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Attorney General @SuellaBraverman still hasn’t resigned, but she has broken her recent silence on the Internal Market Bill by publishing a statement of HM Government’s ‘legal position’ on it.

It runs to one side of A4.

And it is utterly risible.

/1

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl….. https://t.co/xJvwej8yL5

Partygate-related resignations by officials:

1. Allegra Stratton, Govt spokesperson
2. John Penrose, Govt 'anti-corruption tsar'
3. Lord Geidt, Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards

Resignations so far by politicians under doctrine of ministerial responsibility:

None

Here's my interview with @mrjamesob about the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. twitter.com/LBC/status/154…..

I find this concerning, since it undermines the constitutional principle that the Government must be able to command the confidence of the House of Commons: a principle that requires the Opposition, when appropriate, to be able to test that confidence via a vote. /1 twitter.com/pippacrerar/st…..

Implication that Police should think more carefully before issuing someone with a fixed penality because they're the PM is abhorrent to the rule of law.

'Every man, whatever be his rank or condition, is subject to the ordinary law of the realm' (Dicey)
twitter.com/paul__johnson/…..

The UK may have left the EU, but it has not left the community of nations or the rules-based international order. Treaty obligations are binding upon the UK, and to suggest that they are not ‘because Parliament is sovereign’ is as embarrassing as it is dangerous. /ends

I see Attorney-General @SuellaBraverman & Lord Chancellor @RobertBuckland still haven't resigned from a Government intent on undermining the rule of law.

I was going to say that's quite extraordinary — but it's now just par for the course.

Not a political point. Just a fact.

Extraordinary. A Cabinet Minister—in conversation with the PM's sister—boasting about her ignorance of the system for upholding the Ministerial Code, trivialising Lord Geidt's resignation & implying that standards in public life are an elite concern. youtu.be/aMT9X3HPqyg?t=…..

I'm pleased to be a signatory to this letter to the Times.

We argue that the recent decision to prorogue Parliament sets a dangerous precedent and is incompatible with the core UK constitutional principle of executive accountability to Parliament. https://t.co/KpXigOqMGY

There are 3 fundamental problems with this. First, it implies being bound by treaty obligations is incompatible with sovereignty, whereas entering into such obligations is actually an exercise of sovereignty. Sovereignty is a resource to be used, not a relic to be venerated. /1 twitter.com/suellabraverma…..

Does the PM’s refusal to resign mean the UK is in a ‘constitutional crisis’? That’s a vague notion, but I think the answer is that it implies he’s willing to create one very soon. Another way of framing the question is: At what point *must* Boris Johnson resign? /1

What is ‘elite’ about pointing out that @SuellaBraverman is advocating two entirely inconsistent policies, and that each of them would involve breaches of international law? If ‘making sense’ and ‘obeying the law’ are now elitist, we really are in deep trouble. twitter.com/maw6578/status…..

Keir Starmer has just told BBC News that if Boris Johnson attempts to stay on pending the leadership election, the Opposition will hold a parliamentary vote of no confidence. That is the proper constitutional mechanism for immediate removal of Johnson as PM, as explained here. twitter.com/ProfMarkElliot…..

By my reckoning, the Government has so far attempted in five ways to justify clauses 42 and 43 of the Internal Market Bill, which, if enacted, would allow Ministers to make regulations in breach of the Withdrawal Agreement /…

No. It’s not any sort of climb down — the net result would be the same: using these powers would place the UK in breach of its treaty obligations. Any MP who claims this is a legal game-changer is either disingenuous or ignorant. twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/s…..

First they came for the European Union. Then they came for the European Convention on Human Rights. This was always a question on when, not if. The logical endpoint of this initiative is withdrawal from the ECHR. https://t.co/ZxBY4qr8CX

The Guardian is reporting that it has seen a letter revealing a rift between Attorney General @SuellaBraverman and Advocate General Lord Keen on the Internal Market Bill. /1 theguardian.com/politics/2020/…..

In which case you know very little about how the UK constitution works.

But leaving that aside, presumably this means you want a second referendum, so 'the people' can make an informed decision about whether to leave the EU once they actually know what that would entail? twitter.com/JuliaHB1/statu…..

Another Sunday, another Sunday Telegraph story demonstrating the fragile state of respect for the rule of law on the part of the UK Government. The Justice Secretary's apparent plans raise three key constitutional concerns. (1) https://t.co/KmZTTmTwBM

The degree of cognitive dissonance exhibited here is quite overwhelming.

It's very hard to understand what moral authority the UK Government thinks it has to lecture China about breaking treaty obligations whilst simultaneously planning to do so in relation to the NI Protocol. twitter.com/trussliz/statu…..

Let me get this clear. The Good Friday Agreement is so important that (setting aside your nonsense about the necessity doctrine) you advocate breaching the NI Protocol, while simultaneously advocating withdrawal from the ECHR, which the GFA says must be protected in NI law? twitter.com/suellabraverma…..

Pleased to have a letter with Lord Anderson (@bricksilk) and Lord Pannick in today's Times on the unlawfulness of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. thetimes.co.uk/article/times-….. https://t.co/fGsmzUx7LS

Utterly extraordinary. Northern Ireland’s position in the UK is unique only because the rest of it has left the Single Market. Does @BrandonLewis fail to realise he’s extolling the virtues of EU membership or simply assume his intended audience is too gullible to grasp this? twitter.com/BrandonLewis/s…..

I assumed this was a spoof account, but apparently not. I’m happy to confirm I’ve made no claim about the moon being made of cheese.* If you’d like to clarify what you said about the judgment, do feel free.

* words I never expected to type, but these are unusual times twitter.com/Geoffrey_Cox/s…..

In an interview in today's Telegraph, the Justice Secretary proposes to enable ministers to 'correct' court judgments that they consider 'incorrect'. This raises profound constitutional concerns, as I explain in this short video. youtu.be/MfOWpnmo8Rw..