Dissolution
The Committee ceased to sit in 1648, when it was said that the Scots broke the alliance and supported King Charles I during the Second Civil War. In truth the Committee had started to break down much earlier due to several factors. Some members of the English Parliament did not like the influence the Committee gave to the Scots in Ireland. The Scots in turn resented the fact that although the Committee held ultimate responsibility for foreign policy, diplomats supposedly representing the confederation of the Solemn League and Covenant began to sign treaties in the name of England rather than in the name of the League. The first of these was with Denmark in 1645.
The notion that the Scots broke the treaty in 1648 denies the factionalism that took place within the English Parliament during the previous year, leading the more entrenched Presbyterians in both Scotland and England to lose power within their respective parliaments within months of each other. Thus when the Independents seized control in England, they found that the Scottish Parliament had been won over to the faction of the Engagers and the Duke of Hamilton from the Kirk Party and the Marquess of Argyll.
In January 1648 shortly after the Engagement between Scotland and King Charles I became known to the English Parliament, Parliamentary members broke of negotiations with King Charles passing the Vote of No Addresses that prohibited any further negotiations between members of Parliament with the King until such time as the vote was repealed. Parliament also dissolved the Committee of Both Kingdoms conferring its powers on the English members of the committee. The reconstituted committee, with the addition of three Independent members, was at first known as the Committee of Safety but became known as the Derby House Committee (named after the building where the committee met).
Read more about this topic: Committee Of Both Kingdoms
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