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THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM CHAPTER I Nature and Content ofthe Constitution Nature of the British Constitution the same date. They are scattered as they were In almost every country in...

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM CHAPTER I Nature and Content ofthe Constitution Nature of the British Constitution the same date. They are scattered as they were In almost every country in the world, ex- made as and when they were needed and the cept the United Kingdom the term 'Constitution', circumstances demanded. But the most important means a selection ofthe legal rules which deline- part of the British Constitution is just what is kept ate the government of that country which have out of th e written law and given over to the sole been embodied in one or several documents, guardianship of custom. Nor is th ere any law in Such a document may have been drawn up either th e U~ited Kingdom of which we can say that by a Constituent Assembly, or it may be the since It I S a part of th e Constitution, it can be handiwork of a legislature, or it may have been altered by a procedure different from the one granted by a King hinding himself and his suc- required for altering the statutory law. Here the cessors to govern according to the provisions of Constitutional Law and Statutory or Ordinary the Proclamation. The Constitution thus under- Law stand at par with one another. Both emanate stood means a written, preci~ and systematic from the same s'ource and undergo the same document containing the general principles un- procedure in passing and amending them. Obvi- der which govcrnment functions. It is distinct in ously then, no court or any oth er authority can character, the supreme law of the land. which is legally refuse to enforce and set aside any enact- hcld in special sanctity. TIle 'Constitution' is ment of Parliament. amended and altered by a procedure differenl The British Constitut ion is, therefore, to a from that required in amending a statutory or large extent an unwritten and flexible Constitu- ordmary law. The statutory law must be consis- tion. It is til e product of history and the result of tent with the lette r and the spirit of the Constitu- evolution. It has grown w ith the growth of the tion otherwise it is held unconstitutional or ullra English nation, changed with its wants and vires, as soon as a court has an opportunity to adapted itself to the needs of various time,'. Jen- review it. nings has aptly rem arked," If th e Constitution But th e British Constitution has never been consists of institutions and not of the paper th at devised and reduced to writing.' It remains un- descnbes them, the British Constitution has not been made but has grown--and there is no defined , un systematized and uncodified. It lacks precision and coherence. The Englishmen never paper.'12 The.institutions necessary for carrying drew out their political system in the shape of a out the functIOn s of the State were established fonnal document and, consequently, there is no from time to time as the need arose. "Fonned to single place in which 'The Constitution' as a meet immediate requirements they (institutions) whole is clearly and definitely written down. were then adapted to exercise more extensive and Many books may be found which describe the sometimes different functions. From time to British Constitution, but no one of them can be time, political and economic circumstances have said to contain it. There are, no doubt, some called for reforms. There has been a constant enactments of Parliament which make the British process of invention, refonn and amended distri- Constitution, but these enactments do not bear bution of powers. The building has been con- stantly added to, patched, and partly recon- t. Except for.the Instrument?fGovemment of 1653. The InstrumentofGovemment which made Cromwell Lord Protect ~~n~sh~~;';.ddr~(~:e~c~~s~~U~~d1:r:n~r:~:;~~~~ilish Constitution for a few years only. Restoration put an end ~~ 2. Jenn ings, W. lvor. The Law and the Corts/ilution. p. 8. 1  2 The Government 01 the United Kingdom structed, so that it has been renewed from century mean that it is a mere hotchpotc h of he terogene-., to century. but it has never been razed and rebuilt ous cle ments. The rul es and prin c iples whi ch on new foundation.") In other words, the British govem the governmental mach ine ry ha ve been Constitution is 'the child of wisdom and deduced from British ex perience and consciously chance, "4 it is the resu lt of a process in which adhe red to and applied. many elements, like charters, statutes, judicial Thomas Paine and Alexi s de Tocqueville decisions, precedents, usages and tradition s, have were the two prominent among many wri ters who entered piling them se lves one upon the other were o f the opinion that the British Co nstituti on from age to age and shaping the political inst itu- did not ex ist. Thomas Paine, a grea t champion of tions of the country acco rdin g to the exigencies \\'finen constitutions, categori