2.4 The ways in which Parliament interacts with the Executive.

Question 1

what is the role of the opposition

Answer 1

o Scrutinising and Opposing the Government
o Supporting the Government (when necessary)
o Providing an Alternative

Question 2

How does the Official Opposition scrutinise and oppose the Government?

Answer 2

➢ Voting against government proposals.
➢ Putting amendments on Government legislation.
➢ Putting questions to Ministers at Question Time and, when required, submitting Urgent Questions.
➢ Put forward its own legislation using its allotted parliamentary time.

Question 3

what are Examples of Labour Opposing Government Policy since 2019

Answer 3

have opposed the restrictions on protesting in the Peace, Crime and Sentencing Bill.
Labour have opposed the changed in the Nationality and Borders Bill that puts greater
restrictions on asylum seekers.

Question 4

what are examples of the goverment and oppostion formin a bipartnership

Answer 4

2020-22 - Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic the Labour Party consistently voted with the
Conservative Government on restrictions.
2022 - During the Ukraine-Russia crisis the Labour Party supported in full the sanctions put
in place against the Putin regime.

Question 5

How does the Government provide an alternative to the Government?

Answer 5

The existence of the Shadow Cabinet
allows the electorate to consider the alternatives to current Government Ministers
Economy: Conservatives - Promised no rises in Income Tax, National Insurance of VAT.
Labour – Promised a new 50% Income Tax rate on income over £125,000.
Brexit: Conservatives - Promised to ‘Get Brexit Done’ based on Boris Johnson’s deal with the EU.
Labour - Promised to hold another referendum on Brexit after renegotiating a deal

Question 6

why do opposition parties not always provide a clear alternative to the government party what is an example

Answer 6

sometimes they might
be worried that the Government will steal their idea
cameron thought brown stole his policy of reforming inheritance tax in 2007

Question 7

what are the limits of the opposition

Answer 7

The Opposition have normally just lost an election. They are often blamed with many of the problems the
Government are trying to fix. This makes it difficult for them to criticise the Government and be credible.
▪ The Government sets the political agenda in Parliament. The Government can take Opposition policies if they are
good enough. The leader of the Opposition might not want to give away his best ideas until the General Election is due,
however, this makes people think he is not providing a credible alternative.
▪ Only 17 days during each session are given to HM Opposition to set the parliamentary agenda.
▪ The Opposition lacks the infrastructure of government that is available to the party in power. The Government have
an army of Civil Servants and Political Advisors (such as SPADS ‘Special Advisors’ to support them). The Opposition
does not have access to the Civil Service and cannot always afford as many advisors as the Government.
▪ The Opposition is often divided. It is easier to change a Leader of the Opposition than a PM. Only one PM has been
removed since 1997; this was voluntarily, by Tony Blair. In this time there were a number of Leaders of the Opposition
removed:
o William Hague
o Iain Duncan-Smith
o Michael Howard

Question 8

how is the media presence of the opposition significant for scrutinising the government

Answer 8

allow them to bring
significant media attention to an issue. For example, whilst the issue of Free School Meals was bought to public
prominence by campaigners such as Marcus Rashford, the Opposition made sure the Government was put under
political pressure and change was achieved.

Question 9

what is a government - in -waiting and how does it allow the opposition to scrutinise the gov effectively

Answer 9

An example of this is Blair’s Shadow
Cabinet between 1994 and 1997. This increases the seeming legitimacy of the scrutiny of the Government.

Question 10

what are some weaknesses with the opposition that often follow after a general election

Answer 10

disunited and trying to find their feet again. They can often
be blamed for what went before as a deflection from scrutiny. A good example occurred with this and economic issues
under Ed Miliband. During the period of austerity between 2010 and 2015 Ed Miliband as Leader of the Opposition
and Ed Balls as Chancellor of the Exchequer could not escape the line of attack that they were responsible for the
financial mess the Conservatives argued that they were left it.

Question 11

how are opposition debates considered ineffective form of scrutinising the government

Answer 11

often attended just by the party in Opposition with the Government just abstaining from
any vote. The last time a Government lost a contested Opposition Day Vote was in 2009 and before that it was 1978!

