header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

All out war: Brexit & the Chartist movement

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
01 June 2017
Issue: 7748 / Categories: Features , Brexit , EU , Constitutional law
printer mail-detail
nlj_7748_anon

Could the way in which Vote Leave used its NHS funding pledge during the EU referendum campaign amount to the offence of treason felony?
  • The history & application of s 3 of the Treason Felony Act 1848.

In 1848 revolution was sweeping through Europe, in the UK the Chartists were considered to represent a threat: ‘This is the time of trouble for kings and generals … They have had their day … the angel is preparing to pour out the sixth phial, and its outpouring will “prepare the way of the kings of the earth” …Only the throne established in justice is safe. Parliamentary reform is necessary. For it is not the voice of the people that is heard in the House of Commons but the voice of the aristocracy (The Chartists, Perspectives & Legacies, Malcolm Chase, p 104).

Their demands included universal suffrage and the right to a secret ballot. They presented Parliament with a petition that they claimed been signed by 5,700,000 people.

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Browne Jacobson—Christian Major & Phil James

Browne Jacobson—Christian Major & Phil James

Partners join real estate investment and data protection teams in London

Birketts—five appointments

Birketts—five appointments

Five-strong agriculture team joins Bristol office

Kennedys—Samson Spanier

Kennedys—Samson Spanier

Commercial disputes practice bolstered by partner hire

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: What judging really demands
Judging is ‘more intellectually demanding than any other role in public life’—and far messier than outsiders imagine. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC reflects on decades spent wrestling with unclear legislation, fragile precedent and human fallibility
NLJ this week: AI comes for the billable hour
The long-predicted death of the billable hour may finally be here—and this time, it’s armed with a scythe. In a sweeping critique of time-based billing, Ian McDougall, president of the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, argues in this week's NLJ that artificial intelligence has made hourly charging ‘intellectually, commercially and ethically indefensible’
NLJ this week: Civil procedure—sharp elbows & sharper warnings
From fake authorities to rent reform, the civil courts have had a busy start to 2026. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold surveys a procedural landscape where guidance, discretion and discipline are all under strain
NLJ this week: Getting the facts right in family courts
Fact-finding hearings remain a fault line in private family law. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Rylatt and Robyn Laye of Anthony Gold Solicitors analyse recent appeals exposing the dangers of rushed or fragmented findings
NLJ this week: Sporting justice—at sprint speed
As the Winter Olympics open in Milan and Cortina, legal disputes are once again being resolved almost as fast as the athletes compete. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Ian Blackshaw of Valloni Attorneys examines the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS's) ad hoc divisions, which can decide cases within 24 hours
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll