New Labour constitutional reforms Flashcards
4 Labour Key Reforms written within labour manifesto
Decentralisation
Democratisation
Transparency
Rights Protection
Decentralisation
Decentralisation
Wanted to move power away from Westminster parliament and devolve the power back to the people
For Example
Scotland and Wales would be offered their own elected governmentsCities and towns would be given the opportunity elect their own mayors
Democratisation
Democratisation
The public should be given more influence over decision making through the greater use of referendums on important constitutional issues
For example
The house of lords would be reformed
Transparency
Transparency
Wanted to make sure the running of the country and the making of decisions were clear to everyone (Prior to Blair, everything was done behind closed doors)
For example
The Freedom of Informations Act would open up government, making it more accountable to the public
In order to encourage greater trust in gov, the role of the senior judiciary would be reformed
Rights Protection
Rights Protection
Since British citizens human rights were not protected by a codified
Blairs comments on the British constitution
For Blair- the British constitution was urgently in need of reform and New Labour would address this problem
Power was too centralised in Westminster and the rights of citizens were insufficently protected
Government was so remote and unaccountable: public disengaged from politics
How would democracy be invigorated according to Blair (and what did he quote related to the subject of constitutional reform)
Democracy would be invigorated by an extensive programme of constitutional reform
Blair- modernisation is key
How were these 4 principles put into practice ?
Through the constitutional reforms of
- House of Lords
- Devolution
- Supreme Court
- Human Rights Act
What was labours flagship constitutional reform in 1997?
Devolution
How did the process of devolution come about in the UK?
1997 referendums in Scotland Wales on elected government
Scotland YES to their own parliament (large majority)
Wales YES to their own assembly (tiny margin)
1998 As part of Good Friday Agreement
NI referendum in favour of power sharing between unionists and republicans in an devolved assembly
Aim of devolved bodies
Aim of devolved bodies
Greater self-determination
Establishing new legislatures and executives in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast would ensure that policies. could be more exactly suited to the needs of the people in Scotland Wales and NI
How did the government extend devolution even further ?
The government also provided many towns, cities and regions with the opportunity to elect their own mayors
What did London vote for in the 1998 referendum and what did it result in ?
In 1998
London voted in a referendum in favour of a Greater London Authority comprising an elected Mayor of London and a London Assembly, which can veto the mayor’s proposals with a two-third majority
What was the Local Government Act (2000)
Enabled local authorities to offer their voters a referendum over whether they wanted their own directly elected mayors
Arguments for the principle of elected mayors
They encourage greater accountability and transparency in local governments
David Cameron- ‘galvanise action”
Arguments against elected mayors
By 2016, the electorate had rejected an elected mayor in 37 of the 53 referendums that were called- little demand
Concerns that, far from encouraging, mayors are frequently elected on a small turnout of the vote, undermining their legitimacy
- E.g. In 2016, Andy Street became the elected mayor of the West Midlands but the turnout was only 26.7%
Why were plans to move towards English evolution stalled in. 2004 ?
When the North-East rejected proposals for a regional assembly by 78% to 22%
House of Lords situation when the government introduced legislation to reform the upper house ?
1,330 peers were eligible to attend the House of Lords.
- The majority were hereditary peers (the right to sit in the House of Lords derived from their membership of one of the aristocratic families of the UK)
Hereditary peers outnumbered the life peers, who had been appointed as a result of their service to the nation
What was the problem with hereditary peers and what did this provoke Brown and Blair to do ?
The hereditary principle undermined the the legitimacy of the HOL so the government was determined to remove the right of the hereditary peers to attend which would be called the House of Lords Act 1999
How did they persuade the House of Lords to accept this reform ?
In order to persuade the House of Lords to accept this offer, the government compromised by allowing hereditary peers to elect 92 of their number who would continue to sit in the House of Lords
What did this reform movement affect and why?
This reform movement affected its membership rather than its powers
The government’s intention was to make it more a professional body by ensuring that membership became based on merit and accomplishment rather than birth
In terms of House of Lords reform, what was created in 2000 and what was its aims
In 2000, a House of Lords Appointments Commission was established, which would nominate a small proportion of like peers
Why have the HOL reforms been highly controversial ?
The gov intended the HOL Act 1999 to be the first stage of reform, however nothing was done to introduce an elected element of the HOL
The majority of life peers are still appointed on the recommendations of the prime minister, as a result of which critics claim that too many appointments to the Lords are through political patronage
Why is the unelected nature of the HOL controversial ?
Although HOL can claim greater expertise, It still lacks democratic legitimacy
