The usual channels
I wonder if, on her recent visit to the UK, the Honourable Prime Minister enquired about an odd expression, used in the Mother of Parliaments. As a student of constitutional history, it used to puzzle me - 'the usual channels'. The explanation was given to me eventually, and, coming across it recently, I was struck by its continuing relevance.
'The usual channels' are a little known but powerful group of people who meet out of sight. It includes the Leader of the House of Commons, who has to announce the order of debate for the coming week, and representatives of the other main parties, as he knows he cannot carry out these responsibilities without consulting them.
One retired Leader, John Biffen, explained it this way: “It is often said that we have an adversarial system of politics in the House of Commons. Actually, this is simply not true. The way we operate is very much by informal understanding between the two sides. This House couldn't operate merely on the rulings of the Speaker. They have to be supplemented by understandings and agreements just as the nation at large couldn't, in fact, be governed merely by law. There has to be an understanding, an acceptance of things which keeps our society together and the House of Commons is no different.”
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