A note from the Scottish government obtained by the Guardian reveals that “it is almost certain” that the draft laws have been secretly amended to get the Queen’s approval.
By virtue of an arcane mechanism known as the queen’s consent, the monarch usually has an advance view of bills that could affect her personal property and public powers. Unlike the best-known procedure of royal assent, a process that marks the moment a bill becomes law, the queen’s consent must be sought before the relevant legislation is passed by parliament.
A Guardian investigation last year revealed that the Queen’s consent procedure had been used by the monarch over the past few decades to privately pressure to change the proposed UK legislation. In Scotland, where the procedure is known as the consent of the crown, the Guardian’s investigation identified at least 67 cases in which the Queen examined Scottish accounts.
Representatives of the Queen have previously refused to say how many times she called for amendments to the legislation as part of this procedure. Buckingham Palace and the government insist the process is “purely formal” and maintain that the Queen does not use the procedure to change the nature of bills.
But the recently obtained internal note, prepared in response to a parliamentary question on the use of crown consent, contains the first explicit admission that the procedure can be used to change legislation to address the Queen’s concerns.
He also confirms that the Queen’s lawyers can discuss the merits of the bills with the Scottish government and admits that “it is almost certain that some bills were changed before their submission to address concerns about the Crown’s consent. “That is, even the Holyrood MSPs did not know that the legislation had been amended for this purpose.
“A later channel to introduce amendments to the legislation”
Admissions follow a series of reports in the Guardian revealing how the Queen used her privileged access to influence ministers to change UK legislation to benefit her private interests or reflect her views between the late 1960s and 2021.
The procedure, which works in UK, Scottish and Welsh parliaments, dictates that proposed laws cannot be implemented without the monarch’s approval when a bill could affect their public powers or private interests, such as his privately owned estates at Balmoral and Sandringham. But critics have said the secret procedure allows the unelected monarch to secure changes to the laws to protect his property without the public knowing of his intervention.
Last year, the Queen’s lawyers secretly pressured Scottish ministers to change a bill to exempt their private land from a major initiative to reduce carbon emissions. The exemption meant the Queen was the only private owner in Scotland who was not required to facilitate the construction of pipes to heat buildings with renewable energy.
In July 2021, The Guardian published evidence that the Queen had examined at least 67 Scottish acts, including legislation dealing with town planning laws, property taxes and tenant protections, after Scottish Liberal Democrats discovered correspondence. which detailed the use of crown consent in Scotland.
A few weeks later, Willie Rennie, then leader of the Scottish Lib Dems, asked the Scottish government in a parliamentary question a list of acts that had been amended as a result of exchanges with the Queen’s representatives. He also asked for details of any concerns raised by the Queen about the draft Scottish legislation and the publication of the Scottish Government’s responses.
The Scottish government refused to answer the question. But The Guardian has obtained the confidential briefing note prepared by officials for George Adam, the Scottish national party minister who responded to Rennie, which reveals how the royal house can use the consent procedure to influence legislation.
The official note reads: “It is also almost certain that some bills were amended before they were tabled in order to address concerns about the crown’s consent, but these will not have been‘ amended ’in parliamentary terms and , therefore, would not be included in this list. ”
The note confirms that government lawyers contacted the Queen’s Scottish lawyer when they thought her consent would be needed “to discuss the implications of the relevant provision”. “There may also be political discussions with representatives of the Queen,” the note admits.
In addition, the note states that the government of Nicola Sturgeon considered it too expensive to compile and publish a list of bills that had been amended. The Scottish government has also refused to publish any of the letters from the Queen’s lawyers, arguing that they must remain secret to protect their constitutional and legal privileges. As a result, there can be no external scrutiny of the changes made to ensure the Queen’s approval and which accounts have been affected.
Alex Cole-Hamilton, the current leader of the Scottish Lib Dems, said he would write to Holyrood president Alison Johnston and Sturgeon to ask for an urgent statement on the note’s revelations.
“These documents suggest that there was interference in the process even before government legislation was first shown in parliament,” he said.
“It seems as if, with the voluntary compliance of Scottish ministers, the Crown had maintained a later channel to introduce amendments to legislation so as not to leave any way for the public or their parliamentary representatives to ever know that changes had been called for. the fact.
“This is a startling reversal of the widespread principle that the monarch does not legislate for his own benefit.”
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The Scottish government said it was legally required to apply the consent of the Crown under the legislation established by Holyrood, and said MSPs could ask about this process when it is used. But he said the secrecy about the content and outcome of his discussions with the queen’s representatives was justified.
“While the Scottish Government appreciates transparency in relation to this process, it is important that the government protects ministers and private space officials needed to explore issues and develop policies,” he said.
Since the beginning of their reign in 1952, the Queen and Prince Charles have reviewed more than 1,000 laws enacted by the Westminster Parliament under the Queen’s consent mechanism.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the contents of the Scottish Government’s note. Earlier, a spokesman said: “The royal house can be consulted on bills in order to ensure the technical accuracy and consistency of the application of the bill to the crown, a complex legal principle that governs the statute and the common law. This process does not change the nature of any bill. “