Evaluate the view that the UK executive is effective in undertaking its functions

Question 1

What are the three points which would be included in this essay

Answer 1

1. Proposing legislation and budget (Effective)
2. Implementing policy decisions (Not effective)
3. Providing leadership to the country (Effective)

Question 2

1. Proposing Legislation + Budget (Effective) what will the cabinet do in relation to legislation proposal

Answer 2

the cabinet will review tailor and finalise the legislation of the PM before it is announced at the Queen’s Speech and beginning of the parliamentary session

Question 3

1. Proposing Legislation + Budget (Effective) what tactics is the executive able to use

Answer 3

the Executive is able to use tactics such as delaying votes on the budget and only implementing certain elements of the budget in order to get it through

Question 4

1. Proposing Legislation + Budget (Effective) explain what the executive is able to do regarding emergency budget and give an example

Answer 4

in times of crisis and just after a general election, the government is able to set the budget without parliamentary debate and approval

such as the ‘Summer economic update’ of July 2020

Question 5

1. CA - what happens during the second reading

Answer 5

During the second reading the bills are rigorously debated

Question 6

1. CA - what happens at the committee stage

provide an analysis as well

Answer 6

at the committee stage, Relevant policy committees review proposed legislation and can amend it and send it back to the commons for it to be debated

this can therefore halt the execution of executive functions and delays executive plans

Question 7

1. CA - explain private members bills

Answer 7

MPs that do not necessarily belong to the government are able to propose bills which may directly contradict the legislative agenda desired by the PM

Question 8

1. CA - what is needed for a budget to go through and therefore runs the risk of what

Answer 8

Parliamentary approval is needed for a budget to go through and therefore risks the chance of being rejected

Question 9

2. Implementing policy decisions (Not Effective) what did Ukraine demonstrate

Answer 9

Ukraine demonstrated that you may have good intentions but that may translate into poor policy

Question 10

2. Implementing policy decisions (Not Effective) what Matt Hancock example of poor legislation is an example of the executive not being effective

Answer 10

Matt Hancocks poor health policies relating to covid regulations in care homes saw 18.5k people die due to poor implementation of executive legislation

Question 11

2. Implementing policy decisions (Not Effective) explore the Cummings senior spad point

Answer 11

Dominic Cummings who is a senior spad had unprecedented control over all the other Spas in the executive

as a result the cabinet was not functioning as it should have and therefore served as a challenge to the PM causing structural problems

Question 12

2. CA - what does the uncodified constitution allow for and give an example give the Tony Blair home office example

Answer 12

the uncodified constitution allows for nimble and flexible administration

Tony Blair split the home office into two creating the Justice and Security

Question 13

2. CA - why did the vaccines work

Answer 13

the vaccines worked as they appointed a vaccine tsar and a senior scientist who ran the vaccine programme

the government can be flexible as there are no strict and fixed rules

Question 14

3. Providing strong leadership (Effective) what sort of leadership does BJ provide during Ukraine

Answer 14

BJ has been able to exercise FP leadership over Ukraine and act as a representative of the UK

Question 15

3. Providing strong leadership (Effective) how did BJ provide visible leadership during COVID

Answer 15

BJ provided visible leadership during COVID as he delivered all the legislative and policy change from varying departments

and also delivered vital news regarding 2020 lockdowns and daily briefings

Question 16

3. Providing strong leadership (Effective) what is the Winston Churchill example

Answer 16

Winston Churchill is also a Pre-1997 example on how PMs provide leadership for the country during massive events

during the ww2 from 1939-45 he proved to be a strong leader fending of the Nazis and being dubbed the “British bulldog”

Question 17

3. Providing strong leadership (Effective) how was Thatcher a strong leader

Answer 17

Thatcher proved to be a militant leader and was dubbed the Iron Lady leading in the Falklands war and Iranian Embassy siege

Question 18

3. CA - give an example of poor leaderships

Answer 18

BJ has broken the ministerial code due to the lockdown party gate scandal which saw his refusal to resign

David Cameron also became a political pariah in Europe after calling the EU referendum he never wanted to call