PARLIAMENT DEFINED

Manawatu Herald, Volume LI, Issue 4418, 22 February 1930, Page 4

PARLIAMENT DEFINED

Reference to Parliament in the Russian protocol led to a debate in the House of Commons in which Mr. Arthur Henderson, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, gave a definition of the term, which, he said, was endorsed by the Attor-ney-General. “His Majesty’s Government is responsible for executive. policy as a whole to Parliament. That, indeed, is the essence of what is called parliamentary government, ’ said Mr. Henderson. “In respect of legislation the sovereign body is the King in . Parliament assembled, and here Parliament means both Houses. But when we speak of His Majesty’s Government as responsible to Parliament for executive action, Par-

liamenl means not both Houses but Ihe House of Conn is, and llm House of Commons alone. The essence of parliamentary government is that His Majesty’s Government i ;m he turned out of office by the House of Commons, and by them alone. The Government are, indeed, obliged by constitutional practice to answer questions in the House of Lords, but a defeat in I hat House in no way affects their constitutional right to lake any executive action which may seem to them right. . . . There is a

good case, from the constitutional point of view, for holding that Parliament, was the right word to use in an agreement, with a foreign Power in which the purpose was lo make plain to that foreign Power thill a. certain executive action could he taken only if the approval if the relevant Parliamentary authority bad been obtained.”