Parliament interactions with the executive

Question 1

Explain the role & importance of backbenchers in both houses

Answer 1

backbenchers: members of the HoC or HoL who are not members of either the government frontbench or the opposition front bench
- they are not bound by collective ministerial responsibility like the cabinet ministers are, so are more independent but they are expected to obey the whip and its three line rule

Question 2

Parliamentary privilege: why is this important for backbenchers?

Answer 2

• backbenchers are protected by parliamentary privilege which dates back to the Bill of Rights in 1689 which states that “the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.”
• as a result, backbenchers are free to raise any issue they wish in Westminster without fear of being persecuted in the courts for libel or defamation of character

Question 3

Where has parliamentary privilege been used?

Answer 3

• the retail tycoon Philip Green was named by Lord Hain, back in 2018

Question 4

Backbenchers: influence (for)

Answer 4

1) Backbench Business Committee - has provided MPs with more control over the parliamentary agenda, enabling them to choose more topics for debate
2) Petitions Committee - provides MPs with more opportunities to determine what is debated in Parliament
3) Liaison Committee (which is the chairs of all select committees) regularly holds the PM to account for policy development & implementation
4) From 2017 to 2019 backbenchers were very influential in delaying the May & Johnson governments’ EU withdrawal legislation: May’s Brexit deal was defeated three times & in Sep 2019 MPs took control of parliamentary business to try to stop a potential ‘no deal brexit’

Question 5

Backbenchers: influence (against)

Answer 5

1) despite recent reforms, select committees’ reports & the scrutiny of the Liaison Committee have no binding power over government
2) the gov’s increasing use of secondary (delegated; authorised) legislation to change laws has negatively impacted MP’s legislative function
3) it is only a convention (treaty) that the HoC should be consulted on for the deployment of British troops e.g. Theresa May took military action in Syria in 2018 without a parliamentary vote
4) the Johnson government repealed (revoked) the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, restoring the PM’s act to determine the date of the general election