PM and Judiciary Flashcards
examples of prerogative powers
-making and ratifying treaties
-international diplomacy
-deployment of the armed forces oversees
-the organistation of the civil service
examples of critiscisms of politicisation
Communications under Blair’s communications director, Alastair Campbell, responsibility for government communications was transferred to a senior civil servant.
examples of patronage powers
- to appoint ministers ( this is considered the most significant
- life peers
- the honours system
Blair and life peers
Blair increased Labour’s representation in the Lords by appointing 162 Labour peers.
Brown and Life peers
Gordon Brown gave government portfolios and life peerages to five prominent public figures who were not politicians, including former Confederation of British Industry (CBI) head Sir Digby Jones.
coalition agreement in appointing peers
The 2010 coalition agreement required Cameron to appoint five Liberal Democrats to his cabinet but all prime ministers face informal constraints on their choice of ministers.
Blair appointing ministers
Brown agreed not to stand against Blair in the 1995 Labour leadership election and in return received assurances that he would become chancellor of the exchequer in a future Labour government.
May appointing ministers
15 ministers who had attended cabinet under Cameron, including George Osborne and Michael Gove, were not appointed to May’s first cabinet
Thatcher ideological preferences
Margaret Thatcher included both economic ‘dries’ (Thatcherites) and ‘wets’ (one-nation Conservatives) to her first cabinet, but gave the key positions to her allies
1962 cabinet reshuffle
This was true of Harold Macmillan’s 1962 reshuffle, dubbed the ‘night of the long knives’, in which he sacked seven cabinet ministers.
1989 cabinet reshuffle
Margaret Thatcher’s demotion of foreign secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe in 1989 had damaging consequences because his resignation a year later triggered Thatcher’s downfall.
May authority in cabinet
- May established (and chaired) a new Economy and Industrial Strategy Committee.
- The prime minister can also reshape the structure and top personnel of central government.
Policy input example
Chancellor Nigel Lawson and foreign secretary Geoffrey Howe forced Margaret Thatcher to shift government policy on the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in 1989 by threatening to resign if she continued to rule out Britain’s entry into the system.
Thatcher - Policy input
Thatcher played an active role in many policy fields. Instances of policy success (e.g. the 1982 Falklands War) strengthened her position but in
the case of the poll tax, policy failure undermined her authority
Blair - Policy Input
The 2003 invasion of Iraq undermined Blair’s position when doubts about the government’s case for war raised questions about his judgement and trustworthiness. In domestic politics, Blair became frustrated that increased public spending in health and education delivered only gradual improvement
Brown - Policy Input
Brown forged a reputation for competence as chancellor but the financial crisis undermined his economic credibility when he was prime minister.
Cameron - Policy input
The 2010 coalition agreement limited Cameron’s room for manoeuvre, but he set the overall agenda (e.g. the deficit reduction strategy) and determined responses to emerging issues (e.g. military intervention in Libya in 2011).
Which PM’s had strong international relationships particularly with the USA
Thatcher and Blair
examples of new cabinet posts
the Department for Exiting the European Union was established after the 2016 EU referendum
Ministers whoe resigned after not agreeing with policy
Robin Cook (2003) and Iain Duncan Smith (2016). The Blair and Brown governments saw some ministers resigning in an attempt to force a change of leader
Last confidence vote used
1979 - James Callaghan
example of collective responsibility
Conservative and Liberal Democrat ministers were permitted by the coalition agreement to campaign on opposite sides in the 2011 alternative vote referendum.
Collective responsibility in 2016 referendum
Cameron also allowed ministers to take a personal decision to campaign to leave the EU, even though the government’s position was to support EU membership. They were, however, denied access to civil service resources to support their position on the EU and were required to support the government’s position on all other issues.
four issues lib dems were permitted to abstain on
- nuclear power stations
- tax allowances for married couples
- higher education funding, and to make the case against renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent.
example of a mistake being made within deparments leading to resignation
Agriculture minister Sir Thomas Dugdale resigned in 1954 when mistakes made by civil servants in the Crichel Down case came to light
example of when policy failure led to resignation
Chancellor of the exchequer James Callaghan after the 1967 devaluation of sterling, although he became home secretary in the ensuing cabinet reshuffle.
example of when personal misconduct led to resignation
The Nolan Committee was set up after the ‘cash for questions’ case which led to the resignations of Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith.
example of when personal pressure led to resignation
Chief whip Andrew Mitchell resigned in 2012, weeks after he was alleged to have insulted police officers at the entrance to Downing Street, after pressure on his position escalated.