ca ll y declared thal o ftirne. The British Constitution is ever growing where a Constituti on " canno t be produced in a and always undergoing modificati ons. It is a visible fonn, there is none," In a spirited reply dynamic Constitution with its roots in the past to Burke, who eminently defended the British and branches in the future. Lord Morrison co- Constitut ion in his Reflections O Il the Fren ch gently said, "But as a w hole. ours has been a Revolution, Paine asked , "Can M r. Bu rk e pro- peaceful development , learn ing as we moved o n, duce th e English Constitution ?" I fhe canno t, we establishing the foundation offunhe r progress.' " may fai rl y concl ude that thou g h it has been so No man in 1688 could have foretold , with any much talked aboul. no suc h thing as a Cons ti tu- measure o f accuracy, wha t the Constitut io n of ti on ex ists or cn r did exist." De Tocqueville, present day Britain wou ld be, and no man of ou r the celebrated French writer on Fore ign Govern - times can predi ct how the Consti tution w ill ments. a generation later stt id that in ,. England evolve a few decades hence. 'the Const il111io n may go on ~hang jn g co ntinually Briefly. the British Constitution is a body o r rather it does not exist.' ·6 \Vhatever be their of basic rules indicating the structure and fUllc- reasons for making th ese' assel1i ons, Paine and de tions of po litical institution s and the principles Toequeville were bo th wrong. There can be no governin g their operation. It is j ust the same in State without a constitution. It is tnIe th at th ere nature as the constitution of any other country, is no s ingle document inrendcd to compri se the the only difference being th at the British Const i- fun dame nlal rules of constitutional practices 10 _ tution has never been systematized, codi fied and wh ich a student of the Briti sh Cons titu ti o n may put in an orderly fo'1" ProbahOy, no attempt will tum for reference, as one does ~ the United States be made in future, too, to bring all these rules and or in India, but there is no const ituti o n which is principles together to make the Constitution a either wholly written or entirely unwritten. \\Trit- consistent and coherent whole. In fac t, it is an ten and unwritten elements are presen t in every impossible task, for not only do th e usages and const ituti on, All written constitutions gro w and traditions cover a wide range, bu t many of them expa nd with the passage of time either as a result are not sufficientl y definite to be reduced to o f customs or judicial interpretation s. W ritten writing. Moreove r, the Englishman, as a political constitutions, rem arked Bryce, become " de vel- entity. has never favou red a system of govern - o ped by interpretation, frin ged with decisions, ment based upo n fixed principles invol vi ng the and en larged by customs so that afler a time the app lication of exact rules. He is practical, m atte r letter o f their texts no longer conveys the ir full offact, and zealous for business. Expediency is effect. ,. Nor can the makers of a wri tte n consti- the guiding princ iple of his life and he seizes tution foresee the future and shape the cOllstitu.. opportunity by the forelock. He knows no log ic tion to fu lfil the needs of the peop le to ( o rne. Man and the British Constitution lacks all logic. The is dynamic and so are his political institutions. re sult, as Ogg says,.. is a constirut iona l structure The conventional element in any system o f gov- which lacks symmetry, governmenta l system ernment is inevitable. Finally , a wri tten constitu - which abounds in the illogical." But it does not ti on does not contai n a ll the rules rd ating to all 3. Ibid. 4. As Strachey has caUed it in his Queen Victoria and quoted by F. A. Ogg in his English Goyernment fJnd Polil in. p. 68. S. Lord Morrison, British Pariiamenlary Democracy. 2, 6. " En Angleterrc la constirurion pent changer sans cease : Ou plutot ellen 'existe point." It will be observed that de Tocquevillc 's emphasis is more on the nexible character oflhe British Conslirution. He could not reconci le himself to the fact thai the conslirutionallaw and the stalUtory law should emanale from the same source and both be amended by ordinary legislative process. He, accordingly. concluded thaI the British Constituti on did nol exist. I,__ -\ Nature and Content of the Constitution 3 the institutions of government. A selection is Union with Scotland (1707), the Great Refonn made of both, For instance, the Constitution of Act (1832), tne Parllamenl Act of 1911. as the United States of America contains only seven amended in I 949',the Government otlreland Act Articles and occupies about ten pages, The Con- of 1920, the Public Order Act of 1936, ~ stitution oflndia, on the other hand, is the lengthi- Ministers of the wn Act of 1937, Repre- est Constitution in the world containing 395 Ar- sentatIon of the People Act,T'PI' ,the Life Peer- ticles and twelve Schedules, The difference be- age Act, 1958, the Peerage Act, 1963, the Stat- tween the two Constitutions is suggestive, for