Saracen - or whomever - opinion on Succession to the Crown Bill

[Galant]

Saracen, you were the first to come to mind for a bit of insightful opinion on this one.

In Parliament today they're expected to pass through to the next stage the Succession to the Crown Bill.

I've heard varying commentary on the hidden significance of this owing not to the main motions of gender equality and marriage to a Roman Catholic, but rather, how it will affect connected legislation - The Act of Settlement and Article of Union - and therefore potential influence the end of the Monarchy, disestablishment of the C of E and the end of the Union.

Section 4 states:

"4 Consequential amendments etc
(1) The Schedule contains consequential amendments.
(2) References (however expressed) in any enactment to the provisions of the Bill
of Rights or the Act of Settlement relating to the succession to, or possession of,
the Crown are to be read as including references to the provisions of this Act.
(3) The following enactments (which relate to the succession to, and possession of,
the Crown) are subject to the provision made by this Act—
Article II of the Union with Scotland Act 1706;
Article II of the Union with England Act 1707;
Article Second of the Union with Ireland Act 1800;
Article Second of the Act of Union (Ireland) 1800."

The webpage for the Bill is here: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/...othecrown.html

Any thoughts?

Cheers!

[Saracen]

Saracen, you were the first to come to mind for a bit of insightful opinion on this one.

....

Any thoughts?

Sorry to disappoint, but no, not really. I was aware it was up today, but haven't really given it any thought.

[BobF64]

Surely the "connected legislation" is referenced because those 4 Acts all contain some reference to either the Monarch themselves, or the line of succession in some way.

I would imagine, since I havent read them, that its most likely something about the Monarch being non-Catholic.

[Saracen]

Not so much the monarch being non-catholic, as the monarch being the head of the established church, the CofE, so we could end up with a monarch who is jewish, or muslim, or even atheist, being the head of the Church of England.

Come to think of it, I rather like the notion. It certainly should cause a bit of a rumpus in the corridors of power.

[HalloweenJack]

well the first born of wills and kate will be 1st in line wether its a boy or a girl (good change)

and a none Christian head of CofE? would be a good thing.... might even shake those pompus muppets into reality

[Galant]

Ah well!

Sorry it took me a while to respond. Been a busy few days.

Here are a couple of articles referring to the potential issues. As a general summary though, I can't see how it's ever a good idea to rush through any sort of law, and it only gets worse the more significant/foundational the documents in question.

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeeh...-can-of-worms/

http://www.nicholassoames.org.uk/con...ion-crown-bill

It seems most people are focusing on the 'Roman Catholic' succession aspect, although Cranmer's blog pointed out a potential effect upon the Union with Scotland.

The other side to it is that the law, if and when passed in England, will also have to be independently passed in the other 16 common wealth countries where the Queen is also the head of state which means the law will just be sitting around until that happens.

As I said above, my general approach to this is mainly founded upon the fact that this is getting rushed through.

[Stringent]

It certainly should cause a bit of a rumpus in the corridors of power.

Powers of corridor? If they walk backwards ...