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 British monarchy, with the United Kingdom becoming a "democratic, federal and secular Commonwealth of Britain", or in effect a republic with a codified constitution. It was introduced by Benn a number of times until Benn's retirement in 2001, but never achieved a second reading. Under the Bill:

• The monarchy would be abolished and the constitutional status of the Crown ended, with ownership and control of former Crown lands, buildings, and properties transferred to the Commonwealth government;
• The Church of England would be disestablished, with powers over faith, doctrine, liturgy, property, discipline and appointments formerly exercised by the Crown, Parliament or private patrons transferred to the General Synod of the Church of England;
• 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 the President, who shall exercise it on the advice of either the Prime Minister, or by a resolution of the House of Commons;
• The Privy Council would be abolished, and replaced by a Council of State;
• The House of Lords would be replaced by an elected House of the People that proportionally represents the nations of England, Scotland, and Wales, 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, and the power of local authorities would be free to act in the interests of their constituencies, barring acts banned by an Act of Parliament;
• County Court judges and magistrates would be elected;
• British jurisdiction over Northern Ireland would be ended;
• The judiciary would be reformed and a National Legal Service would be created.
• The Official Secrets Acts 1911, 1920, 1939, and 1989 would be repealed, and all official information published or available on request, save for information relating to defense and security matters, economic policy, international relations, and personal data;
• 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]

• Benn, Tony; Hood, Andrew (1993), Winstone, Ruth (ed.), Common Sense, Hutchinson, ISBN 0-09-177308-3

• Benn revives Bill to replace monarch with a president The Independent, 12 December 1992
• Tony Benn’s Plan to Democratise Britain – and Abolish the Monarchy