Examples of ministerial resignations over individual responsibility
Brooks Newmark, minister for civil society, cabinet office, 2014, personal misconduct - sent explicit images to a undercover reporter
Number of civil service in 1979 compared to 2016
The number of civil servants has been cut from 732,000 in 1979 to 392,000 in 2016.
Divorce reform act 1969
The Divorce Reform Act 1969 made divorce easier by introducing the principle of irretrievable breakdown: couples could divorce if they had been separated for 2 years and fault did not have to be established.
Key social reforms in 60s
Three landmark private members’ bills abolished the death penalty, decriminalised sex between men in private, and legalised abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
president of the supreme court
Lord Reed - attended edinburgh, the oxford university
deputy president
Lord Hodge - attended Cambridge
other justices
- Lord Lloyd-Jones - attended Cambridge
- Lord Briggs of Westbourne - attended Oxford
- Lord Kitchin - attended Cambridge
- Lord Sales - attended Oxford and Cambridge
- Lord Hamblen of Kersey - attended Oxford
- Lord Leggatt - attended Cambridge
- Lord Burrows - attended Oxford
- Lord Stephens of Creevyloughgare - attended Manchester
- Lady Rose of Colmworth - attended Oxford and Cambridge
- Lord Richards of Camberwell - attended Cambridge
Which scandal shows that no one being above the law isnt true in practice
2009 expense scandal
Factortame case - 1990
Courts held that they had power to restrain the application of an Act of Parliament pending trial and ultimately to disapply that Act when it was found to be contrary to EU law.
United States of America v Nolan (2015)
This case resulted from a claim against the US government under the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992. Nolan, had argued that there should have been more consultation with workers’ representatives before making her redundant. The US government argued that the Secretary of State had acted ultra vires under the European Communities Act (1972), because the 1995 regulations under which Nolan had made her original claim went beyond the basic rights given under EU Law. Nolan was favoured with
articles of the Human rights act
Article 1 commits all signatories to protecting the rights included in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
- Article 2 protects the right to life.
- Article 3 prohibits torture and degrading or inhuman treatment.
- Article 4 outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude.
- Article 5 secures liberty and security of the individual against arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.
- Article 6 guarantees a fair trial.
- Article 7 prevents legislation that criminalises acts retrospectively.
- Article 8 promotes respect for the individual’s private and family life.
- Article 9 protects the freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
- Article 10 enshrines the right to freedom of expression.
- Article 11 protects the rights of association and
assembly: for example, the right to form a trade union.
- Article 12 protects the right of men and women to marry and start a family.
- Article 13 allows for the redress of grievances where convention rights have been violated.
- Article 14 prohibits discrimination in the application of rights guaranteed in the ECHR.
- Article 15 allows for suspension or ‘derogation’ of some of the rights guaranteed by the ECHR in times of national emergency.
- Article 16 permits restrictions on the political rights of foreign nationals.
- Article 17 prevents rights protected in the ECHR from being used to limit other convention rights.
- Article 18 holds that the ‘get-out clauses’ included in some articles of the ECHR should not be abused as a way of limiting those rights protected in more general terms.
R. (Reilly) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2016)
Reilly argued that, in requiring her to work for a private company in order to receive her benefit payments, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) had infringed the protection against slavery provided in Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
- found welfare to work scheme was unlawful
R. (Tigere) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (2015)
Beaurish Tigere, who had arrived in the UK from Zambia aged 6 and subsequently completed her A-levels, was not eligible for a student loan for her undergraduate degree because she did not have indefinite leave to remain in the UK and would not be able to apply to the UK Border Agency for this until 2018.
- went agaisbt HRA
