James Landale

But by and large, as pieces of theatre,

They were well-written and well-delivered and landed in a performative way.

And, you know, the official who discovered that found it, obtained it, you know, top marks.

Yeah, well, no, he was reminding Congress that that was the one time when Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty was triggered, namely of collective military defense to defend an ally that had been attacked.

And he said, you know, he also noted at the same time that the United Nations Security Council was,

also agreed unanimously that they should take military action as a result of that, standing shoulder to shoulder.

So yes, he wouldn't make it

In situ, but definitely the point was made politically in Congress.

The US Supreme Court Historical Society has calculated that Magna Carta is cited in at least 160 Supreme Court cases since 1789.

not least as the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances.

What's your take on what was going on there?

Well, on one level, he was referring back to, you know, core documents that are the foundation of our rule of law that apply equally to the United Kingdom as they do to the United States in terms of, you know...

And huge, you know, he cited the number of references to Magna Carta and Supreme Court judgments and things like that.

So he was talking about the joint heritage of both countries.

And the sort of not so subtle point was, you know, we've been around together for a long time.

We have a lot of shared culture.

And yes, we might have disagreed a lot over the years.

But ultimately, the reason that the relationship is so important is because it endures despite those differences.

But then suddenly, as you say, he mentioned the importance of constitutional checks and balances of executive power.

And instantly, all the Democrats presumed that that was a reference to Donald Trump, because obviously, under the Trump presidency, there has been this...