constitutional reform since 1997 Flashcards
devolution in 1997 for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Scottish and Welsh referendum on devolution passed with a comfortable majority
Northern Ireland: The Belfast Agreement
what did the Belfast Agreement 1998 achieve?
established the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive to make laws and decisions on most of the issues affecting everyday life in Northern Ireland
devolution in 1998 for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
scotland- the scotland act established further devolution, a scottish parliament and a scottish executive
wales: government of wales act established further devolution and promised a referendum on tax-raising powers
ireland: belfast agreement was approved, northern ireland act passed, granted devolution
devolution in 2014 for Scotland and Wales
scotland: referendum on full independence, defeated by 55% to 45%
wales: welsh act gave welsh government powers over taxes and promises a referendum on tax raising powers
devolution in 2017 for Wales and Northern Ireland
wales: government of wales act passed, devolved greater political and administrative powers to welsh assembly
northern ireland: government in northern ireland collapses as power sharing breaks down
what was the HOL act 1999? what did it achieve?
- wanted to remove hereditary peers, leading to an all-appointed chamber, but there was obstruction, which lead to the Cranborne Compromise, which led to 92 of the 753 hereditary peers to retain their seats
how did the HOL react to the Cranborne Compromise?
HOL threatened to use its powers to obstruct and delay reform
what kind of reform was there in the HOC?
it was related to the departmental select committees, they are becoming more important in the role of scrutiny
- in 2004, the chairs of the committees were awarded additional salaries
- in 2010, the labour gov introduced a system for electing members by the whole chamber of the HOC rather than it just being by party leaders
- also in 2010, a backbench business committee was established, which gave MPs control over 20 parliamentary days to debate issues of their choosing, this was a small increase in backbench influence and control
human rights reform
- the conservative government was committed to replacing the HRA with a British bill of rights, but this never happened
- the freedom of information act 2000: the government had to be transparent with their information
electoral reform
- the Jenkins Commission reported its preference for AV+, but this didn’t change much as the UK stuck with FPTP
- labour carried out electoral reform during devolution, and adopted AMS to Scotland and Wales to avoid labour and conservative dominating them, and STV was used in Northern Ireland
what were the 3 main effects of the constitutional reform act?
- separation of judiciary and government
- creation of Supreme Court
- appointment of senior judges (judicial appointment commission) instead of
constitutional reform under the coalition 2010-15
- fixed term parliaments
- recall of MPs
- further devolution to wales
- the HOL reform acts 2014 and 2015
what is the fixed term parliaments act?
- there was fear of the coalition not lasting long, which lead to this act
this act:
- took away the power of the PM to call a general election whenever they wanted to give their party an unfair advantage (snap election)
- meant that there could be no disagreement within government without the danger of it falling apart
what is a weakness of the fixed term parliaments act?
although it was successful during the coalition, Theresa May called a ‘snap election’ in 2017, which outlined the weakness of the act
what is the recall of MPs act 2015?
provided for constituencies to ‘recall’ an MP if they did something bad
it requires a petition supported by at least 10% of the constituents
they are then subjected to a by-election, where they can lose their seat
when has the recall of MPs act been successful?
2019: Christopher Davies lost his seat as he submitted a false/misleading expenses claim
what was the 2006 government of wales act? what did it lead to?
further powers for 20 key areas would be transferred from Westminster to Wales if it was requested through a referendum
this led to the referendum in 2011, where the outcome was positive and the Welsh government gained power to pass primary legislation in 20 key areas without it needing approval by Westminster
HOL reform acts 2014 and 2015
2014: allowed members of the HOL to resign/retire
2015: allowed the lords to remove a peer who had breached its code of conduct
constitutional reform since 2015
- extension of Scottish and Welsh devolution
- English votes for English laws
- city devolution outside London
extension of Scottish and Welsh devolution after 2015
Scotland:
- after the negative outcome of the 2014 Scottish referendum, the conservative government was forced to grant further powers to the Scottish government, which gave them financial autonomy, known as a ‘devo-max’
Wales:
- some proposals for the second part of the silk commission were passed in Wales act of 2017
- in 2020, the Welsh Assembly became the Welsh government
what was English votes for English laws?
there was an issue of Scottish and Welsh MPs being able to vote on matters that wouldn’t affect their own constituents (e.g voting on raising tuition fees to £3000 in 2002, even though it wouldn’t affect Scottish students)
therefore EVEL was passed, which was an additional stage in voting legislation, if the speaker determined the bill only concerned England / Wales, then the bill can be vetoed by a vote of MPs only in those regions
what was the problem of English votes for English laws?
SNP voted against it, meaning it could not be fully put into place
so now, EVEL acts as a tool for preventing scottish ppl to vote for something english ppl don’t want, unless they can persuade scottish ppl, they can’t pass measures they want to be introduced
city devolution outside london
