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Contains the 4th session of the 28th Parliament through the 1st session of the 48th Parliament.

Army Training and Recruiting Agency

The Royal prerogative derives from the constitutional settlement enshrined in the Bill of Rights 1688, and under such powers the Government can declare war and deploy armed forces to conflicts abroad without the consent of Parliament. However, given that the Government agreed to a parliamentary vote before the Iraq war in 2003, there have subsequently been widespread calls for the convention to be established that the Government should always seek Parliamentary approval before taking any action in future conflicts. The Committee's report examines the alternatives to the use of the Royal prerogative power in the deployment of armed force, whether there should be a more direct role for Parliament and in particular whether Parliamentary approval should be required for any deployment of British forces outside the UK (whether or not into areas of conflict), or if there is a need for different approaches in different situations, for example in honouring commitments under international treaties or in pursuance of UN Security Council resolutions. The Committee concludes that the use of the Royal prerogative is outdated and recommends that a parliamentary convention be established to determine the role Parliament should play in making decisions to deploy force or forces outside the UK to war, intervention in an existing conflict or to environments where there is a risk that the forces will be engaged in conflict.