The main functions of the House of Lords- Revising not legitimising Flashcards
Why does the Lords power differentiate from that of the Commons and what does this result in ?
As a non-elected chamber, and in accordance with the Salisbury convention- The house of lords is unable to stop bills which have passed the House of Commons
The chamber acts as more of a revising not legitimising chamber
What does the makeup of expertise within the lords mean for its part in the legislative process ?
The expertise which the life peers posses means that the lords plays an important part in the legislative process
Explain the process of when a bill enters the House of Lords and what role the expertise pay ?
When a bill leaves the House of Commons, it is sent to the House of Lords where it will be examined in detail in the chamber of the house of lords and in the committee stage- here the expertise of the lords is important in working through the implications of the bill and refining its contents, and any member can propose an amendment
Helps to investigate and improve legislation (to think harder about decisions the house of commons are making)
Why is the power of the lords undermined ?
The commons do not have to accept the advice of the Lords
Despite the fact that the Commons do not have to accept their advice, why does the makeup of expertise help to increase the influence they have ?
Because of the Lord’s professional expertise, their advice is politically influential and the amendments that they make can often be accepted as improving the quality of a bill
Why can the Lords look and examine the bill with more of an open-mind ?
Since members of the lords can sit for life, and a significant number of them are crossbenchers, they are also less influenced by the dictates of the whips and so can address the merits and demerits of legislation with an more open mind
What can heavy defeats in the Lords do ?
Heavy defeats in the house of lords can persuade the government to reconsider whether to modify or improve legislation
Example of when heavy defeat s in the Lords persuaded the government to reconsider the bill ?
In 2008- clauses in the Counter Terrorism Bill to enable terror suspects to be held for 42 days without charge were decisiviley defeated in the Lords by 191 votes- Gordon Brown deciddied to drop them from the bill
Example of the Whips being independent minded and less constrained by the Whips - recent examples
10th November 2020- rejected the government’s bill that would allow ministers to break international law (conservative peer went against the government, Example of the Lords being more independent and less constrained by the whips
16th November- Police, crime, sentencing and courts bill defeated by 14 votes in the Lords
What bills still enable the government to pass over legislation despite objections from the Lords ?
As a result of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, the government can still pass legislation over the objections of the House of Lords
Can you give an example of when the government passed legislation despite objections from the Lords ?
2000, for example, the Sexual Offences Ammendment Act 2000, which reduced the legal age for gay sex from 16-18 easily passed the commons. The Lords opposition to the bill was overridden when the government invoked the 1911 and 1949 Parliament Acts to give the bill royal assent, effectively bypassing the Lord
