ETVT constitutional reforms since 1997 has been sucessful

Question 1

1- house of lords- for

Answer 1

1. blairs 1999 house of lords act reduced the number of hereditary peers down to 92, so most peers are elected on the basis of expertise which is effective
   e.g lord Krebs, a Zoologist, chairs the house of lords committee for science and technology
   e.g2 lord bird was once homless and now works with the big issue

lords are effective; defeating govt 15 times over the 2018 eu bill, overall, 69 defeats in 2017-19

however, this has not gone far enough

Question 2

1- HOL against

Answer 2

reforms since 1997 have not gone far enough, majority are still ‘male, pale and stale’
e.g average age 71, 6% BAME and 29% women

peerages are still controlled by the govt who uses it to reward donors; BLAIR HIMSELF IS GUILTY giving paul drayson peerage after donating 500k and giving him a govt contract
2. 1/10 tory mps have donated more than 100k

lords cant effectively check leg; rwanda bill

Question 3

2- devolution for

Answer 3

devolution to wales, scotland and NI 1998 has proven to be sucessful
1. scotland independance refendum saw 55% vote against independance in 1014, showing devolution was sucessful

2, dev does not need to go any further, the abolition of a bristol mayor and the rejection of a northeast assembly proves this

Question 4

2- devolution against

Answer 4

English Votes For English Laws west lothian question; why should scottish mps get to vote on english tuition fees if tuition is free in scotland?
the Barnett formula shows that spending is 15-25% higher in devolved bodies

asymmetirical powers within the devolved bodies
1. fewer powers to wales e.g policing and northern ireland with tax varying powers
SCOTS HAVE THEIR OWN CIVIL SERVICE, BUT NI AND WALES HAVE TO BE PART OF ENGLANDS

devolution overall was a mess, reforms have not gone far enough

Question 5

3- protection of rights - for

Answer 5

because of reforms, right are protected now more than ever; the 2004 civil contingencies act allowed for statute law to be suspended during emergencies but IT DOES NOT ALLOW THE SUPENSION OF THE HRA
2013 marriages (same sex couples act) entrenches rights to marriage

clearly, reforms have improved rights

Question 6

6- rights - against

Answer 6

however, rights are still not sufficiently protected within the uk; rights are frequently superceded

1. the HRA civil contingencies and etc are not entrenched because of our uncodified constitution
2. rwanda bill was forced through by govt, seen as a violation of rights
3. the 2010 terrorist freezing tempoary provisions act is a violation of rights