Parliament Flashcards
Describe the legislative process
- A bill can either start in the House of Commons or the House of Lords
- topic of the bill gets introduced
- there will be a First Reading and Second reading, Committee Stage , Report Stage and Third Reading, before it gets sent off to the other chamber
- This process will be repeated
- Some pinponging might occur, where the HoL or the HoC might disagree on the wording within the bill, meaning it gets sent back and forth until they are in agreement
- before a bill is signed into law, it has to be granted Royal Assent by the King, which is a convention rather than a decision
What is double insistence?
When a chamber adds this before sending off a law, it means that they won’t accept another rewriting of that law
What is the Salisbury Convention?
Salisbury Convention 1997
The HoL cannot oppose bills which have been outlined in the winning party’s election manifesto
Explain the Parliament Acts, 1911 and 1949
Parliament Act 1911
- Removed the HoL veto which could have prevented laws from being passed
- could delay laws from being passed for up to two years
Parliament Act 1949
- reduced the powers of the House of Lords yet further, meaning they could only delay legislation from being passed by 1 year
What changes did the HoL Reform Act of 1999 make?
- passed by Blair’s government
- reduced the number of peers in the HoL from 1330 to 669 at the start of 2000
- there is no cap on the number of peers in the HoL therefore PMs have appointed Peers each year
- reduced the number of hereditary peers in the House to 92
- size has changed in 23 years, increasing by 200 peers
How have backbenchers helped to hold the governement to account? Name three ways
- blocking legislation
- select committee action
- opposition day motions and UQs
Give some examples where backbenchers have been significant in blocking/delaying or changing legislation
1) May’s government
Blocked successive deals which she was trying to pass. Her first deal was blocked with a vote loss margin of 230 votes, the largest defeat for any government in modern Parliamentary history. The second deal featured a backbench rebellion of 75 Conservatives, and her third deal was also voted down.
2) House of Lords Reform Act 2012
Conservative rebels led by Jesse Norman cause the HoL Reform bill to be blocked. Cameron furiously shouted at Norman in the HoC Member’s Lobby
3) Military intervention in Syria
motion to initiate military action against Syria in 2015 was overruled in the Commons
- Defeated by 285 votes to 272
Give some examples of where backbenchers have been important in Select Committees.
1) Yvette Cooper questioning Amber Rudd
During questioning by the Home Affairs Committee, Yvette Cooper questioned whether Amber Rudd had set a target for deportations - she answered that she had set none. This contradicted a previous email she had sent to May in which she promised to reallocate £10m spending to increase the no. of deportations by 10%. This suggests that backbenchers have been important as a check on the government through committees, because she was forced to resign, illustrating how committee action can create accountability for the government’s actions. The committee gave Cooper, a backbencher, leverage to scrutinise the actions of the Home Office, culminating in a tangible change.
2) Sunak appeared in front of the Liaison Committee Dec 2022
- Mention: in particular, the Liaison Committee is useful because it is made up of all the chairs of the select committees, meaning that they are a representative body of a wide range of different interests
- put him under pressure regarding the NHS and about appointing an ethics advisor.
- this shows how backbenchers have a platform to overlook the government’s decisions because they added to pressure on the PM to address a significant issue. The greater the emphasis that scrutinising bodies place on an issue, the more media attention it receives.
3)Brexit Select Committee
- Mogg and Davis belong to the same party, yet still provided scrutiny of the government’s actions
- Mogg was unable to evade questions, and so effectively explained the important distinction between the implementation period and the transition period.
4)Wright reforms established a Backbench Business Committee
This committee has been instrumental in allowing MPs to pitch debates and choose which issues should deserve the greatest amount of time in Parliament.
- had a debate on whether in the govt should hold a referendum on remaining in the EU - extent of backbench support shifted Cameron’s attitudes
- held a motion organised by David Davis which affirmed that the House wouldn’t abide by the Supreme Court’s and EctHR decision on Prisoner Voting Rights
Some examples of where Select Committees have been ineffective at scutinising the government
Comparative analysis
1) Cameron - dodged questions by the Liaison Committee on whether he made a mistake in voting for war against Iraq
2) May closed down questions by the Liaision committee on what her plan B would be if Parliament didnt pass her bill.
