Constitutional Reform Flashcards
Give 4 ways the constitution has been reformed recently
- Modernisation
- Greater Democracy
- Devolution
- Human Rights
Give 2 ways the Blair government modernised the constitution
- House of Lords Act 1999 - removed all but 92 peers
- Constitutional Reform Act 2005 - created an independent Supreme Court replacing the Law Lords
Give 2 ways the Cameron-Clegg government modernised the constitution
- Succession to the Crown Act 2013 - allowed the eldest child of the monarch to ascend to the throne regardless of gender
- House of Lords Reform act 2014 - Gave peers the right to resign from their seats, and enabled the removal of Lords convicted of serious criminal offences or non-attendance
Give 3 ways the Blair Government brought greater democracy to the constitution
- Introduced the elected mayors with the 1999 Greater London Authority Act
- Increased the use of referendums to make key decisions such as 1997 Scottish and Welsh devolution referendums
- Reformed the EU election system from FPTP to a form of proportional representation
Give 2 ways the Cameron-Clegg government brought greater democracy to the constitution
- Introduced the Fixed Terms Parliament Act which required the support of at least 2/3 MPs to call an early general election instead of doing it unilaterally - however this proved ineffective as 2017 and 2019 GE’s were both called early and the Act was eventually repealed in 2022
- Attempted to reform voting system to AV in the AV referendum - however this failed by a margin of 68% with 42% turnout
Give 3 ways the Blair Government brought greater devolved power to the constitution
- Scotland Act 1998
- Wales Act 1998
- Northern Ireland Act 1998
Give 1 way the Cameron-Clegg government has brought greater devolved power to the Constitution
Scotland Act 2012 transferred significant tax raising powers to the Scottish Government giving them the ability to raise income tax by up to 10p on the pound (Scottish Rate of Income Tax - SRIT)
Give 2 ways the Blair government brought greater human rights to the constitution
- Human Rights Act 1998 - incorporated the ECHR into UK law
- Freedom of Information Act 2000
Give 1 way the Cameron-Clegg government brought greater human rights to the constitution
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 - offered citizens greater protection from the state by enhancing scrutiny of security services including MI5 and MI6
Give 3 strengths of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
- It allows journalists to uncover information that might have otherwise remained hidden: the Act played a significant role in uncovering the MPs expenses scandal in 2009
- FOI requests are popular and there were over 44,00 requests in 2020 alone
- It allows for public scrutiny of policy: in 2006 the highly publicised knife amnesty was shown to have minimal impact following an FOI request forced the publication of a report into the impact of the knife amnesty by the metropolitan police
Give 2 weaknesses of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
- In 2020 around 50% of requests were declined, either in full or in part
- Public bodies have certain rights to not release information due to:
- National security
- Commercial sensitivity
- Cost
- If the request is deemed “vexatious”
Give the strength of the Fixed Term Parliament Act
It allowed for the coalition government to work productively, as it protected the junior partner (the Liberal Democrat’s) from the Conservatives holding a snap election when the polls suited their chances best in order to get out of the coalition
Give 3 weaknesses of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act
- The act was only passed because of political circumstances - not out of high principles
- The 5 year term was disregarded in 2 of the following 3 elections in which is was in effect (2017 and 2019)
- The act was later repealed in 2022
