One of the most significant downsides of a reliance on Parliament to hold the executive to account is that it is not sufficiently independent in the political sense. In accordance with the principle of separation of powers (see further in Chapter 4), the courts are reluctant to interfere with matters of government policy. 'The more purely political (in a broad or narrow sense) a question is, the more appropriate it will be for political resolution and the less likely it is to be an appropriate matter for judicial decision' (R on the application of A & Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] UKHL 56; [2005] 2 AC 68). So, when the issue at stake is more political in nature, the courts are more likely to defer to Parliament, as the democratic organ of the state.