TT Constitution not Cromwellian

THE EDITOR: The TT 1976 Constitution is not "a British constitution" and many people do not recognise the historical, legal and practical merit. True, the Independence Act gave TT a type of constitutional arrangement that could be generically "British": it was tailored to the personal style of Dr Eric Williams who could also act in Cromwellian fashion almost without boundaries.

This was the thing aimed for in his Woodford Square talks in the 1950s, when he identified a "British constitution" for independence. It was politic to speak in such a manner.

The 1976 Constitution brought an end to all of it and stands on its own footing; leaving the Williams era having a bearing only within itself and its historical limit – precisely the treatment of "the former constitution" in the 1976 Constitution.

Take a little time and study the 1976 Constitution's recital and first six sections: this is the core which stands within and over the whole constitutional framing. It shows quite plainly that the Constitution is not founded abstractedly on the "will of the people" and therefore if it is to be changed its rules for alteration are
sine qua non.

Merging the Board of Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise into a "statutory body" (
sui generis law-making powers) cannot be done by a simple majority.

E GALY

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