Question 12

how do the government undermine the scrutiny ability of the opposition

Answer 12

▪ A Government with a large majority can largely ignore the Opposition. When Blair had majority of 179 in 1997 he
faced William Hague as Leader of the Opposition. Hague was undoubtedly capable and a hugely impressive House of
Commons operator. However, the arithmetic of the House of Commons severely limited the scrutiny

Question 13

how does a poor leader undermine the ability of it scrutinising the government

Answer 13

The strength of the Opposition often relies significantly on its Leader and a poor leader can undermine its credibility.
This was notably the case under Jeremy Corbyn who had a disunited party and a mainstream media that were hostile to
this age

Question 14

why are banckbenchers quite weak in parliament

Answer 14

Demands of Party Loyalty – MPs know that it is very hard to be elected to Parliament without the support of a political
party. Therefore, they need to keep their political party onside and not risk the wrath of the whip by rebelling against
them.
Heavy Whipping – Backbench MPs are very heavily whipped and have little chance to exercise their own independent
judgement on bills without risking upsetting the whips by voting the wrong way during divisions.
Lack of Free Votes – There are very few ‘free votes’ in the House of Commons. These are votes that are completely
un-whipped. Free votes are often called conscience votes. They tend to be about issues regarding morality. These are
rare, as most voted are ‘whipped votes’.

Question 15

what are some more weaknesses of backbenchers

Answer 15

Lack of Time for Backbench Business – There is limited time placed solely for the use of backbench MPs. Currently
this amounts to 35 days, normally on a Friday where most MPs have left to go to their constituencies.
Power of Patronage – Party Leaders have incredible powers of patronage. If a backbencher wants to advance their career
in the future, they need to have the party leader onside.
Poor Facilities – Backbench MPs are also hampered by bad facilities. Although a new building was built for MPs in 2001
called Portcullis House, many are still based in the Palace of Westminster, the complete refurbishment of which is
estimated to cost over £2 Billion Pounds.
Membership of Committees – Although membership of Committees allows MPs to scrutinise the Government, thereby
increasing the effectiveness, it is also a large burden on their time. This means much parliamentary business is missed by
MPs.

Question 16

what is the result of mps focusing their experties only on a certain aspect of parliament

Answer 16

A poll suggested they spent more time on constituency business than any other matter and spent
63% of their time in Westminster compared to 37% in their home constituency
Bill Cash – A Conservative MP who is a prominent Eurosceptic who focuses much of his time
on issues of Britain’s relationship with the European Union.

Question 17

what is an example in how can powerful bodies within political parties allow backbenchers to be effective

Answer 17

922 Committee – This is a Backbench Conservative Party Group. It is named after a group of
Backbench Conservative MPs who voted to end the coalition with the Liberals in 1922. They still
meet once a week and the Chairman has direct access to the party leader or Prime Minister.

Question 18

why is it considered to be a ‘golden age’ for backbenchers

Answer 18

▪ Recent Speakers – The most recent Speakers, John Bercow and Lindsay Hoyle, have been particularly proactive in
looking out for the interests of backbenchers. In his first speech as Speaker, Bercow said that this was his intention. In particular, both Bercow and Hoyle have been renowned for calling Ministers to answer urgent questions in the House
of Commons.
Backbench Business Committee – A new committee set up in June 2010. It coordinates backbench MPs in
organising the debates in Parliament for one day per week. This allows more issues that backbenchers are concerned
about to be discussed in the House.
▪ Election to Select Committees – MPs are now elected to Select Committees, rather than chosen by the Party
Whip. This means that they are less beholden to the leadership of their party for advancement and are, therefore, more
able to act independently within Select Committee.

Question 19

what is the impact backbecnh buisness commitee

Answer 19

the Backbench Business Committee has given Backbench MPs much more significant
control over what happens within the House of Commons.
Several debates granted through this route have directly affected government policy, including Mark
Pritchard’s motion to ban the use of wild animals in circuses, and the memorable debate on the release
of the Hillsborough papers, secured by Steve Rotherham.
Although many debates do not have such a profound effect, they can help bring issues strongly to
media and public attention. For example, David Nuttall’s motion calling for a referendum on EU
membership led to one of the biggest Conservative Party rebellions in the post-war era.

