Evidence (Blurting) - Democracy and Participation Flashcards

Question

1.4 Strikes Act

Answer 1

In 2023, the government responded to widespread and prolonged public sector strikes with the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act requires some workers to still work during strikers or face being sacked

Answer 2

WASPI have campaigned for compensation due to the government increasing pension age. They want to receive compensation. 2024

Answer 3

Insulate Britain engages in direct action and often breaks the law - civil disobedience

Answer 4

BMA(British Medical Association)successfully campaigned for 2% rise of doctors wages post-pandemic

Answer 5

April 2022 Just Stop Oil activists vandalised petrol pumps along the M25. October 2022 two JSO activists scaled the Queen Elizabeth Bridge on the M25 near Dartford and were there suspended in cables for 37 hours, both got sentenced to around 3 years imprisonment. Just Stop Oil methodology was civil disobedience regardless of public image - getting their message across was the priority rather than public support - although many agreed with the cause of the campaign, they did not agree with the method

Answer 6

The National Farmers Union has a close link with its relevant government department (Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs). FU annual conference, stating he had worked with the National Farmers Union oto create a £220 million package of funding for technology and innovation to protect British farming which would allow bosses to fire and sue union employees in public sectors during strikes if minimum levels of service aren’t met. The National Farmers Union used their insider status with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to allow the 2013 badger cull. Head of the environmental affairs committee attended an NFU summit in 2023, 2024 Rishi Sunak said to NFU “we have your back”. This illustrates close links.

Answer 7

The Labour-supporting pressure group Momentum has influenced the Labour party in other ways, such as putting in candidates for ion as Labour MPs and councillors. This includes MPs like Zara Sultana, Apsana Begum and Nadia Whittome (all been very vocal about social justice, climate action, and other leftist policies) Aspana Begum is the first Hijabi MP in Parliament, she also accused Labour for targeting her for deion because she was a socialist, Muslim, working class woman (2022)

Answer 8

The charity Care4Calais has attempted to bring a legal challenge against the recently passed Rwanda Bill, stating “Human rights law still applies, we are ready to go”

Answer 9

The National Trust is the largest pressure group in the country, having access to huge amount of funding and membership, however, is sometimes unable to influence government. In 2022, it called for the government to stay true to its net zero by 2030 obligation and continue to ban fracking. Sunak has extended the net-zero to 2050, and PM Truss lifted the ban on fracking (although Sunak has reinstated it).

Answer 10

Extinction Rebellion Occupied St Paul’s Cathedral to campaign for climate change May 2024 - Extinction Rebellion gathered to launch awareness of pollution in the River Nidd. The venture, named the “Poo Patrol”, consisted of activists dressed in white overalls with fishing rods. The patrol pretended to fish the poops out of the River Nidd as a visual image of what is in the river.

Answer 11

The group FareShare used footballer Marcus Rashford as a figurehead for their social media campaign to provide free meals to struggling children during the 2020 lockdown. This campaign was extremely popular, with Rashford’s e-petition receiving 1.1 million signatures. Consequently, the government announced that it would provide a £120 million ‘Covid summer food fund’ and £170 million ‘Covid winter grant scheme’ for vulnerable families

Answer 12

The Gurkha Justice Campaign was a successful political campaign which sought to impact government decisions.)who served in the British military to gain right of abode. Despite the lack of government support from the Blair government, in 2008, the High Court ruled that the lack of rights for Gurkhas was illegal. In 2009, Gordon Brown announced that all Gurkha veterans who had served four years or more in the British Army would be allowed to settle in Britain.

Answer 13

Stop the War Coalition 2003 - there were mass rallies to stop the invasion of Iraq in 2003. However, this was still resisted by the Blair government, which escalated the conflict by sending British troops to Iraq, due to Blair’s ideology of his war doctrine

Answer 14

The shift of Conservative Party thinking towards a more overtly free-market-orientated approach in the 1970s owed a great deal to Margaret Thatcher's patronage of right-wing think tanks, such as the Centre for Policy Studies and the Adam Smith Institute.

Answer 15

In 2022, the neoliberal think tank Institute of Economic Affairs had 24 parliamentary supporters – including prominent figures such as Liz Truss, Priti Patel, Kemi Badenoch and Kwasi Kwarteng (who was previously employed by the organisation)

Answer 16

Many think tanks, like the Resolution Foundation and the Fabian Society, warned against Brexit, stating that it would be detrimental to the UK economy, however, the Conservative government ignored this.

Answer 17

The Conservative Party is associated with the Adam Smith institute, and the Centre for Social Justice, whereas Labour is associated with the Fabian Society and Institute for Public Policy

Answer 18

When David Cameron was PM, the owner of the financial firm Greensill Capital Lex Greensill was his senior advisor, and had access to key government departments. After leaving politics, Cameron went on to be a lobbyist at Greensill Capital, lobbying Matt Hancock to use Greensill Capital’s services in the NHS during the pandemic

Answer 19

The lobbying firm Best for Britain tried to get another referendum through persuading MPs however this wasn’t successful and Johnson carried on his ‘Get Brexit Done’ plans.