This shows how Committees can be ineffective because these are both examples of where Prime Ministers can use their powers to skilfully evade questions, citing national security or the wish not to compromise their position. In the first case, Cameron dodged questions where information made public might endanger people from where the source came. May, although the question was valid, was neither under any obligation to answer the question properly.
Same sex marriage Act: when was it, how many opposed it and what was its significance in relation to backbenchers creating accountability of govt
Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act 2013
- 134 (of 161 overall in opposition) Conservatives opposed the Act, which constituted the largest conservative rebellion
- can be used to argue that backbenchers are insignificant/ their effectiveness depends on the policy, as more controversial policies within a party might gain greater support across other parties
- ability to pass legislation depends on govt majority and stability
- support from Labour helped Cameron enact this legislation into law.
In what ways have committee reports had a tangible impact? (think comparative analysis)
Committee reports
1) Environmental Audit Committee in 2015 released a report arguing that future expansion in the use of fracking projects should be abandoned - successfully convinced the govt to drop plans
2) Health Committee in 2015 also released a report aimed at protecting whistleblowers in the NHS concerned about the safety and management of their patients, but facing punishment for speaking up about it - govt issued a comprehensive response addressing the issue
Wright reforms has helped to legitimise select committees, as new reforms including secret ballot as a way of electing chairs, and a Backbench Business Committee, has made the committees appear more independent from government and more legitimate.
- this has resulted in greater media coverage of SC’s, for instance the Home Affairs SC was mentioned 295 times in 2008, but over 2000 times in 2012.
- 40% of select committee reports are accepted by the government
What are the different ways in which bills can be introduced?
Private bills - mainly concern private interests. Private bills are when an organisation wants to do something that the law currently prohibits it from doing
Private Members’ Bills - any group of MPs/peers or MP/peer can introduce a bill, known as a private members’ bill. MPs who wish to present a bill during Parliamentary session will enter a ballot, of which a select few will be selected
- private members’ bills progress in the same way public bills do
Difficulties with Private Members’ Bills:
- don’t receive a lot of time in Parliamentary session to discuss bills, so many MPs are unable to even introduce their bill
- need to get a quorum - convince a threshold of MPs to turn up so that the bill can progress
- during 2nd Reading of a PMB, any MP can shout ‘oppose’ which will block the bill - e.g., Christopher Chope prevented upskirting from being banned (at the time)
Public Bills - bills presented by government. They are likely to be passed, and are preceded by a White Paper which summarises the proposal and involves a vote, helping to identify any problems that the bill might have.
How do the Wright Reforms and their extent suggest that there is still more to be done to ensure government accountability
- the Wright Reforms recommended the establishment of a House Business Committee. This would have given backbenchers a far greater say in the Commons timetable
- would have involved weekly meetings with a draft agenda for the week ahead
- backbench business committee members would have joined with frontbench representatives to discuss what should be in the agenda
- without this, more difficult to achieve representation of all constituents, and more difficult to scrutinise govt
How have the opposition backbenchers managed to scrutinise govt through opposition day motions
Keir Starmer twice issued a ‘humble address’ during opposition day motions in relation to Brexit
- June 2017 - requested the govt to reveal documents about the potential impact of withdrawing the EU on the economy
- November 2018 - requested to see legal advice given to the govt by the attorney general concerning the proposed EU withdrawal agreement
- with the 2018 humble address, the govt then failed to give the full document that they had received, meaning for the first time in parliamentary history the govt was held in contempt of Parliament
How can UQs influence the govt, and what do they depend on?
They depend on Speakers:
- John Bercow - 2016-17 - permitted 73 UQs to be heard (43 hours)
- Michael Martin - 2006-07 - permitted 9 UQs to be heard (6 hours)
UQs:
- make Parliament more topical
- hold ministers to account
- although ministers aren’t really under obligation to answer every UQ, between 2017-19, they spent 196 hours answering questions from backbench MPs, and then following up after - this provides scrutiny of govt because it creates direct contact between the ministers running the govt and backbenchers - ministers are forced to argue their cause and convince backbenchers of what they are doing.
PMQs:
- longer under Bercow so that backbenchers can get their questions in
