Royal Assent: Crown neutrality on Brexit is unsustainable
The last time Royal Assent was withheld from a parliamentary bill was in the wake of the union of England and Scotland in 1707/8, when Queen Anne declined to support…
House of Commons
Mercy, forgiveness and judgment: Boris Johnson did not lie to Parliament
If you detest Boris Johnson or blame him for the great evil of Brexit and for ruining the country and just want him gone, there's no need to read on. There can be no mercy or forgiveness for the loathsome…
Parliamentary prayers give strength and instil humility: they impose nothing and exclude no one
"If MPs don’t want to attend prayers, they wait outside for five minutes until they are over", tweeted Nadine Dorries MP, in response to those who are agitating anew for…
Rev’d Jonathan Aitken calls the nation to pray for Parliament
From The Times' 'Credo' column yesterday, by the Rev'd Jonathan Aitken, reproduced here with permission: After a seismic week of political and constitutional upheavals at Westminster, might this be a…
Dominic Grieve isn’t a traitor; he’s a lawyer with a blind spot
'Unhinged' is how Dominic Grieve described his Brexit-supporting colleagues on the Conservative benches in the House of Commons. Or was it just some of his colleagues? Perhaps it was just…
EU withdrawal Bill clears the Commons: will the Bishops vote for Brexit?
It is the stuff of which our Island history is made. The House of Commons has voted overwhelmingly to give the Prime Minister leave to invoke Article 50 of the…
Man plans, God laughs: House of Commons votes to trigger Article 50
The House of Commons has voted to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – by which the UK will begin secession negotiations with the EU – by the end…
Parliament's vote to bomb Syria has already won the moral victory against ISIL
As I began writing this within an hour of the Commons vote, 4 RAF Tornadoes were already on their way to bomb Syria. This is it; the UK is now…
Phantoms of a Labour-SNP opera
If the polls are to be believed (and they are variable and conflicting, to say the least), the Conservative Party is looking to be unlikely to command a majority…
How much UK aid was given to Christian-persecuting countries in 2014?
The most authoritative report on the persecution of Christians around the world has now been released for 2015. The widely respected Open Doors World Watch List is the only annual global survey…
Our MPs should not let fear hold them back – this is a just war against IS
Today offers the chance for MPs to begin to redeem themselves. After an attempt by David Cameron to intervene in Syria that fell flat on its face, and an Iraq war…