The erosion of the UK's moral authority and the rule of law

I READ with concern the UK Parliament's decision to pass a controversial bill which allegedly breaks international law by handing unilateral powers to ministers in key areas yet to be agreed with the EU.

This brings to mind the prescient words of our Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon at the S Rajaratnam lecture held in October last year. There, CJ Menon cautioned that global stability cannot be taken for granted. He observed that there has been a gradual decay of the international order that emerged after World War II, and foreshadowed that the rule of law can easily be subordinated to domestic politics. In particular, he noted that "countries increasingly adopt a zero-sum mentality in eschewing multilateral agreements as shackles on sovereignty and a burden on economic growth".

The UK parliament's decision on its Internal Market Bill has completely borne this out.