The Glorious Revolution

Three Labour Members of Parliament are being prosecuted over the alleged fraudulent claiming of expenses and – rightly – they are being criticised for suggesting that they will claim that they cannot be prosecuted because of Parliamentary privilege.

Of course, there is such a notion – an important one – of Parliamentary privilege but most people have no idea when and how it was conceived. It was actually a product of England’s Glorious Revolution of 1688.

The English had a revolution? I hear you ask. Well, it was a very English revolution. No blood was spilled (at least in England), most of the population was not involved, at the heart of this English revolution was a Dutchman, and historians are not sure whether the Glorious Revolution was that glorious.

Confused? All is made clear here.