United Kingdom, Agreements - understand-culture

The Vote of Confidence

In British football, a board’s public statement of support for its manager is called a vote of confidence. The phrase is often used with irony.

In December 2024, Wolverhampton Wanderers dismissed their manager, Gary O’Neil, after a home defeat by Ipswich Town. The club’s chairman, Jeff Shi, had backed him in public. New four-year contracts had been signed only four months earlier. The Guardian wrote that despite this backing, it had seemed “inconceivable” that O’Neil would last until the next match.

Not Until Signed

A draft contract of 5 July 2005 between RTS Flexible Systems and the dairy company Molkerei Alois Müller said it would not take effect until it was signed and exchanged. The work began before that happened.

In 2010 the Supreme Court held that a binding contract had come into being by conduct, on or about 25 August 2005, on the terms the parties had agreed. It also warned that a court “should not impose binding contracts on the parties which they have not reached.”

I Will Be with You, Whatever

In a private note to President George W. Bush about Iraq, Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote: “I will be with you, whatever. But this is the moment to assess bluntly the difficulties.” The note was published by the Iraq Inquiry on 6 July 2016.

The inquiry drew attention to the first sentence. It found that Blair had not made a satisfactory post-conflict plan a condition of British participation in military action.

Bear It in Mind

In a survey published in January 2019, YouGov asked people in Britain what common British phrases mean. Fifty-five percent said that “I’ll bear it in mind” means “I’ve forgotten it already.” Fifty-seven percent said that “You must come for dinner” is said out of politeness, not as a real invitation.

Brexit Means Brexit

On 11 July 2016, Theresa May launched her campaign for the Conservative leadership in Birmingham. She said: “Brexit means Brexit, and we’re going to make a success of it.” As prime minister, she used the phrase again in her speech to the Conservative conference in October 2016.

The phrase left unclear what leaving would mean in practice. In October 2016, the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the Commons: “I am sure she will tell us one day what it actually means.”

The Care Cap

In July 2011, the Dilnot Commission recommended a cap of £35,000 on the social care costs a person must pay. The Care Act 2014 gave the cap a legal basis.

In July 2015, the start date was moved to April 2020. In September 2021, the cap was set at £86,000. In November 2022, the reforms were postponed by two years. On 29 July 2024, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, cancelled them. The Treasury said they were “now impossible to deliver in full to previously announced timeframes.”

English Votes for English Laws

On 13 July 2021, the House of Commons abolished English Votes for English Laws, a procedure it had used for bills affecting England. The Leader of the House, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said the procedure had “added complexity and delay.”

There was no formal division. The Conservative MP Desmond Swayne wrote that many members were voting by proxy, so opponents could not find a second teller. The procedure “was ditched without a single recorded dissenting vote.”

The Third Runway

In 2015, the Airports Commission recommended a third runway at Heathrow. Prime Minister David Cameron had guaranteed a decision by the end of the year. On 10 December 2015, the government postponed the decision to the summer of 2016, citing air quality.

The Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, said: “The case for aviation expansion is clear.” Business groups called the delay “gutless.”

Nothing Has Changed

On 18 May 2017, the Conservative manifesto set out a new way to pay for social care. Opponents called it a “dementia tax.” On 22 May, four days later, Theresa May said that a planned Green Paper would include proposals for an “absolute limit” on what people would pay.

Pressed by reporters, she answered: “Nothing has changed, nothing has changed.” She later said it had been a mistake to insist that nothing had changed.

Minutes and Years

Harold Wilson is often quoted as saying that Royal Commissions “take minutes and waste years.” As prime minister, he set up no fewer than ten of them.

The remark is widely repeated, including by the Institute for Government, but no primary source is cited for it.