COULD QUEEN ELIZABETH VETO BREXIT?
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
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| Queen Elizabeth II |
COULD QUEEN ELIZABETH VETO BREXIT?
With her country split almost down the middle following Thursday's Brexit vote to leave the European Union, Queen Elizabeth is likely "saddened" by last week's turn of events.
But as head of
state, does the Queen have any power to change the result of the historic vote
– including possibly vetoing the move to leave the EU? The answer, in short: No
– and here’s why. The Queen’s power lies within the advice and guidance she
can give Prime Minister David Cameron in the coming days during their weekly
meetings. (In the wake of the Brexit vote, Cameron gave an emotional speech
announcing his resignation.)
The Queen calls a
prime minister from the largest party in any election to create a cabinet and
lead a government. She then leaves it to them, and acts only on the advice of
those ministers and the prime minister. "The U.K. has created a system
whereby the monarch is not able to exercise power – although all power exists
in her person," constitutional expert Alastair Bruce tells PEOPLE.
"The prime minister is the holder of all executive power, which she gave
him." • Want to keep up with the latest royals coverage? Click here to
subscribe to the Royals Newsletter.
"She is an
emblematic, human depository of all power but doesn’t exercise it. Arguably,
that is how the British monarchy has survived." Like her forebears, the
role of the monarch is to "be consulted, encourage and to warn," as
Walter Bagheot wrote in the English Constitution in 1867. (This might be
especially pertinent for someone with more than 64 years of experience.)
The only possible
time she might hold practical power is if she is deciding whom to call to lead
a government in a coalition. But, even then, she would do so on advice and only
when the politicians have come to an agreement about how they could make a
government work.
What Did Queen
Elizabeth II Do for the First Time in 63 Years?
Expert Andrew
Gimson agrees that it would be "astonishing" for the Queen to
intervene over Brexit in any formal way. "A large part of our free press
would be jumping up and down about it. It would probably be the end of the
monarchy, so she wouldn’t do it," says Gimson, author of Boris: The Rise
of Boris Johnson, about the man who led the Brexit campaign.
Political writer
and fellow Johnson expert, Sonia Purnell (who wrote Just Boris: A Tale of Blond
Ambition), says, "We are so divided now," that she wouldn’t be
surprised if conversations were happening at the highest levels in the palace.
"Intervening would be an exceptional thing to do and she would be loathe
to do it."
One thing is
certain: Whatever she has been telling Prime Minister Cameron, or others, it is
likely to stay between them. "We're not going to know what she does, what
she thinks and how she applies that influence," adds Bruce.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/could-queen-elizabeth-veto-brexit-150009181.html
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