Black Rod waz here...

When I was a child at junior school once a year we’d be herded into the school hall to watch the State Opening of Parliament on a not very large cathode ray tube television which looked very small if you were sitting cross legged on the floor at the back of the hall.  It was very boring but we had to watch it as this was the only time that ordinary people were allowed to see inside parliament on television.  The public had only been able to listen to parliament debating since 1975.  Parliamentary debates pre-75 had only been available to the public via short edited transcripts in upmarket national newspapers or via Hansard which was too voluminous for the local library to retain a copy.  Bowing to public pressure however the government would allow the cameras in but once a year to show its self off at its best – when not debating but playing about with ceremony and regalia. 

All this seemed very silly but then you watch the Tory leadership debate on the BBC …or attempt to watch it for it is so cringeworthy it’s impossible to sit through the whole thing.   A succession of “ordinary” people appear on a giant LCD TV screen of gargantuan proportions asking five men perched on bar stools simple questions about Brexit that they are unable to answer or answer with copious amounts of fudge.  Four of them say we must threaten the EU with a hard Brexit and be prepared to walk away without a deal and when confronted by members of the public in manufacturing industry or farming to whom this mean the instant catastrophic destruction of their livelihoods waffle “Nobody wants that”.  Except of course that’s exactly what they want.  They see the EU not as a fraternity of nations politically aligned for mutual convenience but as giant socialist project burdening them with things they don’t want like workers rights legislation.  When Rory Stewart like a one-man Greek Chorus points out that parliament (in which they have a majority of 4 if you include the Ulster Unionists) has repeatedly refused to back a no-deal Brexit the other four go into denial falling back on the implausible proposition that they alone have magical negotiating skills that evaded both Ms May and Mr Cameron. "We have to have the threat of a no deal Brexit" though like we have to have the threat of nuclear war is the jist of their argument for threatening everyone with financial oblivion.  No wonder Boris always looks so cheery - you need to be jolly to sell that one... 

Brexit was supposed to save our democracy yet we now have tabloids discussing whether a no-deal Brexit can be achieved by proroguing Parliament.  A surely unconstitutional political solution that hasn’t been considered viable since the Rump Parliament of 1648.  In different times this solution would be considered laughable but now suddenly people are discussing it seriously why?  Inevitably the Brexit choice has come down to the ultimate decision – which is more important: Implementing the Referendum Decision (which would be direct democracy) or implementing the will of Parliament (which would be representative democracy).  It was almost inevitable when the parties started playing with referenda to solve their internal political divisions by effectively bypassing parliament that it would end up at this point.  A point where the solutions presented are as despotic and absurd as those favoured by Charles I and Cromwell.  If Brexit really was about parliamentary supremacy and making our own laws how come implementing Brexit requires shutting down parliament ...? Answers in a trite tweet please... 

Maybe there was a point in forcing junior school children to watch the ceremonial slamming of the door in Black Rod’s face after all...