Question 20

what is parliamentary privilege

Answer 20

allows any member of Parliament, either from the Commons or the Lords, to speak freely
whilst exercising their role within Parliament. This means that they cannot be sued for slander or libel and cannot be
prosecuted for contempt of court of breaching the Official Secrets Act.
Before the Glorious Revolution of 1688 the rights of Members of Parliament to exercise their role without fear of
persecution by the Crown were not clear. There were a number of famous occasions whereby the Crown tried to
intimidate Members of Parliament. By far the most famous example was when Charles I entered the House of
Commons to arrest five members of Parliament on 4th January 1642.
When the Glorious Revolution occurred Britain essentially became a constitutional monarchy. In 1689 the Bill of
Rights received Royal Assent. The Bill of Rights solidified the fact that Britain now had a constitutional monarchy

Question 21

what is the committee of privileges

Answer 21

where parliamentary privilege is checked can
suspend a member for abusing their right to parliamentary privilege

Question 22

what is the zicorn affair

Answer 22

began when in 1985 BBC Scotland produced a television documentary series called
Secret Society. As part of this the programme was going to reveal details about a spy satellite that the
Government had not disclosed to the Public Account Committee, which was meant to be able to have
financial oversight over the Government. GCHQ, one of Britain’s spy agencies tried to stop the BBC
from airing the programme, when they refused, Special Branch raided the offices of BBC Scotland.
With the help of MPs, the producer of the programme arranged for a showing in the House of
Commons. Despite it being a breach of the Official Secrets Act, the MPs who watched it were
exercising Parliamentary Privilege in doing so. This was a catalyst for the issue becoming public
knowledge and it was extremely embarrassing to the Government.

Question 23

How effective is Parliament at scrutinising the Executive?

Answer 23

Scrutiny of the Executive is one of the key roles of the legislature. However, Britain is a parliamentary democracy rather
than a presidential system. This means that the Government is formed from the legislature. it is not separate from it.
This fusion of powers (rather than the separation of powers that exists for example in the USA) means that the legislature
is almost always dominated by the Executive. This can lead to problems in holding the Executive to account for its
actions.

Question 24

how effective are the PMQs at scrutiny

Answer 24

only time that Parliament
is shown live on television (except BBC Parliament)
Starmer v Johnson after the Grey Report was published: Following Boris Johnson’s apology for
attending a potentially unlawful gathering in Downing Street during COVID-19, Keir Starmer utterly
dominated Boris Johnson during PMQs.
any Backbench can potentially ask the PM a question.
. Asking
a question of the PM is a big deal for backbenchers as it sends a strong signal to their constituents that they are standing
up for their interests in parliament.
Often, however, backbench questions are orchestrated by the party whips. On the PM’s side, they are engineered to give
the PM questions that they can answer easily or questions that reinforce a key message. For example, during the five
years of Coalition Government backbench questions often referred to the government’s ‘long-term economic plan’.
Indeed, between the 2010 and 2015 election the term was used 1349 in the House of Commons! Meanwhile, backbench
opposition questions are often planned to complement the line of attack taken by the Leader of the Opposition.

Question 25

how do pmqs make pms directly accountable to parliament

Answer 25

A key role of Parliament is to provide scrutiny of the Executive. PMQs allows the PM to be held directly accountable to
MPs. There are no limits on what can be asked at PMQs and the PM has to be able to account for their government’s
policy over a broad range of issues. The PM has to account not just for national policy, but for how it might be effecting
people’s lives on a constituency level.

Question 26

how do pmqs make the government more accountable to the pm

Answer 26

The PM has to be able to account for all of their policies and the actions of their government. To do this they rely on
Government Ministers to keep them fully briefed on what is happening within government. Minister and Civil Servants
need to be conscious that any of their decisions might be questioned in the public forum of PMQs. As such, it is an
important mechanism for allowing the Prime Minister to have not just the ability but the reason to involve themselves
in as much of the government as possible.

