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Brown to take key powers from PM, give to parliament

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown is planning to strip Downing Street of key powers in some of the most far-reaching reforms of the British premiership for a generation.

In an audacious attempt to draw a line under the era of Prime Minister Tony Blair, Brown is looking at guaranteeing parliament the right to approve war and remove symbolic "royal prerogative" powers from the Prime Minister and hand them to parliament.

He has also said that he will revisit many of the fundamental National Health Service reforms of the Blair years and demand that general practice surgeries be open at the weekend and that doctors be on call in the evenings.

Doctors were given the right of opting out of out-of-hours care two years ago, under a controversial pay deal, signed by the then health secretary John Reid that awarded them a 22 percent pay rise last year.

The chancellor has long made it clear that he would like to build on the precedent set in 2003, when Britain's involvement in the invasion of Iraq was launched only after a vote in parliament.

The chancellor intends to go much further, possibly giving parliament the right not just to approve war, but also a key role in declaring armed action.

Brown is believed to be in favor of transferring key royal prerogatives to parliament. These are ancient monarchical powers, including the right to declare war and sign international treaties. They are exercised by the prime minister in the name of the monarch, under Britain's constitutional monarchy.

Handing elements of the royal prerogative to parliament would represent a direct break from Blair. In 2004, Downing Street flatly rejected such a proposal by the Commons Public Administration Select Committee, on the grounds that it was "not persuaded that the proposal would improve the present position."

A source in the Brown camp said: "Gordon is looking at transferring powers from the royal prerogative to parliament. These are not changes that will be handed down: they will be subject to discussion."

The source made clear that there would be safeguards in the parliamentary legislation that would enshrine the reforms.

"There would be safeguards to allow the executive to act immediately in emergencies where it is necessary to safeguard the lives of British forces," the source said.

Brown, who is convinced that Labour will win an unprecedented fourth consecutive term only if it embarks on the most fundamental reforms, believes enhancing the role of parliament is the best way to demonstrate the government has abandoned its old ways.

Blair was often accused of politicizing Downing Street -- and downgrading parliament -- by packing No 10 with political advisers who were seen as more powerful than ministers.

The chancellor accepts that Blair broke new ground when he allowed members of parliament to vote on a substantive motion on the eve of the Iraq war. By convention, pre-war votes are only ever held on a motion to "adjourn the house" if opponents can muster enough support.
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