House Commons Quotes
He was referring to the House of Commons which had been bombed on May 10, 1941. He advocated making the new house larger so each member could have a seat.
He was expelled from Parliament for such.
In the English political system the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch are the same. In the House of Commons, the Front Benches are reserved for the Cabinet Ministers. The argument here is that when politicians become ministers, their career and party success often become more important than the welfare of the country.
1st Earl of Oxford. Technically the title of Prime Minister was then non-existent, but he performed the function. Unlike America where the Chief Executive is elected for fixed 4 year terms, in England and other parliamentary democracies, if the Prime Minister cannot command a majority of the Praliament, he has to call new elections. Even if he cannot maintain the majority of his own party, he can be replaced by a simple vote of the members of the parliament of his own party. Margaret Thatcher for example, was never defeated at the polls in an election. She was thrown out of office by her own party.
At the time, the House of Lords which was made up of aristocrats who inherited their titles and the Lords could undo any legislation that was passed by the House of Commons. This gave the aristocrats of England a veto on all legislation.
A number of the British Parliament were opposed to using force to get America to accept British taxation and other rules. They thought the trade with America was excellent for both, and the military advantage of the combination was superior to any force on earth. To upset that over who had the right to tax and under what conditions seemed foolish. They counseled negotiations. It was thought at the time that Lord North, the Prime Minister, was perceived to be a hard liner who would not back down regarding America. This quotation describes papers that the professor found that proved that Lord North was not one of the hawks and did not want to send troops to America. However, the King was insistent as he and his hawkish advisors felt that England and the king would be weakened if the world could see America flouting the king. It was a “domino theory” of the effect on all the colonies. North wanted to resign but the king thought him the only competent man in the kingdom who could manage the government and would not allow North’s resignation. The Prime Minister, as a loyal servant of the King, executed the policy he thought unwise and used his political skill to marshal and maintain a majority for a hard line in Parliament. Apparently, he tried to resign over America on several occasions. The world would be very different place had he successfully resigned.
Explaining the secret of his oratorical success in the House of Commons:
England had gone through a bloody Civil War with the Parliament on one side and the King on the other. The King lost and was beheaded later that year. See {597353}.
The wooden mace, covered with gold leaf and topped by a gold crown, symbolizes the authority of the King or Queen of Great Britain. The mace rests on the Treasury bench in the House of Commons during each session of Parliament.
This was his perception of the change in Parliament in the 64 years he was in that body. Bribery, for example, was then commonplace for American and British legislators. By the 21st century the money spent by the rich and corporations to by legislative outcomes was many times as great but had been covered over by the fig leaf of campaign and party contributions.
