Constitution for Scotland Public Consultation Hub

Section 4.21. All Members of Parliament will be allowed freedom to vote free from intimidation from others. It is the responsibility of the Elected Members to ensure that the majority view of their constituents is prioritised over all other personal or political party considerations.

Proposed Amendments to Section

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Original Version

  • Avatar admin
    Administrator #1  •  2020-08-16 22:23:30

    Section 4.21. Section 4.21. All Members of Parliament will be allowed freedom to vote free from intimidation from others. It is the responsibility of the Elected Members to ensure that the majority view of their constituents is prioritised over all other personal or political party considerations.

      • drWillem

        Section 4.21. This can cause substantial political and social difficulties. What if the majority is 51%? This would mean the view of 49% to be dismissed. And what if the majority view favours capital punishment? I’m not sure if this responsibility in this way described, does not cause more problems than it intends to prevent.

      • Jim Osborne

        Section 4.21. The principal of this clause is absolutely essential. The prohibition on party "whips" and "whipping" is an essential check on the takeover of Parliament by a party with a majority. We are currently witnessing the takeover of the UK state by an elected dictatorship which is able to enforce its will on Parliament through control by the executive of party MPs through the whip system. It is a recipe for a totalitarian state, where a single political party can take over all the key institutions of the state - that's where the UK is headed. Nazi Germany and Bolshevik USSR are two classic examples of the conflation of party and state.

Proposed Amendment to Section 4.21.


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