PRIME MINISTER 2020 - Boris Johnson moved into number ten after Theresa May vacated the premises.

Number 10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA, is the traditional residence of the Prime Minister of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, constituting the United Kingdom.  Number 11 is the home of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

This is a bit of a misnomer in that Southern Ireland is not united as part of the same land mass and group of islands. Hence, the term "united" is somewhat misleading. This might go some way to explaining joining the European Union and then Brexiting.

The United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. The current monarch in 2020 is Queen Elizabeth II. She has reigned since 1952, making her the world's longest-serving current head of state. The next in line to the throne is Prince Charles, followed by Prince William and then Prince Harry.

If the potholed roads in England are a reflection of the state of the nation, the country is in deep trouble. Indeed, the National Debt reflects years of overspending and borrowing based on unlimited growth, where such expansion is contrary to the ethos of sustainability and circular economics. We should be looking to reduce kleptocratic empire building and scaling down the economy - before all that is left are a couple of pyramids, reference the Egyptian and Mayan empires that used up all their natural resources, literally eating themselves out of house and home so as to build their monumental pyramids.

NO WRITTEN CONSTITUTION - OR EFFECTIVE REMEDIES

The Constitution of the United Kingdom is uncodified and consists mostly of a collection of disparate written sources, statutes, and judge-made case law and international treaties, together with constitutional conventions. The lack of a single source of reference document means that the law is open to all kinds of interpretation and vagaries - and that basically, the Courts can make it up as they go along, and Parliament can also strike out or impose laws, often in denial of the rights of the citizen. It is a wholly unsatisfactory system that is open to abuse. The sooner the UK has a solid Written Constitution, the better.

As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and "constitutional law", the UK Parliament can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing Acts of Parliament, and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. No Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.

LAW AND INJUSTICE

English law (which applies in England and Wales and Northern Ireland) is based on common-law principles. The essence of common law is that, subject to statute, the law is developed by judges in courts, applying statute, precedent and common sense to the facts before them to give explanatory judgments of the relevant legal principles, which are reported and binding in future similar cases (stare decisis).

Unfortunately, where the courts are supposed to be independent under international and human rights law, judges may be influenced by masons on the one hand and by the honours system on the other. Such conflicts of interest undo the premise that the courts are independent, leading to injustices such as the Crown Prosecution Service seeking to convict 47 innocent men by withholding evidence that they knew undermined the Crown's case.

The courts of England and Wales are headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the Crown Court (for criminal cases). The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land for both criminal and civil appeal cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and any decision it makes is binding on every other court in the same jurisdiction, often having a persuasive effect in other jurisdictions.

POLITICAL PARTIES

Parliament in the United Kingdom conducts its business in the Houses of Commons and Lords. Political parties can send their leaders (members) to speak in Parliament in the House of Commons (commoners = ordinary people without title). These are the Members of Parliament that make up most of the representatives of political parties in the UK.

The United Kingdom has many political parties, some of which are represented in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Below are links to the websites of the political parties that were represented in the House of Commons after the 2015 General Election:

CONSERVATIVE PARTY

CO-OPERATIVE PARTY

DEMOCRAT UNIONIST PARTY

GREEN PARTY

LABOUR PARTY

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

PLAID CYMRU

SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY

SINN FEIN

SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC AND LABOUR PARTY

UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY (UKIP)

ULSTER UNIONIST PARTY

Conservative Party

Co-operative Party

Democratic Unionist Party

Green Party

Labour Party

Liberal Democrats

Plaid Cymru

Scottish National Party

Sinn Féin

Social Democratic and Labour Party

UK Independence Party

Ulster Unionist Party

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT A - Z (EXT LINKS)

BORIS JOHNSON

CAROLINE ANSELL

CHARLES CLARKE

CHARLES HENDRY

CHRIS GRAYLING

DAVID BLUNKETT

DAVID CAMERON

DAVID MILIBAND

ERIC PICKLES

GEOFFREY JOHNSON-SMITH

GEORGE OSBOURNE

GORDON BROWN

GRANT SHAPPS

GREG CLARK

GREGORY BARKER

HUW MERRIMAN

JACK STRAW

JOHN GUMMER

JOHN PRESCOTT

KENNETH CLARKE

KIM HOWELLS DR

MARGARET BECKETT

MAGARET THATCHER

MARIA CAULFIELD

NICK CLEGG

NORMAN BAKER

NUS GHANI

PATRICIA HEWITT

PHILIP DUNNE

PHILIP HAMMOND

RISHI SUNACK

SAJID JAVID

STEPHEN LLOYD

TERESA MAY  -  PRIME MINISTER

TESSA JOWELL

TONY BLAIR

VINCE CABLE

MPS INT LINKS

MICHAEL GOVE

THOMAS PAINE

CLIMATE CHANGE TRUST

We are concerned with how the make up of the above parties and (reasonably) popular policies affects the Wealden district, because we are all brothers on two islands in the Atlantic Ocean and what we do of fail to do is likely to rebound on ourselves and our fellow man in other nations around the world. How we act today influences policies in other countries in our global community. It is not just about us and our patch.

DISTRICT & BOROUGH COUNCILS

East Sussex has five District and Borough Councils, each with a border on the coast. From west to east they are: 

Eastbourne Borough Council

Hastings Borough Council

Lewes District Council 

Rother District Council 

Wealden District Council

There is also East Sussex County Council as the provider of services to the 5 East Sussex districts.

As near neighbours and with councils now sharing facilities and working together, these area of Sussex are included in our remit and an area where climate change and affordable housing are issues that need urgent attention. Where the coastline is a feature in every Council, Blue Growth is a food security issue, especially where this side of of our local economy is under-exploited.

LINKS & REFERENCE

http://www.number10.gov.uk/

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/prime-ministers-office-10-downing-street

https://thecommonwealth.org/

PARLIAMENT - The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Commonly known as the Houses of Parliament after its occupants, it is also known as the 'heart of British politics'.