There's been a number of different of analogies for a new Bill being introduced to Parliament.
The BBC has produced a programme called Tearing up the Magna Carta? A number of bloggers has drawn a connection between this and the same laws that the Nazis introduced into Germany. And I would call the Bill a Trojan Horse – allowing attackers to be brought inside the walls of our constitution under the guise of a present.
All the analogies hold firm when you look at what is included in the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill. And don't take my word or the bloggers' word, or the BBC's word. Listen to Professors JR Spencer QC, Sir John Baker QC, David Feldman, Christopher Forsyth, David Ibbetson and Sir David Williams QC, all of whom represent the University of Cambridge's Law Faculty and who wrote a joint letter to The Times, in which they summarised: “It would, in short, create a major shift of power within the state, which in other countries would require an amendment to the constitution; and one in which the winner would be the executive, and the loser Parliament.”
Or listen to The Times' comment editor Daniel Finkelstein, who has said it is like a nightmare and would “make it possible for the government to change any law it likes at will”. There is even a whole website dedicated to making people aware of the Bill and what its impact is – SaveParliament.org.uk.
So what the hell is going on?
Well, the government promised a new Bill to cut red tape and speed up the legislative process and in doing so have created a bill which enables any minister to push things through using an Order rather than an Act of Parliament.
An Order isn't subject to Parliament's vote, or its scrutiny but has the same effect, impact and legality. The way the Bill has been written, these powers are so wide that a minister would be able to actually create new laws and rewrite old laws without actually having to have the changes approved. In effect, the government has the right to do virtually what it likes – bypassing and hence undermining all the institutional frameworks that this country has built up over thousands of years.
It's hard to know which is more incredible – the fact that the Bill has been put forward or that our society's system is so weak that a single Bill can overwrite everything that has gone before.
A nasty pattern
This is just the latest in a string of extremely disturbing laws enacted by the Labour government which purport to solve a particular problem but are written so widely that they provide wide-ranging powers that enable it, or a subsequent government, to do all sorts of things that no one would approve.
The answer each time appears to be: look, you can trust us, we wouldn't do that. But the fact is that you can't *trust* politicians not to put a Bill to a certain use. In fact, “trust” isn't even the issue. Trust should never even enter the legislative process. A law should state what can and can't be done, and that's it.
This unholy idea of taking things – laws! – on people's word stems directly from Tony Blair, who has consistently pleaded with people that we need to trust him. And what is the one word that no one associates with the prime minister any longer? Trust.
There should be some book of agreed truisms that have legal standing and can be used as simple, straight, effective counter-arguments to any cleverly devised strategy. One of them would be: Legislation should never be written wider than the precise problem it purports to solve. But, hang on, a book “of agreed truisms that have legal standing” – oh yes, a Constitution in other words.
The 16-ton weight
What strikes me is that the New Labour project has become addicted to its own importance. And it has unfortunately become aware, as the government, that there isn't some 16-ton weight that lands on top of you if you attempt to introduce a law that undermines centuries of wisdom. Instead, as a government, you are simply expected to take history and culture incredibly seriously and assume that fundamental structures are as they are for good reasons.
Once New Labour realised that there was nothing to prevent it from tearing all that up if it so fancied, it became like a university student let free from his parents' rules and amazed at his personal freedom.
The fact remains however that governments and politicians are there by the people's will – something they needed to be reminded of every now and again. And while I have no doubt that this Bill will be knocked down after a battle, the very fact that the government has the audacity to even suggest providing itself these powers means that the line of trust between a government and its people has been well and truly crossed.
There is a 16-ton weight. And it is the public taking massive exception to something before it comes out of the Parliament cycle. The Bill is on its Second Reading. It is vital that this dangerous bill is squashed before it has a chance to take root.
All you have to do is read some of what the people above have compiled and then contact your MP to say you are unhappy about the Bill. You can do that now in 10 minutes. Read the stuff above and then go to TheyWorkForYou.com and send your MP a message. If you don't, you should feel ashamed next time you complain about something the government is doing.