At a time of increased tensions in Korea and elsewhere around the globe, a book-panel discussion of Parliament’s Secret War offers an opportunity to provide insights into how far the UK Parliament can hold the British Government accountable for decisions to use military force. The invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the UK Coalition Government’s...
Commentary on the book
The commentator will discuss Parliament’s Secret War inquiry of the constitutional convention, which is celebrated as representing a redistribution of power from the executive towards a more legitimate, democratic institution. It will address a number of persistent problems revealed by the book, including Parliament’s lack of access to relevant information, government ‘legalisation’ of parliamentary debates...
Commentary on the book
The commentator will address the problems uncovered in the book relating to the relationship between international law and domestic politics and the role of the Westminster Parliament on questions of national and international security, including the solutions proposed by the book to reinvigorate parliamentary discourse and to address government withholding of classified information.