ute of Westminster 1931 , the Indian Inde- it shows that within limits a written consti- pendence Act, 1947, etc, Most of these are Acts tulion may contain as much or as little as is passed by Parliament. But a document like thought desirable by the father framers. And yet Magna Carta is considered to be a part of the no constitution is complete by itself. "It is a Constitution as it makes a great landmark in framework, a skeleton which had to be filled,out national history, and various Acts of Parliament with detailed rules and practices, It is concerned H may, without undue violence to the facts be with the principal institutions and their main regarded as in direct line of descent from Magna functions, and with the rights and duties of citi- Carta,"9 Elder William Pitt called Magna Carta, zens which are, for the time being, regarded as the Petition of Rights and the Bill of Rights as important. It may contain more or less, according the Bible o f the British Constitution, One thing, to the circumstances of the moment and the however, very significant about thesc Charte rs special problems being faced by the State while and Statutes is that they were the product of it is being drafted," All written constitutions political stress and crisis and they contain the provide for amendments in order to cater to the tenns of settlement of that crisis, They are a part future needs of the people, Customs andjudi cial of thc Constitution because-of what they deal \\tccisions. too, supplement the constitutional pro· with, It is the context of the constitutional strug- visions. The difference between a written and gle within which they originated that they bear unwrinen constitution is, therefore, Ol\e of degree the impress of the: constitutional law. - rather than of kind , Wherever there are rules r~ I Secon~8 there are a good number of Stat- determining the creating and operation of go\'- '{!(.s, whi charliament has passed from time to emmentaf instituticlns, there exists a constitution. time, dealing with suffrage, the methods of el",,- ,-.. Britain'has such institutions and such rules ; 'a nd ti on, the powers and duties ofpubHcofficiais, etc. certainly long before the timcs of Paine and de These Statutes, unlike the constitutional land- Tocqueville England had such a body of rul es, marks enumerated in group one, are not the out· with Englishmen equally conscious of its exist- come of a constitutional struggle, They were ence and proud of its history,"7. passed as and when the exigencies of time de- COMPONENT PARTS OF THE manded them under the ordinary process of CONSTITUTION things. For example, none of the laws extending the right to vote, which were passed between Source. of Ibe Constitution 1867 and 1948, aroused popular excitement as The sources from which the British Con- the Refonn Act of 1832. Nonetheless, all these stitution is drawn are many and diverse and Statutes are vitally important forthedevelopmcnt these may be divided into seven main categories,s of political democracy and any attempt to repeal In thelllrsl plaff?here are certam great Cnarters , them would now be regarded against the' 'con- Petitions, Sta tes and other landmarks such' as stitutional sense" of the nation. In fact, the sys- "Magna carta (1215), the Pehhon 01 Rights tem ofGovemment obtainable in Britain, would , e ct 0 ett ement (170 I), as modi- becomc unworkable if ever an attempt is made " ,hCd by fu. Abdication Act of(1936l , Ule Act of, to repeal any one of such Statutes, though Parlia- 7. Ogg, F. A" and Zink, H. Modern Foreign Governments. p. 26. t 8. Sir Maurice Amos divides (he rules of the Constitution into three kinds: (i) Rules of Law; these include Rules of the Common Law, Rules of Statute law, and the law or ~l1ed "privileges" of Parliament; (Ii) the conventions of the constitution; and (iii) principles which relate to the liberty of the $ubjects, The English COMlilution. p. 24. _. 9. Gooch, F. K., The GO'llemmenl of England p. 64. Magna Carta, writes Gooch " is technically an enactment of'fiie ") King, with the advice of his great council; parliament grew out of the great council; and even at present, an Act of.!Parliament is technically enacted by the King with the advice and consent ofPvliamen"" Similarly. Gooch tries to I prove that the Petition of Rights docs not differ in principle from an Act ofParliamenl: " the Bill of Rights is, in the most literal sense, itselfan Act ofParliament."/bid., pp. 64-6S. ,. , 4 The Government of the United Kingdom ment is a sovereign body and it has "the right to Blackstone, consists of customs "not set down make or unmake any law what:>ver." 10 in any written statute or ordinance, but depending r:tJle third source. of constitutional rules is on immemorial usages for their support." The to be found in the decisions of judges on cases judges recognised "the customs of the realm", heard by them in the law courts. When judges applied them in individual cases, and set prece- decide cases, they interpret, define and develop dents for decisions in later cases. As these deci· the provisions ofthe great Charters and Statutes. sions were "broadened down from precedent to While doing so, their judgments create prece- precedent there grew up a body of principles of dents which succeeding judges respect. Since general application which stand as a bulwark of many of these judgments related directly to con- British freedom and an cssential part of the Brit- stitutional maners, thC:.legal principles and judi- ish Constitution."" The Common Law, like cial precedents of these.iUdgments are an impor- statutory law, is, thus, "continually in the process tant clement in the British Constitution; they o~evclopment by judicial decisions." 