Elizabeth I is known to have vetoed 72 bills during the 42 years of her reign. James I vetoed six (or possibly seven), all in the Parliament of 1624; and Charles I, remarkably, only vetoed a single bill, in 1628
An astonishing rumour has been current of late. A certain section of the Unionist party is said to be encouraging the idea that it is possible, as a matter of practical politics, for the King to refuse the Royal Assent to the Home Rule Bill next May, when for the third time it has passed the House of Commons and has complied with all the requirements of the Parliament Act. … The danger may seem fanciful to many. It is impossible, it will be said, that so mad an idea could be entertained for a moment by responsible politicians. But it comes from Ulster, and though constitutional doctrine from Ulster requires very cautious acceptance just now, Ulster is strong in the councils of the party.
‘Auditor Tantum’, ‘The Veto of the Crown’, Fortnightly Review, Sept. 1913
In the last few weeks an increasingly abstruse but sometimes irritable debate has…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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