Power to the People

Power to the People

In a landmark judgement and a unanimous ruling of 11 top Judges of the Supreme Court of United Kingdom declared:  "Parliament is free to return to sit at Westminster because the Prime Minster's advice to the Queen was invalid."

"Parliament has not been prorogued, "said Lady Hale,President of the Supreme Court this morning 24 September 2019, in her sum up of the ruling.

                                             

From the House of Lords,Speaker Lord Fowler said:"Peers would get back to work at the earliest opportunity." 

From the House of Commons,Speaker John Bercow said:" There would be be full scope for urgent questions,ministerial statements and emergency debates from tomorrow." 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the United Nations General Assembly session in New York  today, we are told, will fly back to London for 25 September - Wednesday's Prime Ministers' Questions. 

Prorogation of Parliament

King James I of England and VI of Scotland summoned some MP's, to "ask them some questions" in January 1611 was angered by the MP's who used the opportunity to freely criticise his Scottish favourities, prorogued Parliament despite protests.

Ever since, prorogation was recognised as the use of the "royal power" to produce a temporary suspension of Parliament. 

Prorogation simply means the end of one session and clears the way for the start of another. With a new Queen's Speech and a new programme of legislation, this act is one of the few remaining powers exercised by H.M The Queen, on the advice of her Prime Minister.

This power of the Queen has survived really from the Middle Ages without being significantly altered by Statute. 

What does the judgement mean for all intents and purposes?

To summarise the reason for the prorogation of Parliament by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, we have to look at the circumstances which led to this Court decision. 

On 28 August 2019 Boris Johnson declared he had asked Queen Elizabeth II to prorogue Parliament from between 9-12 September 2019 until the opening of a new session on 14 October 2019.

We really don't know, or even guess, why he wanted such a long time which was customarily much less.

The arguments put forward to the Supreme Court was this act had "the effect of frustration or preventing the ability of Parliament" to carry out its "constitutional functions" without reasonable justification. 

The Court stated this "an improper purpose for prorogation". Johnson's act was thus unlawful, much more than just declared unlawful. 

But, although not stated, the remedy was that it was not a criminal offence, but a "breach of public law" - the law which regulated "what government can and cannot do".

The Court, however, "made no reference to the resignation of the Prime Minister " in its determination. 

The Court also sidestepped the specifics "about motives" which was adduced regarding prorogation, but focused instead, on its effects. 

Why? Because the learned Judges did not find against the Prime Minister on this specific issue. Perhaps, it was a legal wrangle, a minefield, which they did not want to get themselves engaged, or was it ?

Coming more to the point of issue,we may adduce as follows:

Does this judgement make an early election more likely? 

With a minority government it is not in the Prime Minister's gift to call a General Election thanks to the Fixed Term Parliament Acts 2011. A two-thirds majority is required. 

Besides, according to political observers, polls, call it what you may, a significant number of MP's are "wary" of voting for an election, in case the Prime Minister wins and overturns the legislation they passed to try to stop a "no deal Brexit". 

What then does this mean for Brexit?

For those of us, including myself who have lived in Britain for over half a century, what it means is "Britain at it's best?" It is not conjecture or comedy?

The chance of a "no deal Brexit," perhaps, is still on the cards, particularly,if the European Union was to refuse to grant a further extension after Haloween or the 31st October 2109?

Would the Europeans ever surrender?  Would Rule Britannia never rule the waves?

Your guess is as good as mine?

What then does this Supreme Court ruling mean for us mortals?

Today's ruling by the "Highest Court in the Land,"has mighty implications, similar in my opinion, to what King James I of England and his successors in title, have come to realise, "the sanctity  of the power of the people."

I can never never profess to be a "legal mind," but my mind boggles at the very thought of a precedent in legal history.

Lady Hale, President of the Supreme Court, may well be retiring soon, perhaps, to a quiet chalet, but what she pronounced may well go down in history.                                         

R (Miller v The Prime Minister: Cherry and others v Advocate General for Scotland [2019] UKSC41 may be cited by legal wizards around the world. 

This judgement will be read for decades,for it's simplicity, yet far reaching consequences, not just in the United Kingdom. 

The ripple effect of this judgement will be felt in other Westminster style and particularly Commonwealth systems, around the globe for years to come. 

The relationship between law and politics, is no doubt summarised in this verdict.

The People and not Parliament is the Supreme Authority in Sri Lanka, thanks to our written Constitution.

Victor Cherubim

What can you do to make you feel better?

Vikki Stark,a psychologist in Montreal Canada,has named 21 things you can do to make you feel better. They are:

1. Take a walk and really connect with nature
2. Sing a song (any song) with gusto
3. Donate money, items or your time to a charity
4. Practice penmanship – beautifully write out the alphabet
5. Watch a stand-up comic on YouTube
6. Play with your dog or cat
7. Write an encouraging note to a friend or relative in need
8. Meditate for ten minutes
9. Do a drawing whether you’re a good artist or not
10. Listen (really listen) to music that you love
11. Bake something
12. Take a candlelit bath with spa music using essential oils
13. Do a twenty minute yoga or stretching video
14. Read a book or poem
15. Put on music and dance
16. Talk with your most supportive family member or friend
17. Sign up for a class to learn that thing that interests you
18. Close your eyes, sit up straight and take ten slow mindful breaths
19. Do a jigsaw puzzle
20. Write down three things for which you feel grateful
21. Zumba!  No one can feel down, when they’re doing Zumba.
22.  She states : "If you feel tempted to do one of the things on the list, do it!" 