Question 27

how do pmqs force development of policy

Answer 27

PMQs prevents the government from becoming complacent. They cannot rely on their current policies and must look
to progress. If they don’t, they will be consistently shown up in PMQs by the opposition.

Question 28

how do pmqs allows the pm and lead of the opposition to manage their party

Answer 28

a chance to show that you have the support of your party. The strength of the cheering for you and the heckling
of your opponent is a clear indication of the morale of the party. After PMQs, MPs will be challenged by ‘The Lobby’
(the term for Parliament’s journalists) and their strength which they support their leader will be taken as a clear indicator
of how much support they have.

Question 29

how do pmqs helps the oppostion to advertise themseves to the electorate

Answer 29

The Leader of the Opposition does not have the same platform,
making strong performances at PMQs an important driver in people’s perceptions of their ability

Question 30

how effective are daily questions in the house of commons

Answer 30

MPs
can table questions in advance and ask a follow-up question. In addition, MPs can ask an unlimited number of written
questions to Ministers. These questions and the response are published by Hansard and are now available on the internet.
Some of the strengths of daily question time are:
▪ The existence of Question Time each day ensures that the government is kept up to date with the workings of their
department.
▪ In normal question time MPs can ask a question in advance and then a supplementary question. This allows them to
establish a line of questioning.
▪ MPs can also table a question for a written response which may extract more detail from the department in question.

Question 31

how effective are urgent questions at allowing scrutiny of the executive?

Answer 31

Any Opposition or Backbench MP can request that the Speaker grant an Urgent Question
The decisions as to whether to grant one is entirely at the discretion of the Speaker of the House of Commons, although they may take advice on the issue from the Commons Clerks. If an Urgent Question is granted, the Speaker can require a Member of the Government to answer questions immediately in the House of
Commons. Not only will the Minister have to answer questions from the proposer of the Urgent Question, they will
also have to field supplementary questions from other interested MPs.

Question 32

what was the impact of urgent questions granted under speaker martin in contrast to speaker Bercow and lindsay hoyle

Answer 32

During the 2007-08 parliamentary session under Speaker Martin just four Urgent Questions were asked, equivalent to just 0.02 per sitting day
under Speaker Bercow, MPs asked 307 Urgent Questions during the 2017–19
session, almost 0.88 per sitting day. In this time Ministers spent a total of 196 hours fielding Urgent Questions. Lindsay
Hoyle has kept up this impressive record after taking over as Speaker and has granted 0.6 Urgent Questions per day.

Question 33

why has there been an increase in urgent questions

Answer 33

to recent speakers, particularly John
Bercow. Whereas previous Speaker’s may have found themselves in the thrall of the government (Michael Martin is
perhaps an example), if there was any doubt over an issue he would always prioritise the rights of backbenchers and the
rights of Parliament to have further debate on an issue.
Recent years have seen a significant polarisation in the make-up of the House of Commons. It has also seen a rise in
divisive issues of enormous national importance, with Brexit the most notable example. The sheer scope of the impact
that Brexit has over UK Politics and the great many issues with passing the Withdrawal Act meant that Brexit itself
helped to dramatically increase the number of Urgent Questions for consideration

Question 34

what are some examples of urgent questions

Answer 34

Labour Shadow Cabinet Member David Lammy tabled an Urgent Question on the
potential sanctions that might be placed on the Russian Government in the case that Russia did not
step down its armed forces surrounding Ukraine and if Russia invaded Ukraine.