13 resemble and co rrespond to the decisions of the , Anal er source 0 constitutIOnal rules is to Supreme Court of Ihe United States which have be aun 10 usages 0 enlions. The ccnven· helped to clarify and expand the provisions of the tions of the constitution, as they are ca lled , are American Constitution. The decision in the case the centre and sou l of the constituti onal law in of Ihe Sheriff of Middlesex in 1840 established Britain. The fundamental convention, from Ihe principle that Parliament has the right to which practically all oth ers now, is the conven· punish its own members for a breach ofprivilegc, tion of the Cabinet Governme nt. Although the no othe r legal a uth ority being necessary. The validity of the conventions of the constitution judgment in Brae/laugh v. Gossell in 1884 estab- cannot be the subject of proceedings in courts of lished the supremacy of Parliament over the law, yet the y cover some of the most importan t courts in all matters concerning the internal af- parts of the British political system and are ob- irs QJ Parl iament. ~ served with due respecl. Conventions are, says nnthe IQuoh place, are the principles of the Hennan Finer,. 'rules of political behaviour not ommon Law and several mat1ers of major ~on­ established in statutes, judici al decisions or Par- stitutional importance covered by them. It is from liamentary customs but created outside these, o the Common Law, for exa mple, that the King supplementing them, in order to achieve objects derives his prerogative, II and that Parliament they have not yet em bodied. These objects, in th e derives its supremacy. The civil liberties of the British Constitution, can be summed up thus: to people, which in America are embodied in the make the executive and the legislature responsi- Bill of Rights , a re ensured in Britain by the rules ble to the will of th e people. To add concreteness oCt he Common l aw. Freedom ofspeech, of press we could use the tenTIS Crown, Government, or and of assembly. the sanctity ora citizen's home, Cabin et in place of Executive and Parliament, and the right ofjury trial are Common law rights meaning the House of Commons (especially) and which today have their effective meaning in the the House of lords, in place of Legislallire..." long line ofdecisions judges have made. The laws Next but less reliable are the commen taries of Parliament may redefine or modify the manner by eminent writers whose works have come to be of exercising these rights, but such laws are in regarded as authoritati\'e expression on the Brit- their tum subject to judicial interpretation made ish Constitutional Law. These commentators in the light o f the many precedents of the past. have systematised the di verse conventional rules, The principles of the Common Law are not established a definite relation o(one to another, established by any law passed by Parliament or and, then, linked them into some degrees of unity ordai ned by the king. They grew up entirely on by reference to central principles. In certain cases the basis of usage. Common Law, according to such writers have provided compendious and 10. Dicey, A. V., Introduction to the Study oflhe Law of the Constitution p.1O. II. The lenn prerogative was in origin used 10 denote the sum of the rights ascribed 10 the King as a reudal overlord. But the expression is used today to refer to the Crown's discretionary authority, that is, to what the King or his servants can do without the authority ofan Act of Parliament 12. Carter, M. G., and Others, Tht Govemment ofGrrat Britain. p. 43. 13. Common Law may be regarded utbat partofthc: law of the land which is traditional andjudge.made. "The explanation oftbe adjective "eommon" is thalinmcdieval times the law administered by the King's supenorcourts was the' 'common cuSlom of the realm", as against the "particular customs with which local jurisdiclions were concerned." Harrison, W., nt Government of 8n'lain , Appendix 'B, pp. 161,,(;2. 14. Finer, Hennan, Governments o/Grtater Europeall Powers. p.46.  \ Nature and Content of the Constitution' \ detailed accounts of the operation of particular nation. The obvious result is that the" British for categories of rules and their works have acquired the most part think that the nature of their the status of constitutional documents; probably, Constitution is most sensible and that a codified the most authori tative of such works is Erskine constitution like the American is more trouble May's Treatise on the Law, Privileges. Proceed- than it is worth..... ,," ings and Usages of Parliament. It is the classic CONVENTIONS OF THE guide to the procedure and privileges of Parlia- CONSTITUTION ment and is constantly referred to by the Speakers of the House of Commons on the formulation of Sanction behind Connntions their rulings on question of privilege and proce- The Conventions of Constitution,18 the dure. Also (although to a much lesser extent) name given by Dicey to the indefinite number of A.V. Dicey's Law of th e Constitution has ac- customs, traditions and precedents, ronn an inte- quired over the years an authority that makes it gral part of the British Constitution. 19 So deep- morc than merely a commentary on constitu- rooted have these conventions been found in the ti on~ractiCC. habi ts of 'the Englishmen, and so firmly the fJ:'t inally, the exercise of the Royal preroga- mechanism of government is erected on their ~ fomls another aspect of constitutional prac· foundation that without them the Constitution tice. The power to declare war, make treaties, becomes maimed if not absolutely unworkable. pardon crirhinal s and dissolve Parliament are And yet they arc not the law of the Constitution; imponant function s performed by Royal Pre- they are nowhere wrirten down in any formal or rogative. They arc executed through Orders in official document. Counci lor through proclamations and writs un- A di stinction is very often made between der the great seal; Today, these functions are laws of the Constitution and convent~ns of the p.rfonned by Ministers on behalf of the Mon- Constitution. But co nven ti ons arc not really very :lrch, and. as such, th e authority for the deci sion different from laws and it is freque ntly difficult ~o mcs from the Crown rather than from Parlia- to pl ace a se t of niles in one class or the other. Illent. Jennings has rightly said that the Conventions, like most fundamental rules of any Constit}Jtion';. The nature of the British Constitution Iilay , be sunl!ned up in the words of-Anson. i't 'is, he rest essentially upon genera l acquiescence.... A written constitution is not law because somebody wrol~:'a somewhat rambling structure, and like a house which many successive owners have has made it , but it has been accepted." Conven- ahcred just so far as suited thei r immediate wants ti ons are based on usage and acquiescence and or fashion of th e tim e, it bears the marks of many their binding force, like laws, is derived from the hands, and is convenient rather than symmetrical. willingness of the people to be so bound. If Fonlls and phrases survive which have long since obedience to law is deemed a fundamental duty, lost their meaning, and the adaptation of practice obedience to conventions is among the political to com'cnience by a process of unconsciou s obligations, because they help the wheels ofpo- change has brought about in many cases a diver- litical machine going in accordance with the will gence of law and custom, of theory and prJC- of the people. Both, law and conventions, are tice."Il Walter Bagehot in his classic work : The inevitably similar as they serYO the common pur- English Constitution 16 asserted that such a sys- pose of regulating the structure and functions of tem of Government as obtainable in Britain was government aiming at the good of the people and possible because there existed certain prereq- are the result of common consent. "What is law uisites : mutual confidence among electors, a and what is convention." Jennings maintains, calm national mind, and the gill of rationality. 'are primarily technical questions. The answer.; All these qualities add up to an adult and practical are known.Dnly to those whose business it is to IS. Anson, W. R.,LAwond ClLSlom a/the COfISt;/ll/iotl, Votl., p. 1. 16. The book was first published in London in 1867. 17. Brogan, O. W. and Verney. D. V., Political Pal/ems;n Today's World. p. 87. 18. Iohn Stuart Min rc:fe~.to ~m as the unwritten maxims"otthe cons~itution··. while Anson, referred to them as "the customs of the conStitution. None ?fthe phrases, according to Jennmgs. exactly expresses what is meant. Dicey's phrase ha~. however, now been sanctioned by common use. The Law of the Constitution. op. cit..p. 80. 19. "Th~ugh In !837 the t~rms 'convenlionsorthe constitution' had not attained regular currency, the thing meant 'thereby was 1ft e(f'ccll~e O~n.tlon and had been so in essence since the revolution." Keith. A. B., The Constitution 0/ England from Queen P,ctor,o 10 George VI. VoL I, p. 12.. 