She also says:" I’m sure you have a lot of reasons why not to do things; but once you find yourself leaning towards being active, go for it".
 
"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more” 
Lord Byron                                                                                                                                                                                              

Endurance, surely must make us all happier?
Sarah Thomas,37, the Coloradian swimmer who yesterday, 16 September 2019,became the first person to swim the English Channel four times non stop,spending 54 hours and 18 minutes in the water, naturally felt "stunned"  and "numb", but her support team said her achievement was "superhuman, extraordinary." 

What about Angelos Tsiaras of the University College London (UCL) and the team of astronomers who made the discovery of planet K2-18b ,110 light years away from Earth, in Constellation Leo, just the other day, which could realistically support "alien life," on the planet. They painstakingly analysed data from the Hubble Space telescope over many years to come to this conclusion, that there was water and clouds But using current rocket technology, it would take us two million years to reach K2-18b. But we cannot underrate this achievement.

blob:https%3A//www.youtube.com/d1f4bcf8-f206-4796-9903-ac837b7f7b10                                            
If you find one place where life could exist,then there may be others in the Universe teeming with life, perhaps, not similar to our terrestrial life, due to gravity and levels of radiation.

What then are some characteristics of feeling happier?
We all have different views of happiness?
For a  business magnate, putting money to work matters. Money moves where it works? Money is not happiness, but a means to happiness as well as perhaps, sadness.
In the UK, Betting and lottery winnings  are tax free, but income earned on winnings when you have banked it is taxable.Leading a happy,healthy and fulfilled life is a sort of happiness. But for some people,however, there are significant barriers to this: a stressful job, loneliness or simply living in a society that is not well adapted to their physical,emotional or medical needs.

Living with nature 

              
Who said that the smell of roses or  living with nature,or  the care of others can offer people facing these challenges something very special. This is the "chance," the "vasanawa" to discover their creativity and interact with nature. This gives them purpose and value.
A innovative approach at Guys Hospital,London
We think of Guys Hospital, noted for its inspiration of the next generation of medical research, the outstanding levels of compassionate care of patients and its staff.
What many know is medical technology plays an important role in helping healthcare professionals to better diagnose and treat their patients. Over the years innovation have made an incredible impact on medicine, in improving diagnosis,helping to assess people who need treatment, reassure those who don't need further investigation, providing services to the right patient at the right time.

With the world's most detailed pregnancy scan,a new generation of advanced imaging like MRI coupled with using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assess chest X-rays and now "Proximie" an innovative software that allows experts to "Virtually Transport" themselves to any clinical setting around the world,using robot surgery techniques, are all available at Guys.

What I found most interesting at Guys?
Along with many others in the audience,I was entertained to one hour of lunchtime melodies,always on Wednesdays, at the  Guys Performing Arts programme, called "Breathe".
This is a novel approach to healthcare which harnesses the therapeutic benefits of the arts and creativity. Music was the healer and brings health to life.

                  
Today's performer was Liza Bec, who presented "soundscape" on  multi-musical instruments including similar to a wind flute, a "robo tenor recorder" to be exact, accompanied by a "drummer with a box as drum" for 48 minutes non-stop melody.
I felt transported  physically and mentally to the sounds of the Aborginal melodies  similar to the "Didgeridoo" mesmerizing  music I heard sixteen years ago when I visited Uhuru and Alice Spring in the heart of Australia. 
I was better for being once again with nature.

Victor Cherubim

Operation Yellowhammer

Over weeks, if not months, perhaps, years, the British public have had to accept the shenanigans of Brexit. The government’s plan for a No Deal Brexit has warned of severe disruption to life, as well as “to liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.

UK’s worst case scenario for a no deal on 31 October 2019 has warned of riots on the streets, food and medicine shortages and more.
                                                       

The Scots have outlined over 8 reasons for a No Deal Brexit as catastrophic for their daily lives. Among them are it would see Scotland’s GDP shrink by up to 7% and reduce real disposable income by almost 10 percent.

Economic slowdown would increase unemployment rate to up to 8% costing every person £2,300 a year. Holidays will become even more expensive and complicated due to rate in value of the Pound, flights more expensive, UK passport holders with less than six months validity on the documents will be barred from entering Schengen countries. People living in EU countries could lose access to their pension income and also to their UK Bank accounts with slower processing times, besides other things like limited supply of fresh foods and rising grocery prices.

Nearly “no scenario” barred planning   

Operation Yellowhammer worst case assumptions originally prepared by the Government on 2 August 2019 have at last been published on order of Parliament at 8 p.m. on 11 September 2019. The Brits are famous for Code names. What of “Dad’s Army” and the breaking of German wartime codes?

