Iraq and related matters in the news so as to maintain clear water between Labour and the SNP, and thus keep up SNP support. But since it's in the interests of the SNP to get to the bottom of this matter rather more than it is in the interests of ACPO, we might get a more accurate result.
So the devolved governments may end up helping to keep Westminster more honest. In the current circumstances that's something we desperately need!
Hmmm - I suspect I will be needing versions of this userpic with Blair and Brown on instead of Bush...
For the first 8 or so years they've been dominated by Labour and have thus largely been the puppets of westminster. With the SNP becoming the biggest party in Scotland, that is no longer the case.
Now, it seems, that Alex Salmond is going to set up the SP's own enquiry into the CIA rendition flights that have allegedly flown through Scotland. At the moment there is legal disagreement within Europe as to whether these happened. A European parliament investigation says they did, but the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO - who knew they had an investigative wing?) says they didn't.
The European parliament is easy to ignore. If Salmond goes ahead with this and reaches the same conclusions as the Europarl he's rather less easy to ignore - at the very least he has monthly meetings with the Prime Minister about Scottish affairs. Its also possible that there are devolved powers that the SP could wield that might make things more difficult for any future flights.
This is of course all part of the plan to keep Iraq and related matters in the news so as to maintain clear water between Labour and the SNP, and thus keep up SNP support. But since it's in the interests of the SNP to get to the bottom of this matter rather more than it is in the interests of ACPO, we might get a more accurate result.
So the devolved governments may end up helping to keep Westminster more honest. In the current circumstances that's something we desperately need!
Hmmm - I suspect I will be needing versions of this userpic with Blair and Brown on instead of Bush...