Where does Sovereignty lie in the UK?
Sovereignty is basically supreme power- in fancy terms, it means 'the legitimate and exclusive rights to exercise power in a given area.'
The phrase 'Parliament is sovereign' if often use in politics and such - saying their Parliament has supreme power - a pretty simple concept to grasp. But again, this is politics, and nothing is ever that simple.
There are different types of sovereignty in the UK too. Legal sovereignty is where supreme power lies according to the law, political sovereignty is where supreme power lies in reality, whilst pooled sovereignty is just in the EU.
Back to Parliamentary Sovereignty though. Its pretty important as its seen as the main principle of the UK Constitution (remember that weird document that exists but isn't really there - kind of like my motivation as this point) - so again, Parliament holds supreme authority in the UK, which enables them to make laws and argue and stuff. (That part is pretty important, so there is a reason its repeated a lot- nothing to do with the fact that im trying to reach the minimum word count on this or whatever.)
AV Dicey, said that '(Parliament)has under the British Constitution, the right to make or unmake any law whatever, and further, that no person or body is regonised by the law of England of having a right to override or set aside the legislation of Parliament.'
The sovereignty of Parliament can be observed in a number of ways. Government can gain that sovereignty through elections, as if they have the legitimacy of the people, they have the right to rule, and therefore the right to access this supreme power that lies in Parliament. (A pretty good job perk to be honest.) However, there are a few rules that must be followed with this power. Although it looks like the PM can do as they please, when making important decisions, such as airstrikes on Syria, they must gain the popular vote in the Commons. Bu if it comes down to something in their manifesto and they gain a strong majority in the Commons, the Lords cannot veto it, such as the EU Referendum to occur in June.
A previously mentioned, the fact that Parliament can make and amend laws shows their sovereignty - this would be impossible unless it had access to the ultimate power that lies in Parliament.
Parliament cannot bind, or be binded by its successors. However, the fact that the UK constitution is not entrenched kind of defies this point - for example, if the next Government come in with a strong majority, nothing is stopping them from abolishing the fixed Term Parliament Act passed in 2011. So, does this 'ultimate power' really have an extent..? (leaves on a cliffhanger as i don't want to go into this with too much detail because our next post might have to be on this topic.)
