UK Structure And Role Of Parliament: Theories Of Presentation, Commties, Parlaiment Privlage

Question 1

How many MPs continue to undertake jobs outside Parliament once elected in 2017-19

Answer 1

18%

Question 2

Why do this jobs have to be declared in the register of members interests ?

Answer 2

For the sake of transparency and the avoidance of any clear conflict of interest

Question 3

What’s the Burkean theory ?

Answer 3

Theory that argues elected officials are purely representatives of their voters

Question 4

What did Burke felt as elected officials they should represent ?

Answer 4

That’s as representative, elected officials should take into account their constituents views while also employing their personal judgement, knowledge and experience to serve the public interest.

Question 5

How has the Burkean theory been significantly weakened ?

Answer 5

Through the advent of strong party ties and the parliamentary whipping system

Question 6

Examples of Burkean theory ?

Answer 6

Nike Boles, former conservative MP for Grantham and Stamford, represented a leave constituency but personally supported the remain campaign, he vote against his own part in many of the Brexit votes

Question 7

What’s another example of the Burkean theory ?

Answer 7

Votes of conscience during which MPs follow their own conscience or belief in the common good when voting on issues such as abortion or assisted dying

Question 8

Name an example ?

Answer 8

2013 vote on gay marriage is the most notable recent example of a vote of conscience, despite then conservative prime minister David Cameron backing the vote and giving government time to debate it, over half his party either rebelled or abstained from the vote.
136 Conservative MPs voted against it, while 127 backed it

Question 9

What’s the delegate theory ?

Answer 9

Elected officials authorised to represent and act as a mouthpiece of their constituents

Question 10

Name an example of delegate theory ?

Answer 10

-2015 conservative MP Zac Goldsmith promised his voters in Richmond park that he would resign if the government backed a third runways at Heathrow, he stuck to his word when the government came out in favour of a third runway
- he fought the enduring by-election as an independent but duly lost to Lib Dem

Question 11

Name another example of the delegate theory ?

Answer 11

Stephen Lloyd’s then Lib Dem MP for Eastbourne promised to support Brexit in common votes if re-elected in 2017 in order to honour the referendum result both nationally and within his own constituency, against his own views and official party policy he stuck to his pledge in the division lobbies, resigning the Lib Dem whip in the process, he went to lose his seat in the 2019 election.

Question 12

What’s the mandate theory /

Answer 12

It suggest that MPs are primarily in their position to represent and carry out their party’s policies and manifesto

Question 13

What’s the argument of the mandate theory ?

Answer 13

The argument goes that is the party and not the personality of an individual MP that secures their election, they therefore have a duty of party loyalty once in parliament

Question 14

Name an example of mandate theory ?

Answer 14

In 2019 frank field, the long serving and highly respected MP for Birkenhead stood as an independent having left Labour and was defeated in his very safe labour seat

Question 15

What’s an example of a rare expectation of the mandate theory ?

Answer 15

A rare exception was Douglas Carswell who having been elected as conservative MP for Clacton defected UKIP in 2014, he resigned and went on to retain his seat both the by-election and 2015 general election standing for UKIP

Question 16

How does parliament scrutinise the executive ?

Answer 16

-debate in the chamber
-parliamentary questions
-parliamentary committees

Question 17

What can parliamentary debates do ?

Answer 17

Offer MPs opportunity to realise concerns and opinion and on occasion can force the government to change its mind

Question 18

What influenced prime minister David Cameron to propose air strikes against al-Assad forces to deter any future use of such illegal weapons ?

Answer 18

In august 2013 president bashar al-Assad was using chemical weapons against civilians during the Syrian civil war

Question 19

By how much was Cameron defeated by

Answer 19

285-272 votes

Question 20

Why was the parliamentary debate heated ?

Answer 20

Memories of the Iraq war have not long been gone

Question 21

What did labour leader Ed Miliband say ?

Answer 21

The public wanted us to learn the lesson of the Iraq war

Question 22

What did conservative MP David Cameron commented during the debate ?

Answer 22

We must consider, being where we’ve been there before in this house, that our intelligence as it stands might just be wrong because it was before we have got to be very, very hard in testing it

Question 23

What did fellow Tory MP Cheryl Gillian stated ?

Answer 23

I cannot sit in this house and be duped again

Question 24

Define parliamentary privilege ?

Answer 24

Exemption of MPs and peers from the laws of slander and contempt of court in order to uphold the principle of free speech within Parliament

Question 25

Name an example when parliamentary privilege has been used ?

Answer 25

In 2018 when lord peter hain broke an interim injunction granted by the court of appeal to name business person sir Phillip green as the man behind a court injunction banning a newspaper from naming him. This injunction had prevented the daily telegraph from publishing allegations of sexual and racial harassment that had been made against green.

Question 26

What happens during emergency debates ?

Answer 26

The speaker grande permission for an MP to speak for 3 min to put their request to the house

Question 27

How many emergency debated have occurred between 2017-2019 ?

Answer 27

22

Question 28

Name an example of an emergency debate ?

Answer 28

Contaminated blood sample where there was concerns about patients being given contaminated blood samples during transfusion and going on to contact serious condition including hepatitis C and HIV. This debate took place in July 2017 by labour MP diana Johnson

Question 29

What recent developments have allowed more time for debates ?

