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The EU Constitution is incompatible with ours

Frequently it is claimed that England has no written constitution. We often hear quoted the doctrine ‘No parliament may bind its successor’. It is used to imply that there are no constitutional obligations limiting Parliament’s power. If this was true there would be no effective constitution. The sovereignty of Parliament would be unlimited.

King John was bound by the most famous constitutional instrument the world has seen the Magna Carta. The Stuart Kings were displaced in favour of the constitutional settlement of the Glorious Revolution and the resultant Bill of Rights of 1689, still in force.

To suggest we have no written constitution is a fallacy. We have an ancient and splendid Constitution much of which is written and it defines the limits of Parliament’s powers. Key documents include Magna Carta 1215, the Petition of Rights 1628, the Declaration and Bill of Rights 1688/9, the Coronation Oath Act 1689, the Act of Settlement 1701 and the Treaties and Acts of Union of 1706/7. All of these place legal duty upon those who govern.

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