Question 35

why are urgent questions a good form of scrutiny

Answer 35

▪Urgent Questions are a mechanism to try to ensure that Ministers make important public statements to the House
of Commons first and not directly to the media. For example, in May 2020 the Chancellor Rishi Sunak planned to
make his announcement extending the COVID-19 furlough scheme to the media. However, after the granting of an
Urgent Question to Annelise Dodds (Shadow Chancellor) he was instead forced to do it in the House of Commons.
▪Urgent Questions ensure that a government minister can always be held directly accountable if an urgent issue
arises. This increases Parliament’s ability to carry out its fundamental role of executive scrutiny.
▪Urgent Questions make sure that Parliament has some control over the political agenda. Without Urgent Questions,
ministers may be able to avoid direct scrutiny over an issue until the next Departmental Question Time or Prime
Minister’s Questions session. The provision or Urgent Questions ensure that the government cannot escape
parliamentary scrutiny over controversial issues.
▪Urgent Questions give power to individual backbenchers. Anyone backbench MP can table an Urgent Question
request and, if it meets the criteria, it can be granted.

Question 36

what are the lmitations urgent qustions

Answer 36

▪They are entirely at the discretion of the Speaker. The Speaker is unlikely to grant an Urgent Question if there is
another reasonable way that the issue could be raised.
▪The Speaker cannot force a particular Minister to respond, only that a Government Minister responds. Often, a more
junior minister will be sent if there is an issue that might be damaging to the Government. For example, in the Urgent
Questions relating to ‘partygate’ it was Michael Ellis who answered on behalf of the Government, not the Prime Minister.
▪Like PMQs, Ministers can often get away with a political response that does not fully answer the question that is
asked.

Question 37

why have select committees become more independent minded

Answer 37

they have grown in power since the Wright Reforms of 2009 which changed the way members and Chairs
of Select Committees were elected:
▪ Chairs of Select Committees should be elected by Secret Ballot of the Whole House.
▪ Members of Select Committees should be elected within party groups by Secret Ballot

Question 38

what are select committees strengths

Answer 38

▪ They can investigate issues in much more depth than possible in the chamber of the House of Commons. They
produce detailed reports for consideration by the Government.
▪ They work across party lines and often in a bi-partisan manner. This gives Select Committees more legitimacy than the
partisan politics that normally takes place in the chamber.
▪ They are increasingly becoming involved in pre-legislative scrutiny to help develop bills before they get to the House
of Commons. For example, the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee have published a detailed report on
the Government’s Draft Online Safety Bill. In this, for example, they recommended the creation of a specific offence of
cyberflashing within the bill. Following this, the Government responded by confirming they would include this provision
in the bill.
▪ They can get input from people beyond Politics that can help inform them
▪ They allow MPs to move from being generalists to being specialists through their work on a Committee. For example,
after years as Chair on the Home Affairs Select Committee Yvette Cooper is now Shadow Home Secretary.
▪ They allow for far more detailed questioning on Ministers than is possible in the Chamber of the House of Commons.
For example, Amber Rudd was forced to resign in 2018 after a consolidated line of questioning by Yvette Cooper in the
Home Affairs Select Committee revealed that Rudd had been unaware of removal targets within her own department for
migrants.
▪ Since the Wright Reforms of 2010, Select Committees have been able to become more independent due to the way
they are selected.
▪ The Commons Liaison Committee is headed by the chairs of the other Select Committees and questions the Prime
Minister directly up to three times per year. These sessions are much more intense for the Prime Minister than other
question time and can lead to more detailed scrutiny.

Question 39

what the drawbacks to select committees

Answer 39

▪ They cannot force the Government to adopt a motion and many of their reports are largely ignored. For example, in
2021 the Work and Pensions Select Committee wrote a detailed report on universal credit highlighting a number of flaws
and problems with its role out. The government made very little change to the Universal Credit based on this report.
▪ They have no power to force (subpoena) witnesses to attend. Witnesses also do not give evidence under Oath (as
they would do in the US Congress). For example, Mark Zuckerberg refused to appear in front of the Culture, Media and
Sport Committee to discuss Facebook’s role in elections, despite appearing in front of a Committee in the US Congress.
Another example is that of Mike Ashley, the owner of Sports Direct and Newcastle Football Club. He continually refused
to appear in front of the Business, Industry and Skills Committee for almost two years before finally relenting. When he
finally did appear in front of the Committee in 2018 he was extremely robust with the Committee.
▪ Whilst they are more bipartisan than the Chamber, Committees are still made up in proportion to the size of the
parties in the House.
▪ Committees are often not very well resourced. Whereas government ministers have any army of advisors and
researchers, Committee budgets do not match this.

