THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- December 15, 2017- Topic 2

House rules: On May’s Brexit defeat

The adoption in the House of Commons of an amendment to the draft bill on Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union has handed Prime Minister Theresa May a stinging defeat. But the legislative development on Wednesday, with Conservative rebels joining ranks with Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs, is an important guarantee of parliamentary scrutiny over the shape of London’s future relationship with the EU. 

The provision will ensure that legislators have a voice in finalising the terms of the exit agreement. The significance of that role cannot be exaggerated, given that the residency status of millions of U.K. and EU citizens in a post-Brexit scenario are at stake, besides London’s financial liabilities to the bloc. No less vital is the future of the border separating Northern Ireland from the Irish Republic. The difficult compromises Ms. May will be required to strike in the months ahead will now oblige her to be accountable to her party and to Parliament. The issue of whether parliamentary sovereignty trumps executive prerogative in determining the terms of London’s exit has existed since the June 2016 referendum. The government maintained all along that the matter was in the domain of executive authority once the popular will on Britain’s EU membership had been obtained in the plebiscite. The predominantly pro-European MPs, across party lines, have deemed otherwise. They have held it is in the fitness of things that the legislature should be taken into confidence on Brexit.

Following the referendum, a similar controversy had arisen over whether Parliament should be consulted on triggering Article 50 of the European treaty on leaving the union. A judicial challenge to the government’s position was upheld in January by the country’s Supreme Court. The ruling by a majority held that since domestic laws would be altered following Brexit, a parliamentary vote on initiating that process was mandatory. Another test looms in Parliament next week pertaining to differences over the March 2019 deadline for Brexit, which critics fear may not leave enough room to finalise the precise terms of the departure. The government’s apparent lack of transparency on these fundamental questions sits uneasily with the emphasis of the Leave campaigners’ populist rhetoric on taking back control of their country. Their current confusion owes in large measure to the complexities of deciding how far away they want to go from the EU in economic and political terms. The defeat on Wednesday is indeed a big victory for the opposition, eager to capitalise on the Conservatives’ slender majority in the House of Commons. And with referendums becoming a popular tool worldwide, it nuances the larger debate on whether such votes should override the will of the legislature, or guide it.

Vocabulary

Adoption: the action or fact of adopting or being adopted.

Example: She gave up her children for adoption

Stinging: feel or cause to feel a sharp tingling or burning pain or sensation.

Example: Her eyes stung

Synonyms: smart, burn, hurt, be irritated, be sore

Scrutiny: critical observation or examination.

Example: Every aspect of local government was placed under scrutiny

Synonyms: examination, inspection, survey, study, perusal, investigation

Significance: the quality of being worthy of attention.

Example: Adolescent education was felt to be a social issue of some significance

Synonyms: importance, import, consequence, seriousness, gravity

Exaggerate: represent something as being larger, greater, better, or worse than it really is.

Example: They were apt to exaggerate any aches and pains

Synonyms: overstate, overemphasize, overestimate, magnify, amplify

Oblige: make someone legally or morally bound to an action or course of action.

Example: Doctors are obliged by law to keep patients alive while there is a chance of recovery

Synonyms: require, compel, bind, constrain, obligate, leave with no option but

Prerogative: a right or privilege exclusive to a particular individual or class.

Example: Owning an automobile was still the prerogative of the rich

Synonyms: entitlement, right, privilege, advantage, due, birthright

Controversy: disagreement, typically when prolonged, public, and heated.

Example: He sometimes caused controversy because of his forceful views

Synonyms: disagreement, dispute, argument, debate, dissension, contention

Pertain: be appropriate, related, or applicable.

Example: Matters pertaining to the organization of government

Synonyms: concern, relate to, be related to, be connected with, be relevant to

Rhetoric: the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.

Example: Born into a rich provincial family, he studied philosophy as well as rhetoric and law.

Synonyms: oratory, eloquence, command of language, way with words

Nuance: a subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound.

Example: The nuances of facial expression and body language

Synonyms: fine distinction, subtle difference, shade, shading, gradation