The Political and
Constitutional Reform Committee produces draft resolution setting out how
Parliament should be consulted on the use of
force
The Political and Constitutional
Reform Committee publishes its own draft parliamentary resolution setting
out the process that should be followed to consult Parliament on conflict
decisions, to serve as an interim step towards putting Parliament’s role
in war making decisions on a legal footing. The Committee has repeatedly called
on Government to make progress on the Foreign Secretary’s commitment in
2011 to “enshrine in law for the future the necessity of consulting
Parliament on military action”.
Chairman's
Comments
Graham Allen, Chair of the
Committee, said:
“The decision to take
military action is the most momentous a Government can make, and so it is
crucial that the role of the UK Parliament in conflict decisions be clarified
and formalised, and not left to the discretion of the Prime
Minister.
In 2011 the Foreign Secretary
committed to enshrine in law the necessity of consulting Parliament on military
action. Since then the Government has made no progress on this commitment, nor
set out how it intends to do so.
It is in light of that the
Political and Constitutional Reform Committee has produced a draft
parliamentary resolution, setting out the process we believe should be followed
to consult Parliament on conflict decisions. We have recommended that the
Government consider our draft resolution with a view to consulting on a revised
version and tabling it for consideration by the House no later than November
2014. This would serve to embed the current convention and clearly set out the
process that Parliament expects to be followed in the event of a conflict
decision being considered.”
Key points
- The debate in the House of
Commons on 29 August 2013 regarding Syria and the use of chemical weapons
highlighted the important role Parliament plays in conflict
decisions.
- The Government needs to make a
clear statement of how it intends to honour the Foreign Secretary’s
commitment of 2011, and give a specific Minister responsibility for making
progress on this.
- A parliamentary resolution would
serve as a useful interim step towards enshrining Parliament’s role in
law, by embedding the current convention and clarifying some of the ambiguities
that exist under current arrangements.
The Committee has called on the
Government to consider the draft resolution appended to its Report, and produce
its own version for consultation by June, and a final version presented to the
House of Commons by November.