parliament Flashcards
what are the themes you need to discuss to do with parliament ?
1.majority vs minority gov
2. accountability
3. scrutiny
4. representation
what powers do backbenchers have?
- parliamentary privilege means that they can say what they like in parliament without being subject to outside influence
- for example, Lord Hain speaking freely in the HOL during a parliamentary session, named Philip Green as as the businessman at the heart of sexual harassment allegations, despite there being a court injuction banning the disclosure of his name in 2018
- creation of the Backbench Business Committee 2010 them to choose the topic of debate; some of which are chosen in response to the 100,000 signature e- petitions signed by the public
- for example, 2015 led to the introduction of the Harvey Law which obliges the highway agency to notify owners of pets who are killed on roads
- for example, in october 2011, the backbench business committee successfully called for the publication for all secret gov material relating to the hillsborough disaster to be released
- they can rise against gov measures
- for example, mp’s rebelled in 35% of divisions in 2010 - 2015 in comparison in 2005 - 2010 which was 28%
- a gov is less likely to proceed with a measure if it feels like it will be defeated (coalition dropping the HOL reform bill in 2013 after the 2nd reading)
what is the function of select committees (departmental committees)?
they shadow individual gov departments, to scrutinise the policy, administration and spending of each gov department in the HOC and decide on which areas to investigate
how do select committees help with accountability?
- For example, in 2018, the home affairs committee interview amber rudd regarding the windrush scandal
- she is then forced to resign as home secretary after its found that she gave inaccurate evidence to remove illegal immigrants
how do select committees help with scrutiny?
- for example, the 2016 work and pensions investigation into the collapse of british home stores and the loss of a a lot of employee’s pension fund; this resulted in the company being reported to the pensions regulator
- 2016 business, innovation and skills investigation into the alleged bad working practices at sports direct; this resulted in the company being forced to pay compensation to his workers for paying them below minimum wage
what are public accounts committees?
they give MP’s the opportunity to propose amendments to legislation and examines government expenditure
what are examples of the public accounts committee in action?
- for example, the investigation into the home office, who still dont know the size of the illegal population in the uk and has not estimated the uk’s illegal population since 2005
what is the liaison committee?
chairs of select committees, who question the PM twice a year across the whole field of government policy
what is the function of the liaison committee?
- to examine the policy of the department and make recommendations
- to hold departments to account if they wrongly inforce committee recommendations
- to consider the public when it comes to concerns of the need for accountability to the public through parliament
what are examples of the liaison committee in action?
- for example, october 2019 boris johnson just finishing a 90 minute question and answer session with senior MP’s on the liaison committee; in which he admitted that the covid 19 testing capacity was insufficient after demand had accelerated over the the past couple of weeks
- for example, david cameron appeared before the liaison committee 15 times during his two premierships and theresa may 6 times, in order for the accountability relationship to be maintained
what are disadvantages of select committees (or specifically, the liaison committee)?
- MP’s dont attend regularly
- the gov accept an estimate of only 40% of select committee recommendations, but these rarely involve major changes of policy
- MP’s still lack the expertise, knowledge, research back up and time to investigate the gov thoroughly
what is the role of the opposition in holding the gov to account?
- they hold PMQ’s - questions to ministers - which is a weekly question and answer session in the house of commons
- PMQ’s force the PM to become well informed about policy and the wider news agenda
- tony blair changed PMQ’s from a twice weekly session to the current format of 30 minutes on wednesday
what are examples of the effectiveness of PMQ’s?
- for example, in 2017, Jeremy corbyn used PMQ’s effectively to overturn the premium rate number used to call universal credit
- blair opposition (1994-1997) was very effective in highlighting weaknesses in the Major’s gov as well as presenting itself as a good alternative gov
what are examples of the negatives of PMQ’s?
- dont actually have to sit it
- for example during Johnson’s first premiership in office, he was only questioned at PMQ’s three times - has been criticised to be theatrical and a point scoring exercise dominated by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition
what is the purpose of short money?
- short money is given to the leader of the opposition party
- short money is supposed to be spent on policy research and the salaries of staff who work for the opposition, as compensation for not having access to support from civil service
how is the HOL limited?
its powers have been limited by both law and convention
- for example, the salisbury conventions 1945 (lords cannot oppose a bill the gov have written in their manifesto)
- for example, the parliaments act 1911 and 1949 (cant involve themselves with money bills and taxation, can only delay a bill for up to 2 years - which has been used 7 times since 1911)
what are example of government defeats by the HOL?
- for example, theresa may’s gov was defeated in the lords over 14 times between april and june 2018 on the EU withdrawal bill, which resulted in it going back to the commons where they managed to get compromisations from the gov over a final parliamentary vote on the brexit deal
- for example, 2005 GE they opposed tony blair’s proposal for identity cards even though the policy had been announced by the labour party in advance
- for example, since 2019, boris johnson’s gov has been defeated 114 times