Answer 20

In 2004, the RSPCA and other groups joined forces to campaign for the ban on hunting which was eventually successful in the Hunting Dogs Act 2004 (pressure group tactics).

Answer 21

Stonewall is a pressure groups which advocates for lgbtq+ and are very influential as helped with same sex marriage, having lgbtq taught on the national curriculum and more. One success was being a key group in convincing the government to commit to banning conversion therapy in 2020, however legislation is yet to be introduced.

Answer 22

Trade Unions did and still hold influence over government especially labour pre 1997, ‘beer and sandwiches at no.10’ was a popular term to highlight this. They donated £4 million to labour in the last 3 months of 2019.

Answer 23

Robert Colville (head of the Centre for Policy Studies) and Rachel Wolf co-authored the 2019 Conservative Manifesto

Answer 24

From 2015 to 2021, the Institute of Fiscal Studies’ reports had over 150 citations in official government documents.

Answer 25

Greenpeace, outsider group, was successful in its Microbeads campaign as the government proposed the strongest ban on microbeads in the world and declared that all personal care and cosmetic products containing microbeads would be off the shelves by 2018 (example of a successful outsider pressure group demonstrating that insider status is not significant)

Answer 26

- countervailing is a product of hyperpluralism, for every PG that exists there is one that directly opposes its views. This means the govt can choose one they agree with the most and continue with their intended policy aim while appearing to be responsive to PGs. the british chamber of commerce for a 3rd runway at heathrow and the no 3rd runway group. Trade union congress in favour of a higher minimum wage and the confederation of british industry against the existence of the minimum wage.

Answer 27

Consulting with PGs is a politically calculated move the PG cage uk which advocates against post 9\11 terror laws that disproportionately affect muslims has little influence, because muslims only represent 4% of the electorate their lack of influence is accentuated by the fact that most muslims are labour voters so there would be no electoral gain if the cons party consulted with them.

Answer 28

Lobbying scandal - MP Scott Benton suspended for breaking lobbying rules after he was alleged to have lobbied for the gambling industry and gave the company access to confidential government documents.

Answer 29

The UK lobbying industry is the third largest in the world with 4,000 lobbyists in and around Westminster

Answer 30

Palestine Solidarity Campaign → campaigned for immediate ceasefire in Gaza which led to gaza mass protests in London = 18th May 2024 → 250,000 marched in London (biggest one)

Answer 31

June 2022: Institute for Government issued ‘How metro mayors can help level up England’

Answer 32

June 2022: Adam Smith Institute released a paper entitled ‘Countdown: Reforming the Cabinet Office, exploring how the Cabinet office could be made more efficient and effective. It released this because it opposed bureaucracy and believed the government should be small. It suggested reducing the size of the cabinet office by 90% (outsourcing some work done by the Cabinet Office to private bodies + keeping a tighter grip on spending

Answer 33

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s 2022 UK Poverty Report was a wide-reaching examination of the causes of poverty and its impact, including its effects on children, the disabled and those from different ethnic groups

Answer 34

Chatham House (an international affairs think tank) is responsible for the ‘Insights’ book series, which are intended to provide readers with a better understanding of key international issues. For example, in 2022 they published The Justice Laboratory: International Law in Africa

Answer 35

Three think tanks which were most often cited in policy documents between 2015-21: - The Joseph Rowntree Foundation - Name checked in 157 documents relating to employment, culture or education. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is a charity that researches social policy and campaign on quality of life issues - The Institute for Fiscal Studies - A research institute with particular interests in taxation, welfare benefits and education, which received citation in 150 documents - The National Bureau of Economics Research - A non-profit American group mention in 130 documents

Answer 36

The 2019 Conservative Manifesto was co-authored by Robert Colville and Rachel Wolf, both from the Centre for Policy Studies

Answer 37

Initiative launched by Entain (company that owns betting companies like Ladbrokes). Paid CT Group, a lobbyist firm run by Lynton Crosby, former advisor to PMs Theresa May and Boris Johnson, to offer insider advice. It was created in response to a 2023 government proposition (White Paper) to increase restrictions on gambling for greater safety. The ‘Players Panel’ launched a campaign to encourage those who had registered on their website to write to their MPs opposing these restrictions. The groups offered letter templates and advised its members to target the Culture Secretary, Lucy Frazer. “At no stage do these emails point out that it’s a lobbying exercise by a company. They’re trying to hide behind constituents rather than coming clean about their own self-interest.” (Iain Duncan Smith, former leader of Conservative party, The Guardian) Lady Davidson, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said: “Of course it’s legitimate for the public to lobby MPs on upcoming legislation. But for members of parliament – and members of the public – to be kept in the dark over which well-funded gambling firm is behind lobbying efforts such as template emails is pretty underhand. In fact, it stinks.” (The Guardian) Entain refused to say how much of the Players’ Panel funding it provided and whether any of its staff were involved in writing the templates. “We do not see any contradiction between our welcoming of the review and our encouragement of our customers to make their voices heard in what is an important and necessary debate.” Entain added that members of the Players’ Panel, some of whom have written articles about gambling regulation on the group’s website, were unpaid volunteers who did not receive any benefit from the company