role and significance of the opposition 2.4

Question 1

what is an issue with the opposition and their impact in scrutinising legislation

Answer 1

• Opposition parties are not in a strong position to hold the government to account in parliament unless its majority is small.

Question 2

where does the opposition concentrate on instead to scrutinise government

Answer 2

• concentrate on attacking the government through the media, where they reach a larger audience.

Question 3

when does a shadow prime minister show its authority

Answer 3

• leading role in responding to the government programme
• replies to the chancellor of the exchequer’s budget speech.

Question 4

how many times can the opposition party go to debate and how many times can the leader of the opposition go to debate

Answer 4

• opposition parties = 20 days a year
• 17 days are at the disposal of the leader of the official opposition
• 3 days to the second-largest opposition party.

Question 5

how does ‘short money’ help the opposition

Answer 5

short money = money gievn to the oppoisition to help them run their part of government
- provides help with the running costs of the leader of the opposition’s office.
- opposition parties do not have access to support from the civil service.
- supposed to be spent on policy research and the salaries of staff who work for the opposition in parliament, rather than in their party headquarters.

Question 6

what happened to short money after 2015

Answer 6

conservatives cut it down dramatically = parties should make sacrifices at a time when Whitehall departments’ funding was being reduced.

Question 7

when does PMQ happen

Answer 7

• every wednesday, 12pm, for half an hour

Question 8

what does the gladitorial nature of PMQ reveal about the leaders of the parties

Answer 8

reveals the personality and nature of the PM ( Cameron hating on Corbyn’s suit for example)

Question 9

what is a controversial aspect of PMQs ( about the questions)

Answer 9

• they are usually planted
• e.g. Conservative MPs to create a ‘protective wall of sound’ around Cameron and heckled Ed Miliband

Question 10

when do ministers tend to answer questions the best

Answer 10

when they are questioned about their own department (get told in advance what question is and with help of civil servants able to dissect it)

Question 11

so how does the opposition show ‘parliamentary scrutiny’ through questioning ministers

Answer 11

MPs understand government policy and allows them to raise constituency issues