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Britain’s parliament has historically lacked formal war powers. Since 2003, however, MPs have voted five times on military action, including famously vetoing intervention in Syria in 2013. A new convention developed that—regardless of the legal position—governments should permit the House of Commons the opportunity to veto certain military deployments. This article explores what we now know—and what we do not—about the British War Powers Convention. It identifies apparent exceptions, including non-combat, Special Forces and drone operations. It highlights areas lacking clarity: for example, who decides what constitutes an ‘emergency’? It argues that most governments probably will allow the House of Commons to have its say before using force abroad, that a government politically able to bypass MPs without punishment need not fear involving them, while one unable to win support will be punished for avoiding a vote. Finally, the article considers the implications, both positive and negative, of parliamentary war powers for Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Résumé: La méthode de l’économie des conventions repose sur un questionnement objectif de la pragmatique de l’action qui se déroule en situation. Elle cherche ainsi à restituer les configurations de sens qui guident les acteurs grâce, aussi bien, aux justifications et controverses qu’aux traces incorporées dans les objets sociaux. À l’histoire croisée, elle peut donc apporter dans la comparaison une attention plus aiguë aux singularités des situations, spécialement dans le cas de l’Europe, aux singularités nationales. L’article tente de le démontrer sur les configurations de sens attribuées à la relation de travail en Allemagne, en France et en Grande-Bretagne dans l’entre-deux-guerres. En croisant différents domaines et sources, il suggère que ces configurations se nouent, respectivement, autour de la liberté du contrat, de la liberté d’association et de la dépendance du serviteur envers son maître. Pour arriver à ce résultat, il examine comment les conceptualisations de la relation de travail mettent en rapport, de manière propre à chaque pays, travail et produit du travail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mark Thompson deplores the decline in the public trust of government and of public service institutions such as the BBC. But there has also been a decline in another form of trust: government's trust in the ability of professionals such as doctors and teachers to deliver high quality public services. And, unlike Thompson's type of trust, this decline was inevitable, because it was based on untenable assumptions concerning professional motivation. The author discusses the importance of trust in an unwritten constitution, including trust in the use made of public resources, trust that appointments are being made on merit, trust that the civil service is ‘speaking truth unto power’ behind the scenes and ultimately trust that it retains the ability to serve future governments. In a world where trust in institutions is diminishing, there are still surprising levels of trust in the world of private philanthropy. The public are only too ready to give donations without seeking to question, especially in the wake of major disasters. Yet the nature of aid agencies has changed dramatically in the past thirty years into major global enterprises with sophisticated media and marketing operations. In this case a greater degree of scepticism from those who donate and paradoxically less trust might actually result in better outcomes from aid and better use of funding. Trust is critical to the mission of the FCO. The public needs to trust the competence and sound judgment of the professional diplomats. The diplomats themselves need to be able to rely on the commonsense of their fellow colleagues. Ministers and diplomats need to trust each other. And other governments need to have confidence in the discretion of their British counterparts. This is an increasing challenge in the world of instant news. Trust can be quickly lost by indiscreet or self-serving revelations. But the key is to be as open and transparent as possible about the processes of diplomacy. A new survey commissioned by the British Journalism Review demonstrates that public confidence in journalism has collapsed over the last five years. This is particularly true for the commercial broadcasters ITV and Channel 4, whose journalism has traditionally commanded as much public esteem as the BBC. Trust in the BBC and print journalists has also declined, and journalism suffered more than any of the other 16 occupational groups being assessed. This is partly due to the cumulative effect of various “fakery” scandals that have afflicted broadcasters over the last 18 months and partly down to a more widespread cynicism directed at those in authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]