Commonwealth of Britain Bill

Commonwealth of Britain Bill
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Introduced by	Tony Benn (Commons)
Status: Not passed

The Commonwealth of Britain Bill was a

bill first introduced in the House of Commons in 1991 by Tony Benn,^[1] then a Labour Member of Parliament (MP). It was seconded by the future Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn

The Bill proposed abolishing the

The monarchy would be abolished and the constitutional status of the Crown ended;
The
disestablished
;
The head of state would be a president, elected by a joint sitting of both Houses of the Commonwealth Parliament;
The functions of the royal prerogative would be transferred to Parliament;
The
Council of State
;
The House of Lords would be replaced by an elected House of the People, with equal representation of men and women;
The
House of Commons
would similarly have equal representation of men and women;
England, Scotland and Wales would have their own devolved National Parliaments with responsibility for devolved matters as agreed;
County Court judges and magistrates would be elected; and
British jurisdiction over Northern Ireland would be ended.
The judiciary would be reformed and a National Legal Service would be created.
The Constitution would be codified and an amendment process established.
The voting age would be lowered from 18 to 16.
MPs and other officials would swear oaths to the Constitution, not the Crown.^[2]

References