Just recently the Cabinet Secretary published a draft ‘cabinet manual’ which sets out the workings and mechanics of the state and its institutions. Sir Gus O’Donnell has just formally put into writing the British constitution. So where conventions have previously existed we now have it written down, but not written down following public debate, not even written down to help citizens to understand their democracy. It has been written down to explain to the government how the state should operate.
Succession and coronation
24. The succession to the Crown is automatic; on the death of the previous Sovereign the heir succeeds without any further ceremony and, as in the case of Edward VIII, can reign without ever being formally crowned. The coronation ceremony usually takes place some months later. Under the Coronation Oath, the Sovereign swears by oath to govern the people of the UK and the Commonwealth realms according to statutes passed in Parliament and their agreed laws and customs; to cause law and justice, in mercy, to be executed in all judgements; to the utmost of his or her power maintain the laws of God, the true profession of the Gospel and the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law; and to preserve to the bishops and clergy of England and to the churches committed to their charge all the rights and privileges which the law accords (see paragraphs 36 and 37 on the Established Church).
We all know that the Cabinet Secretary who compiled this 'draft' is also the Chair of the Honours and Decorations Committee which makes rules they expect British citizens to follow when wearing medals (or not as the case may be) in public, yet our elected politicians say it is not the British thing to tell citizens what to wear in public.
