The Royal Prerogative Redefined. Parliamentary Debate on the Role

JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 224 Teemu Häkkinen The Royal Prerogative RedeÀned Parliamentary Debate on the Role of the British Parliament in Large-scale Military Deployments, 1982–2003 JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 224 Teemu Häkkinen The Royal Prerogative Redefined Parliamentary Debate on the Role of the British Parliament in Large-scale Military Deployments, 1982–2003 Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston humanistisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston Historica-rakennuksen salissa H320 helmikuun 1. päivänä 2014 kello 12. Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Jyväskylä, in building Historica, hall H320, on February 1, 2014 at 12 o’clock noon. UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2014 The Royal Prerogative Redefined Parliamentary Debate on the Role of the British Parliament in Large-scale Military Deployments, 1982–2003 JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 224 Teemu Häkkinen The Royal Prerogative Redefined Parliamentary Debate on the Role of the British Parliament in Large-scale Military Deployments, 1982–2003 UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2014 Editors Pasi Ihalainen Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä Pekka Olsbo, Ville Korkiakangas Publishing Unit, University Library of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities Editorial Board Editor in Chief Heikki Hanka, Department of Art and Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä Petri Karonen, Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä Paula Kalaja, Department of Languages, University of Jyväskylä Petri Toiviainen, Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä Tarja Nikula, Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Jyväskylä Raimo Salokangas, Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä URN:ISBN:978-951-39-5592-2 ISBN 978-951-39-5592-2 (PDF) ISBN 978-951-39-5591-5 (nid.) ISSN 1459-4323 (nid.), 1459-4331 (PDF) Copyright © 2014, by University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä University Printing House, Jyväskylä 2014 ABSTRACT Häkkinen, Teemu The Royal Prerogative Redefined. Parliamentary Debate on the Role of the British Parliament in Large-scale Military Deployments, 1982–2003 Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2014, 306 p. Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities ISSN 1459-4323 (nid.), 1459-4331 (PDF); 224 ISBN 978-951-39-5591-5 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-5592-2 (PDF) The exercise of foreign policy has traditionally been reserved to the executive. Recent developments in Britain lead to a question whether this notion has experienced changes. The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the role of the British parliament in decisions to deploy and commit military troops to large-scale military conflicts. The period analyzed includes the Falklands War (1982), the Gulf Crisis (1990–1991) and the build-up to the war in Iraq (2002– 2003). This study utilizes a linguistically oriented methodology combined with a traditional reading of parliamentary and other political sources to analyze the role of Parliament through the perceptions of it presented there and thus to reveal the history of parliamentary discourse relating to Parliament itself. The analysis reconstructs the politicians’ understanding of the role of Parliament in different domestic and international contexts. It argues that since the 1980s the traditional view of the Royal Prerogative in the exercise of foreign and defence policies has experienced shifts. The legal framework for the use of troops began to be regarded as outdated for the needs of a modern democracy. The cross- party shared idea of a stronger Parliament was a result of a gradual long-term development in which the role of Parliament was increasingly and repeatedly stressed in the parliamentary discourse to produce successful results. The success manifested itself in a generally accepted role for Parliament as the source of authorization for the use of military force in the Iraq War. This outcome was a result of changing circumstances and shifting attitudes towards the relation between Parliament and the executive, and as such, it has yielded new interpretations of the role and influence of the legislature in foreign and defence policy decision-making. Keywords: Britain, parliament, debate, foreign policy, defence policy, war, the Falklands War, the Gulf Crisis, the Gulf War, the Iraq War Author’s address Teemu Häkkinen Voionmaankatu 16 A 16 FIN-40700 Jyväskylä [email protected] Supervisors Professor Pasi Ihalainen Department of History and Ethnology University of Jyväskylä PhD Satu Matikainen Department of History and Ethnology University of Jyväskylä Reviewers Dr. Paul Seaward History of Parliament Trust London Professor Robert Blackburn Institute of Contemporary British History King’s College London Opponents Dr. Paul Seaward PREFACE In 2009 I was in a situation in which I finally had to make decisions regarding the future. My graduate studies were beginning to be completed. The only question began to be: What would I do next? By that time I had learned that the answers usually turn up, one way or another. During the writing of my Mas- ter’s thesis, I had discussed with my supervisor Professor Pasi Ihalainen about the possibility of pursuing postgraduate research on a similar topic, the role of the British parliament in war, and his reply was positive. It was in August 2009 when Pasi told me that there was funding available within the Academy of Fin- land Centre of Excellence in Political Thought and Conceptual Change for a brief period if I wished to begin to work on the doctoral dissertation. And there it was, the answer, and the beginning of a new journey. And what a journey it has been. I have worked on my research with the desire to learn interesting new things, to enjoy the journey and finally to accomplish the project before attractive new opportunities come along. During the last four years I have read a massive number of words about British politics, sat in the front of the computer for un- countable hours, walked around the Seminaarinmäki Campus of University of Jyväskylä in the search of ideas and a breather and discussed my research with many colleagues. And here it is, the dissertation. For the successful completion of it I am indebted to many persons, above all to my supervisors Pasi and Dr Satu Matikainen, who have guided me through the process. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to my reviewers, Dr Paul Seaward and Professor Robert Blackburn, for their criticism and suggestions on the manuscript. The Academy of Finland project Parliamentary Means of Conflict Resolution in Twenti- eth-Century Britain has provided not only the bulk of funding but also just the right circumstances for the work through collaboration with my colleagues Laura-Mari Manninen, Miina Kaarkoski, Matti Roitto, Dr Jonas Harvard and Dr Rinna Kullaa, to whom I wish to express my sincere gratitude. I have also ap- preciated the influence of Professor Kari Palonen and his The Politics of Dissen- sus team on my work. The Department of History and Ethnology has been a perfect place to work. Gerard McAlester has done a tremendous amount of work with the proofreading to make my manuscript resemble something like sensible written English. My family, Laura and Reittu, have provided me with an occasionally needed sense of reality and a much needed counter to work. In addition to the above-mentioned Academy of Finland project funding, this research has been subsidized by the Emil Aaltonen Foundation and the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Jyväskylä, and for this I extend my sincere gratitude to both the foundation and the faculty. Jyväskylä, January 2014 Author CONTENTS ABSTRACT PREFACE CONTENTS 1 PARLIAMENT AND WAR ................................................................................ 9 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 9 1.2 Previous research ...................................................................................... 19 1.3 The functions and role of Parliament .................................................... 26 1.4 Foreign affairs and the use of the military ............................................ 34 2 METHODS, CONCEPTS AND SOURCES ..................................................... 40 2.1 The focus on parliamentary language and its use ............................... 40 2.2 The sources ................................................................................................ 49 3 THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT AS A POLITICAL FORUM ......................... 54 3.1 The House of Commons: the division between the Government and the Opposition ................................................................................... 54 3.2 The different culture of the House of Lords ......................................... 64 4 THE FALKLANDS WAR OF 1982: THE GOVERNMENT MAKES THE DECISIONS ......................................................................................................... 71 4.1 The background of the conflict ............................................................... 71 4.2 The deployment of troops and the use of force: the Government vs. the Opposition ....................................................... 79 4.3 The deployment of troops and the use of force: arguments pro et contra outside the parties’ official lines ................................................. 98 4.4 Parliament’s functions under parliamentary discussion: Parliament “not a committee of a revolutionary regime” ...............

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