Indeed, the university has, in effect, authorised itself to conduct tests that are far from essential and will add very little to our useful knowledge of England's last Plantagenet king".
The draft resolution includes a reference to Chapter 7 of the UN's charter, but would not in itself authorise the use of force if Syria does not comply – the sticking point that had prevented diplomatic progress on the conflict.
The White Paper does not in itself authorise or preclude any development, but seeks instead to define a "national strategic framework for the future development of airport capacity" over the next 30 years.
And if the UN Security Council cannot bring itself to authorise such bombing, then better that it should be done by the United States with as wide support as possible than by nobody.
The Security Council must give its approval.Some argue that in an international emergency, when the Security Council is blocked by the veto, or threat of veto, of one of its permanent members (as now, by Russia and China), the General Assembly can bypass the Security Council and authorise the use of force itself.
But the three Western permanent members of the Council will make it clear that use of Chapter 7 does not itself imply authorising force.
However this changed when an important precedent was set whereby the Treasury authorised Transport for London (itself a local authority in legal terms) to issue £600m of bonds as part of its borrowings to improve transport infrastructure.
"The message I have for the [Congressional] leaders is, as soon as we get a clean piece of legislation that reopens the government... until we get that done, until we make sure that Congress allows [the Department of the Treasury] to pay for things that Congress itself already authorised, we are not going to engage in a series of negotiations," he said.
Probably the more important is on November 30th, St Andrew's Day, when Mr Salmond's devolved executive will publish a draft bill to authorise a referendum on independence; he hopes to hold the vote itself in late 2010.
We never authorise term-time holidays at Passmores as the link between attendance and attainment speaks for itself.
