parliament Flashcards
Parliamentary sovereignty
Parliament has ultimate power
Confidence and supply
A party will support the government in motions of confidence by voting or abstaining
E.g. May and DUP 2017
Salisbury Convention
The Lords are not allowed to oppose any second or third readings on manifesto promises
Parliamentary Privilege
Legal immunity granted to MPs that allows
Parliamentarians to carry out their duties without interference
Select committees
Can be appointed from the Commons
Can be near permanent or ad hoc
Cronyism
The appointment of friends and associates to positions of power
PAC
Public Accounts Committee - a select committee which oversees the governments spending
White Paper Document
Official government document before it becomes a bill
Private Members Bill
Private Members’ Bills are Public Bills introduced by MPs and Lords who are not government ministers.
Functions of the Commons
- Legislation (Children’s and Families Act 2014 protected vulnerable children)
- Representation of interests (Equality Act 2010 outlawed discrimination)
- Debate
- Making government accountable (Vote of no confidence led to Callaghan calling an election in 1979)
Lords
- Scrutiny of secondary legislation (The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee has commented on the recent School Teachers Pay and Conditions order)
- Scrutiny (Lords made sure smoking in cars was banned in Children’s and Families Act 2014)
- Expertise
Legislative Process
Lords not passing legislation:
- The Hunting Ban, 2004
- Defeat of bill in the legislative process: The Shops Bill 1986 was a bill introduced by the government (Thatcher) that was defeated at its second reading.
Amendments: A 2012 NHS reform bill had over 1000 amendments to it.
Examples of knee jerk legislation: The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 was rushed
through reacting to people being attacked. Effectiveness of the act has been
questioned.
Lord Adonis
Labour. Expert on economics and travel
Lord Dannatt
Crossbench. Military
