1st Special Report - Government Response to the Committee’s 20th Report of Session 2017–19: The Role of Parliament in the UK Constitution: Authorising the Use of Military Force

This is the government's response, published 31 October 2019.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government agrees that Parliament has an important role in authorising military force, but remains satisfied that the current arrangements provide "the appropriate balance between Parliamentary scrutiny and operational flexibility".

• On the Committee's proposed resolution of the House, the Government states that it "does not agree that a resolution of the House is necessary" and "does not believe that codification of this convention would be appropriate".
• It is "mindful of the difficulties and risks" of formalising the convention, saying it cannot predict future situations and that codifying exceptions "would undermine our ability to act".
• It does not believe a standing commitment to report on the basis for urgent action without prior consultation is necessary. Where such action is taken, a statement will be made "as soon as reasonably possible", subject to security concerns.
• It considers that creating an exception to the rule on tabling substantive motions in advance could prevent Members giving full consideration to motions. It says changes to procedure are a matter for the Procedure Committee and the House.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error