Pressure group examples Flashcards
pressure the govt or hold them to account
Avaaz - organised the people’s climate matches in 2014-2015 to put pressure on the UN climate talks
Trade unions - strikes
- RCN has rejected the govt 5% pay rise
- NHS staff council has voted in favour of accepting the govt pay rise 2022-24 - Unite and RCN voted against
- RMT voted in favour of pay rise offer from Network Rail - 9%
- 77% of junior doctors took part in the ballot to strike in 2023 - 98% in favour
Justice for Grenfell - successfully pushed for public enquiry
Led by Donkeys - caught Matt Hancock and 2 other Tory MPs willing to advocate for a company for up to £10,000
protecting minority rights
Howard League - advocates for better prison conditions
Stonewall - supports LGBTQ+ community - supported the Gender Recognition Reform Bill 2023 in Scotland
education
Act for the Act Campaign - shows how the HRA has been used to help ordinary people
Institute for Fiscal Studies - revealed a possible ‘fiscal black hole’ following the u-turn of Trussonomics
arguments against pressure groups
PGs themselves are undemocratic / have moral issues
- CBI director Tory Danker was recently sacked due to sexual harassment
- think tank PGs are not structurally democratic - no voting
PGs may distort info for their advantage
- Stop 5G - concerned about health issues caused by 5G - no scientific backing
Undemocratic methods
- junior doctors strike - place patients at risk - ONS figures show a triple in excess deaths during and after strikes
Extinction Rebellion
- destroying art
- lock on methods
=> resulting in Police, Sentencing Act BUT govt response is undemocratic
increased pluralism
net zero targets - influence from environmental groups
vs
tax deductions in windfall tax
- Harbour Energy and Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe
- Labour and LibDem
- 25% -> 35% tax
NFU (farmers) vs animal welfare groups - issue of badgers with TB - NFU won
elitism
close relationships with SpAds and ministers with lobbying groups -> many MPs get well paid jobs after
- David Cameron - started as a SpAd - after political career worked as an advisor
- tried to persuade Rishi Sunak to bail out Greenhill Capital where he working
- secured a £150 million boost into Dementia research - a good use of lobbying relations
- 2020 Robert Jenrick former housing minister rushed approval of housing project to satisfy tory donor Richard Desmond
- Institute of Economic Affairs - Trussononmics -> Led by Donkeys posted the sign
- Owen Patterson lobbied on behalf of Randox for £100,000/yr
- cryptocurrencies have put MPs on their board - looser legislation around crypto
- taxpayers alliance, Brexit Central and the IEA confirmed they have monthly meetings with the Tory party
- US donors to the IEA get the opportunity to know ministers
think tanks
the King’s Fund - health think tank
key project - integrating health and social care
success in the Health and Care Act 2022
Atlas Network - a group of US and UK economic think tanks
members include
UK: IEA, Legatum Institute, Adam Smith Institute
US: American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation
Michael Gove and Johnson wen to the US to discuss Brexit policy with them
$9 million from US donors to various UK groups in the Atlas Network - US donors are influencing British public and policy
murky sources of funding - $30,000 from ExxonMobile to Policy Exchange in 2017 - advocated for legislation to clamp down on environmental protests -> Police, Crime, Sentencing and Court Act 2022
Think tanks have charity status bc they educate the public - survey by Smart Thinking in 2022 found only 1% of think tanks’ main aim is to educate the public
charity status also means they should be unbias but most are not
manifestos drafted with help of think tanks
CON - Centre for Policy Studies
LAB - New Economics Foundation, Institute for Public Policy Research
