4 ms·

Without going into the sentiment of this, I suppose Chaos Islands are not part of the United Kingdom but rather an overseas territory, so more like "property",

Without going into the sentiment of this, I suppose Chaos Islands are not part of the United Kingdom but rather an overseas territory, so more like "property", to put it bluntly. I guess the government can just give away a building it owns, and this is more analogous than giving away "territory". And there is no current indigenous population there either. But yeah, Jersey is also an overseas territory, can the government just give that away?

Maxatar 2y ago
The United Kingdom has parliamentary supremacy with little to no checks or balances, so if the parliament wants to give away something, there is nothing that can really stop them.
- tialaramex 2y ago
  Indeed. The only practical constraints on parliament are the Laws of Nature, which unlike man's laws cannot be broken, and the will of the People, in defiance of which a Parliament necessarily would fall since the Parliament is constituted from those people. If Parliament tried to ban booze (as the US Federal Government once did) that's probably not going to go well, and maybe they would (like the US government) be forced to undo that - but all they did here was give away something very few of their citizens likely even knew they had. I was surprised it made headlines.
  - kmonsen 2y ago
    Parliament can for sure overrule the will of the people, and very often do. They might get punished in the next election or they may not. More precisely only the PM can call an election I believe.
    - lmm 2y ago
      > They might get punished in the next election or they may not. If what they do is sufficiently contrary to the will of the people (or at least, those with weapons and the will to use them), they'll get punished sooner than that. Laws and constitutions are a useful abstraction but ultimately an imperfect one.
SllX 2y ago
Jersey is a Crown Dependency, not an Overseas Territory. They share a King and the UK is responsible for their defense, but domestically Crown Dependencies are more independent of Parliament than your average British overseas territory.
- rich_sasha 2y ago
  Ok, fair point. Can the UK hand over Bermuda, or Cayman isles? I vaguely remember handing over the Falkland Islands to Argentina was actually on the cards before the invasion, so perhaps surprisingly the answer is "yes".
  - Maxatar 2y ago
    While I was downvoted my answer is correct. The UK parliament can and has ceded territory and all that is required is an act of parliament. It seems like people forget that the UK ceded everything from Ireland which was a UK constituent as opposed to a UK subject as well as Canada, Australia, India and numerous other territories. In the UK, parliament is supreme and has the final authority.
  - forinti 2y ago
    Which highlights how stupid the war was. Argentina should have invested in a better relationship with the islands. They would all be speaking Spanish by now.
    - Maken 2y ago
      At the time Argentina was under a military dictatorship that didn't have a good relationship even with its own people.
  - SllX 2y ago
    Yes. Parliament can. The people living there may not be particularly happy about it though, e.g. the entire population of the Falkland Islands save like the three people who voted in favor of linking up with Argentina that one time.
- 2y ago

Maxatar 2y ago

The United Kingdom has parliamentary supremacy with little to no checks or balances, so if the parliament wants to give away something, there is nothing that can really stop them.

tialaramex 2y ago
Indeed. The only practical constraints on parliament are the Laws of Nature, which unlike man's laws cannot be broken, and the will of the People, in defiance of which a Parliament necessarily would fall since the Parliament is constituted from those people. If Parliament tried to ban booze (as the US Federal Government once did) that's probably not going to go well, and maybe they would (like the US government) be forced to undo that - but all they did here was give away something very few of their citizens likely even knew they had. I was surprised it made headlines.
- kmonsen 2y ago
  Parliament can for sure overrule the will of the people, and very often do. They might get punished in the next election or they may not. More precisely only the PM can call an election I believe.
  - lmm 2y ago
    > They might get punished in the next election or they may not. If what they do is sufficiently contrary to the will of the people (or at least, those with weapons and the will to use them), they'll get punished sooner than that. Laws and constitutions are a useful abstraction but ultimately an imperfect one.

SllX 2y ago

Jersey is a Crown Dependency, not an Overseas Territory. They share a King and the UK is responsible for their defense, but domestically Crown Dependencies are more independent of Parliament than your average British overseas territory.

rich_sasha 2y ago
Ok, fair point. Can the UK hand over Bermuda, or Cayman isles? I vaguely remember handing over the Falkland Islands to Argentina was actually on the cards before the invasion, so perhaps surprisingly the answer is "yes".
- Maxatar 2y ago
  While I was downvoted my answer is correct. The UK parliament can and has ceded territory and all that is required is an act of parliament. It seems like people forget that the UK ceded everything from Ireland which was a UK constituent as opposed to a UK subject as well as Canada, Australia, India and numerous other territories. In the UK, parliament is supreme and has the final authority.
- forinti 2y ago
  Which highlights how stupid the war was. Argentina should have invested in a better relationship with the islands. They would all be speaking Spanish by now.
  - Maken 2y ago
    At the time Argentina was under a military dictatorship that didn't have a good relationship even with its own people.
- SllX 2y ago
  Yes. Parliament can. The people living there may not be particularly happy about it though, e.g. the entire population of the Falkland Islands save like the three people who voted in favor of linking up with Argentina that one time.
2y ago