This document, better named as “Oyie” can hardly be compared to the “Doomsday Book” but according to a group campaigning against Brexit, “Best for Britain” this document is “terrifying.”
                                                                                                                       

The document strangely Code named after a small songbird was first leaked one year ago in September 2018 was drawn up by Civil Contingencies Secretariat under previous Prime Minister Theresa May, and is a wing of the Cabinet Office which coordinates Cross Whitehall Projects.

The amount of time and money spent on Brexit

To satisfy Brussels and the EU, the UK Governments have pumped billions into no deal planning and wasted nearly three years of time when much of it could have been diverted to the urgent and pressing commitments of need rather than wants, like health, education and housing, have been starved of funds, over this time.

It appears the EU lobby, a very powerful body in UK, wants Britain to waste more time, money and manpower, either to delay Brexit, to have a second referendum, go back to negotiating again and/or keep pumping the coffers of EU.

Can you blame the EU for making Britain so lazy in 40 years?

With free movement of labour, goods and services over these years, Britain has become according to the past Trade Secretary Liam Fox far too lazy and fat for comfort. He maintained that there was need to a change in British business culture and people had got to stop thinking of exporting as an opportunity and start thinking about it as a duty. He said: “This country is not the free trading nation it once was. We have become too lazy and too fat on our successes in previous generations.”

What about the cheap labour from the Continent which flooded into UK and made every job cost half as much?

Is ferocity of the British Press against the EU well known?

The duff journalism and the depressing news that floods the market is a perennial factor, making people fear of the future of a “No Deal” situation.

Public and business readiness for such an outcome would likely be low, in part because of continued political confusion in the run up to Brexit day and the shenanigans in Parliament. But, does it mean that the press in Britain have to behave like a pack of animals, once EU has become a target for vitriolic abuse?

It is all too easy to wind up the British public that domestic regulations are 2.5 times more cost effective than the EU laws. But without regulation, there won’t be an EU?

People v Parliament v the Courts of Law

There are 50 days to Brexit, yet the UK Parliament is about to spend 34 days in recess, unless the Opposition’s Jeremy Corbyn demands a recall of Parliament.

The judgment of the Scottish Appeal Court is that the Prime Minister acted illegally in proroguing parliament in order to stifle debate in the Commons.

In contrast, the Northern Ireland Court 12 September 2019,dismissed the case against No Deal Brexit and claimed the hard border would damage peace process is a political and not a legal issue. 

Even if Parliament is recalled and votes in favour of a second referendum, it will take months to organise a Referendum and days to agree a wording of the vote to be put before the people?

Victor Cherubim

Get ready for Friday the Thirteenth

Get ready for Friday the Thirteenth

Remember,remember the Fifth of November, is a saying every child knows in England.

It is Guy Fawkes or Bonfire Night. It is a day of celebration,in a sense or in essence, a day of victory over evil.

But, there is a feeling of unease, a disquiet about the Thirteenth day of any month,if it falls on a Friday.

The 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year, but can occur up to three times,in the same year.

But,in 2019,there are two such days in the months of September and December and just one occurrence each in the years 2021 and 2022.

This irrational fear of the number 13 surrounds the day of the Crucifixion and the number of the disciples at the Last Supper.

Besides,Fridays have in recent times been considered an unlucky day in Western superstition to undertake journeys or begin new projects at least since the 14th Century,as witnessed by Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales."

In more recent times, the publication in 1907 of Thomas W.Lawson's popular novel "Friday the 13th" contributed to the dissemination of the superstition.In the novel,an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on Friday the 13th.

Nobody knows or can fully explain when or why Friday the Thirteenth, is not like any other day in the month's calendar. There is the superstition that has continued perhaps,from pagan times and much has been spoken and written,but not fully explained.

                                                

                                 

That's weird?

In the property market today in UK, is not immune to this superstition, according to Search Acumen,the property data and technology provider.. Research states,there seems to be a trend, showing a double digit drop in residential sales, when it's Friday the 13th.

To qualify this data, HM Land Registry data shows that the average Friday workload for conveyance produces 9,394 residential property purchases completed, while whenever Friday falls on the 13th day of the month,typically only 5,733 home purchases are completed, or a 39%  comparable drop. 

With the challenge of finalising paperwork on time and safely transferring life changing sums of money, buyers with a superstitious nature might be forgiven for feeling that it is tempting fate to schedule completion on this "notorious date."

Property transactions and other forms of trading can feel frustrating,time-consuming and scary at the best of times,but it is the hope that with the first global block chain trial for property transaction, we see first hand how new technologies are emerging to improve security and transparency within the property buying process. 

How to overcome superstition? 

Even if you don't consider yourself particularly superstitious,you probably by habit may say "bless you" when someone sneezes,as our ancestors of old once did. 

Superstition also explains why many buildings do not have a 13th floor, whilst some Airlines, such as Lufthansa and Air France don't have a 13th row.

Although there is no single definition of superstition, it generally means belief in the supernatural forces which defy current scientific wisdom.

Will new technology and innovation change superstition is anybody's guess.

Victor Cherubim