John Major Quotes

Those of us who were part of creating the Scottish parliament believe we must always test constitutional arrangements. The real test is where do the powers lie? Is it in the best interests of Scotland?

The principle of Parliamentary sovereignty means neither more nor less than this, namely, that Parliament thus defined has, under the English constitution, the right to make or unmake any law whatever; and, further, that no person or body is recognized by the law of England as having a right to override or set aside the legislation of Parliament.

My party is committed to a federation.

Whether Canada ends up as o-ne national government or two national governments or several national governments, or some other kind of arrangement is, quite frankly, secondary in my opinion.

The fate of this government depends absolutely upon raising it above the state governments.

Each branch is given, by the Constitution, a little space in the other's territory .... Each one is a little dependent on the other.

As the Texas Attorney General I saw it every day: the struggle for power between the legislative branch and the executive branch.

[The new Federal Government] would either triumph over the state governments and reduce them to entire subordination or in the course of a few years … the contests about the boundaries of power between the particular [State] governments and the general government … will produce a dissolution of the union.

What other influence over, or check upon the General Government. will the States possess, if their Legislatures do not elect the Senate or second Branch of the National. Government.

That the Kingdom of Ireland is a distinct kingdom with a parliament of her own, the sole legislature thereof, that there is no body of men competent to make laws to bind the nation but the king, lords, and commons of Ireland, nor any Parliament which hath any authority or power or any sort whatever in this country, save only the Parliament of Ireland, to assure his Majesty that we humbly conceive that in this right the very essence of our liberty exists, a right which we, on the part of the people of Ireland do claim as their birthright, and which we cannot yield but with our lives

If the States cannot live together in harmony, under the auspices of such a Government as exists, and in the midst of blessings, such as have been the fruits of it, what is the prospect threatened by the abolition of a Common Government, with all the rivalships collisions and animosities, inseparable from such an event.

The President was determined to have his way, and the Senate were equally determined to have theirs. Unfortunately, the Senate had the power to compel the President to yield or lose confirmation of the Treaty, and equally unfortunately, he refused to give way. As far as his approach to the Senate was concerned, in my judgment, the President's purpose was impeccable but his manner unfortunate.

I cannot imagine any set of circumstances that would ever induce me to send federal troops ... to enforce the orders of a federal court, because I believe the common sense of Americans will never require it.

The function of parliament is to hold the executive to account. We should never overlook the primacy of parliament.

I fought for MPs to have the right to vote on article 50 not because I was against Brexit, but because I was, and remain passionately, an advocate of parliamentary sovereignty.

Parliament alone is sovereign.

What a travesty it is that the high priests of Leave in 2016, who insisted to all of us that Brexit would mean a return to parliamentary sovereignty, are undermining and circumventing parliamentary sovereignty in order to deliver their hard Brexit.

As Minister for the Cabinet Office, working to maintain the integrity of our Union has been one of my most rewarding responsibilities.

In England Parliament is above the law. In America the law is above Congress.

We could not have parliamentary sovereignty with a European Parliament.

But, you may ask, if the two departments [i.e., federal and state] should claim each the same subject of power, where is the common umpire to decide ultimately between them? In cases of little importance or urgency, the prudence of both parties will keep them aloof from the questionable ground; but if it can neither be avoided nor compromised, a convention of the States must be called to ascribe the doubtful power to that department which they may think best.

The United Kingdom is not, and never has been, a nation state.

If the court case I brought against the government over article 50 was about anything at all, it was about parliamentary sovereignty.

If a prime minister can suspend parliament to deliver a 'no deal' Brexit, what will the government try to do next with no democratic scrutiny or oversight?

I don't think that if Justin Trudeau came back from the NAFTA negotiations with a new clause - 'Oh, by the way, there's going to be a new legislature that Americans will send members to that will pass laws that will bind Canada' - I don't believe Canada would ever go for that.