British Overseas Territory (Cession Conditions) (Restoration of Royal Prerogative) Bill

A

Bill

To

Restore long standing constitutional balance to foreign policy.

1 Repeal

1) The British Overseas Territories (Cession Conditions) Act is hereby repealed in full.

2 Short title, commencement and full extent

1) This Act may be cited as the British Overseas Territory (Cession Conditions) (Restoration of Royal Prerogative) Act 2021.

2) This Act shall come into force immediately upon Royal Assent.

3) This Act extends to the whole of the United Kingdom.

This bill was written by the Viscount Houston on behalf of Her Majesty’s 29th Government.

A01

Replace Section 2(2) with:

> This Act shall come into force one month after Royal Assent

A02

A0X:

Insert a new Section 2 after Section 1 (And renumber subsequent sections) entitled "Referendums"

(1) A Minister of the Crown may, by order, call for a referendum to be held within a British Overseas Territory (as defined as any Territory outlined in Schedule 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981) on whether to secede from the United Kingdom.

(a) This order must be enacted via the affirmative procedure.

(b) If the cession is to another state, the 'other nation' must have consented to the referendum taking place.

(c) If the cession is for the British Overseas Territory to become an independent nation, no outside consent is necessary.

(2) In case of an emergency cession being required:

(a) A Minister of the Crown must give a written statement to the House of Commons outlying why this move was necessary.

(b) The emergency cession may be enacted 30 days after the giving of the statement.

(c) A motion may be laid before the House of Commons to annul the decision made provided 30 days has not passed (ie that the cession has not taken place)

(d) A subsequent order may be made as under Section 2(1) within the same Parliamentary term to cede the territory via referendum should the emergency secession be rejected.

Additionally (as part of this amendment),

In (new) Section 3 (Short Title, Commencement, Extent), replace 3(1) with "This Act may be cited as the British Overseas Territory (Cession Conditions) (Referendums) Act 2021"

EN: This ensures that, though the Government may cede a territory, it is not done without the consent of the governed, as the opening speech claims to seek.

These amendments were both submitted by The Viscount Felixstowe.

Vote on the above amendments by October 8th at 10pm BST.