6 The Government of the United Kingdom know them. For the mass of the people it does not ciples of po liti cal governance are primarily un- manerwhetherarule is recognised by thejudicial written and lie scanere'86 is in th e word s o f Lord Alllee, "the gene ral Je nn ings gives a matter of fact summing represen ta ti ve o f a ll the people and stands aloof up. He says, "Thus, the King may be said to be from the p arty political ballie. ''is The fo,,·ner almost a member of the Cabinet, and the o nl y Conservative Prime Minister Sir A lec Douglas- non·party membe r. He is, too, the best informed Home was of the opinion th at th e' 'Queen has a member and the only one who cannot be forced consti tut ion a l role of great importance , beca use to keep silent. His status gives him power to press afte r. all everything is don e in the name of th e his view upon the Minister making a proposal Queen and Parliament so they arc one...........So and (what is so metimes even more important) to I think her po wer li es in her influence, and the press them on the minister who is not making aut hority wh ic h she naturall y carries after 25 proposals. He can do more, he can press [hose years of the most intimate experience of national vi ews o n the Prime Minister the weight of and internat io nal affairs. I think she is influen- whose authori ty may in the end produc e the ti a l. No r that she would take a political part, not Cabinet decision. He can, ifhe likes to press hi s at a ll but obvious ly th e Prime Mini ster di scusses point, insist that hi s views be laid before th e wit h her p ol itical issues of the first importance Cabine t and considered by them. In o the r words, both to o ur country and ove rseas. And o n all of he can be as helpful or as obst reperous as he those the Queen will ha ve a point of view wh ich pleases...... in the end, of course, he is bound by is her ow n, bo rn c fvery considerable experience. a Cabinet dec ision, but he may playa consider- Her influence is impo rtani and accepted. I think , able part in the process by which it is reac hed.' '87 because people realise, in this country , that she The King' s functi on is advisory only. He puts public service above everything, and far can press hi s opinions as forcefully as he likes. above, o f c o urse po litics in which she does not He may res ist the advice given to him by hi s herself intervene. " On th e sa me point Sir Harold Mini sters, but he mu st not persist and in the last \Vil so n. another former Prime Ministe r, said , re so rt give way if Ministers refuse to accept his ,. Her role is important, not in term s o f power but opi nion. He canno t carry hi s point so far as to in tem1S o f, fo r exa mple. th e weekl y audience the threaten the stab ility of his Government. There Prime Mini ster has w ith her. These are very are two reasons fo r it. In the first place, the Kin g use ful for th e Prime Minister. because, for in· cannot act unco nstitutio nally so long as he act s stance. he is ta lki ng in absolute confidence to o n the advice of a Minister supported by a ma~ some one w ith lo t of experience and a lo t of jority in th e House of Commons. Mini steri al und erstandi ng, somet imes a lo t of sympathy. He respo nsibility is th e safeguard of th e Monarchy. has to collect in his mind a ll the things he wa nt s The sayi ng that the 'Ki ng can do no w ro" g ' 83. kn nings. I.. Th,· QUl'!'n's G 01'l!nIll/ t'IIl, p. 46. 84. Wh~clcr·B c nncl. J.\\'.. A'ing George VI: f/l s Life and Reign. p. 132. H5. Attlee on ~ t o narch >. Obserwr, op. cit. 86. Spem.:cr. J. A.. LUl' a/ Lord o.~fonl and Asqllilh, Vol. II. pp. 29·31. 1:\7. knnings. I.. CabinC:1 Go vemment. pp. 327·28. I. The King and the Crown 55 precisely illustrates that the Monarch cannot brought together justify my action." There is also make decisions of a political or controversial some evidence available that in 1916, Lord character. The price of his popularity and posi- Stamfordham, as the King's Private Secretary, tion is in the abstention from politics. In the endeavoured :to "settIe the dispute between second place, ifthe King forces his opinion which Asquith and Lloyd George which led to the res- the Ministers are not willing to accept theCabinet ignation of Asquith. George V had much con- must resign. The King's action, then, immedi- spicuous part to play'in 192 I overthe Irish Home ately enters into political controvcrsy. ~ut the Rule tangle. "A King is," as Attlee says, "a kind real power of the King depends upon' 'his will- of referee, although the occasions when he has to ingness to keep respectable and to keep offpoli- blow the whistle are now-a-days very few." But tics." The Throne cannot stand for long amid the even then, they do happen. The Fillancial Times gusts of political conflict and the stonn of politi- reported that Queen Elizabeth II, as Head of the cal opinion. "The road of least criti'cism is the Commonwealth, intervened to end the Common- road for the King." Lord Esher, who was advis- wealth crisis over the question of imposing sanc- ing George V on the dispute over the Home Rule tions against South Africa, to ward ofT a clash Bill controversy, most correctly summed up the between Prime Min ister Margaret Thatcher and position of the King. He wrote in a memorandum other heads of the Commonwealth. The occasion :.. Every constituti onal monarch possesses a dual was necessitated by Mrs. Thatcher's reiteration personali ty. He may hold and express opi nions of outright opposition to sancti ons in th e House upon the conduct of his ministers and their meas- of Commons. The Queen's anxiety was to pr