Question 40

how are debates used as a form of scrutiny

Answer 40

▪ MPs can propose debate about any issues and a wide variety of issues is discussed.
▪ The adjournment debates held each day are a popular way for MPs to discuss something they are passionate about.▪ Any E-Petition that reaches 100,000 public signatures may now be chosen by the Petitions Committee for debate in
Parliament. This gives the public a greater link over what is being debated.
▪ Emergency Debates have been used a lot more since 2010. As Speaker, John Bercow was keen to allow more
Emergency Debates than previous speakers.

Question 41

what are the limitations of debates

Answer 41

Apart from rare Emergency Debates, or Opposition Days, debates are scheduled by the Government.
▪ Many debates take place outside of the Chamber and are instead in Westminster Hall meaning they get much less
focus.
▪ Whilst Debates allow MPs to voice their opinion more, any division may still be whipped.
▪ Motions from such Debates are not binding (although in 2019 John Bercow controversially ruled that they could
be thereby allowing MPs to take control of the order paper and thereby pass a bill preventing a no-deal Brexit).

Question 42

what is a humble address, how can it be used to hold the government more accountable

Answer 42

is a direct message to the Monarch, skipping out the Government as Parliament’s
messenger. If a vote is held on a Humble Address the result is binding on the House. In recent years the Humble Address
procedure has been used to force the Government to disclose documents they otherwise haven’t wanted to disclose to
the Parliament.

Question 43

what is an example of succsesful humble address motion

Answer 43

A Humble Address motion was passed which called the publication of documentation relating
to the advice given by the House of Lords Appointment Commission on the awarding of a peerage
to Lord Lebedev.

Question 44

why are backbenchers limited in how effectivley they can hold the government to account

Answer 44

they are very heavily whipped and are reliant on the support of their party to be re-elected.

Question 45

recently why have backbenchers increasingly improved at holding the backbenchers accountable

Answer 45

• The formation of the Backbench Business Committee
• They to be elected to sit on Select Committees
  -willingness of backbenchers to rebel has increased in recent years – particularly over the issue of Brexit.
  During the Brexit crisis Theresa May lost her first vote on her Withdrawal Agreement by a record 230 votes

Question 46

how important are motions of no confidence in scrutinising the executive

Answer 46

If a Government loses a motion of no confidence they are forced to
resign and call a new general electionare an essential mechanism for ensuring that the Government has a clear mandate from the
elected representatives and therefore has the legitimacy to govern

Question 47

what are motions of no confidence that are instigated by the government

Answer 47

the Government to call a motion in itself. This might be done to proactively show that an
embattled PM has the support of the House of Commons. For example, in 1993 John Major
threatened to call a motion of confidence so that his MPs would pass the Social Chapter of the
Maastricht Treaty

Question 48

what is an example of an unsuccesful motion of o confidence

Answer 48

2019 – Theresa May (Conservative) – Survived by 325-206
1993 – John Major (Conservative) – Survived by 339-229

Question 49

what are the weakneses of motions of no confidence

Answer 49

They are extremely rare. The last was in 2019 and before that 1995.
* The votes almost always go straight down party lines because MPs are unlikely to be willing to bring down their
own government and face an election from a position of weakness

Question 50

what is an elective dictatorship

Answer 50

It refers to the idea that Parliament is completely
dominated by the Government of the day to the extent that despite being popularly elected, the government can act like a
dictatorship.

Question 51

why is the concept of elective dictatoship still common in the uk

Answer 51

Most British Governments are created with a clear majority. The First Past the Post voting system makes this
likely.
MPs are extremely heavily whipped, to fall into line with what the party leadership wants. Since 1945, sitting Prime Ministers have won 99.2% of all votes in the House of Commons.
The Government dominates the House of Commons numerically.
* They shape the agenda of the House of Commons.
* They determine which laws will be presented for debate.
* They control the flow of information to the House of Commons.
* The PM holds an enormous power of patronage over MPs.