Dr David Starkey's Brutal Analysis On Supreme Court Prorogation Ruling
25 September 2019, 12:01
Dr David Starkey railed against the Supreme Court ruling, insisting that it completely changes the way parliament will govern.
The 11 justices of the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnson's prorogation was unlawful - a decision that Dr Starkey vehemently disagreed with.
Speaking to Iain Dale, the constitutional historian said: "The language of the verdict verge was political. It is not for judges to rule on political truthfulness.
"We've already had a case thrown out that tried to reverse the result of the referendum on the claims of the leavers, that the £350m a week for the NHS were wrong. The judges said then, sensibly, sorry political tactics are political tactics. It is not for the law to intervene on.
"Similarly if you actually listen to the interventions at the Supreme Court, particularly one of the Scottish council, it was bizarre. It wasn't a legal speech, it was a speech at hustings. And he wasn't shot down.
"This is not how we do law in this country."
Dr Starkey labelled the government "stupid" for trying to pretend that the prorogation was about a new Queen's Speech and not Brexit.
He added: "The government was completely stupid to give a transparently false reason. I think Johnson has got much too much of a record of loose language to put it as mildly as possible and this just reinforces it.
"The fact the judges thought 'we'll slap them down'. That is not a judicial behaviour.
"This changes the way we are governed. This changes the way we do politics. This changes the way in which we thought of ourselves as the English constitution is held up for admiration.
"The events since the referendum have broken the English constitution. They have broken it, shattered in pieces like a noble statue which has been pushed over and deliberately broken. It is an act of utter vandalism.
"And once it's broken, I don't think it can be put back together again. The last time we were in territory like this, it was settled by civil war."