Answer 29

The backbench business committees was set up in 2010 and decided the topics for debate on the floor of the commons and in Westminster hall for roughly 1 day a week

Question 30

Name an example of Westminster hall debates ?

Answer 30

12 February 2020, Cumbrian MP and former liberal democrat leader Tim Farron raised the topic of support for hill farmers, while Mansfield MP Ben Bradley led a debate on education and attainment of white working class boys.

Question 31

How many signatures does a petition have to gain to be considered for debate ?

Answer 31

100,000 signatures

Question 32

Name an example of petitions ?

Answer 32

-Self-employed received a statutory sick pay which gained nearly 700,000 digital signatures -another petition which called for the government to scrap parking charges of NHS staff received 415,000 signatures

Question 33

On what occasion does these debate perhaps exercise an indirect influence on government ?

Answer 33

-Over 1 million signatures were collected in early 2017 for a petition to ban president trump from making a state visit to the UK, there was counter petition in support of the visit but signed by far fewer. -A lively heated debated ensued in parliament, while the visit did take place, trump did not visit or address parliament, perhaps in part an indirect result of the e-petition and the shared sentiments of many MPs

Question 34

What argument support the view that parliamentary debates are little consecuente and scrutinising government ?

Answer 34

-few MPs change their minds because of argument made during a debate, some instructed how to vote (whips system) -the government also possess the advantage of a hefty payroll vote among MPs from the ruling party who cannot revel against the government unless they first resign. -Westminster hall debates are often poorly attended and have no direct power over government Finance and money bills are particularly weakly scrutinised or debated

Question 35

Define a payroll vote among MPs?

Answer 35

Describes a group of voters who currently hold a government post, such as minister, junior minister or parliamentary private secretary and are guaranteed to vote in support of the government

Question 36

How much has the payroll increased ?

Answer 36

101 in 1960 and 141 in 2018

Question 37

What is the most high profile way of calling the government to account ?

Answer 37

Parliamentary questions

Question 38

How many questions were asked between 2017-18 ?

Answer 38

55,000

Question 39

What are patsy questions ?

Answer 39

Backbench MPs from the governing party often use PMQs and minister questions to ask question deliberately designed to show the government in the best light possible

Question 40

What did Cameron say about PMQs in the 2015 BBC documentary on the working of Parliament ?

Answer 40

There isn’t a Wednesday that you don’t feel total fear and trepidation about what is about to happen

Question 41

what evidence is there to prove that PMQs are not effective ?

Answer 41

It is mostly an environment of Punch and Judy politics and pretty point scoring, former speaker john bercow stated in 2014, there are people who think culturally the atmosphere is very male, very testosterone-fuelled and in the worst cases, of yobbery and public school twittishness

Question 42

What’s the role of public bill committees ?

Answer 42

Members of public bill committee go through legislation line by line and make changes to the bill, these committees are temporary and only last for the lifetime of the bill

Question 43

How are public bill committees less effective ?

Answer 43

-Due to just begin temporary committees they therefore lack the continuity and accumulated wisdom of the permanent departmental select committees -the government always ensures it has a majority of loyal MPs on each public bill committee so any major changes to the overall nature of the bill are extremely unlikely.

Question 45

What are the advantage of public bill committees ?

Answer 45

-they allow backbench MPs to scrutinise legislation in greater detail than in possible debate -they can make effective changes to government bills, for example during the committee stage of the investigatory powers act 2016 that dealt with the sensitive topic of electronic surveillance by the security services, additional safeguards were put in place to protect journalists

Question 46

What are the disadvantages of public bill committees ?

Answer 46

-membership is decided in proportion to party strength in the commons, as such the government always has a majority on the committee -committee membership is decided by party whips via the selection committee, party loyalist are therefore more likely to be chosen than more independently minded MPs -major amendments to bills are unlikely, just 0.5% of opposition amendments are accepted

Question 47

What’s the role of select committees ?

Answer 47

To check the government and public bodies are doing their job properly and spending taxpayer’s money efficiently, they do this by launching investigations, calling witnesses and publishing reports with their findings and key recommendations

Question 48

What’s the oldest and arguably the most important select committees ?

Answer 48

Public accounts committee in 1857, its role is to have an overview of how efficiently government spend money so it often launches inquiries into major government projects such as the HS2 rail project and the cost of university technical colleges

Question 49

What did the select public accounts committee inquire about in HS2 rail project and the cost of UTCs ?

Answer 49

it investigate why 10 of the 58 UTCs that opened between 2014/15 and 2018/19 had since closed

Question 50

How since 1979 theres much more extensive system of departmental select committees ?

Answer 50

It led to every government department shadowed by a select committee which are often chaired by MPs with a strong background in that field for example until 2019 the health select committee was chaired by a former GP, Sarah Wollaston, succeeded in 2020 by former health secretary Jeremy hunt

Question 51

How are members of select committees chosen ?

Answer 51

Selected by secrecy ballot

Question 52

How long do select committee last ?

Answer 52

Membership normally last for the rest of that parliament giving more permanece and stability

Question 53

Why are the chairs divided up between the parties in advance ?

Answer 53

The chairs are divided up between the parties in advance so the choice is between different backbench MPs from the same party which has considerably reduced the whips powers and led to the election of many more independently minded MPs

Question 54

What’s the aim of select committees ?

Answer 54

To achieve consensus and unanimity among all its members, not least so reports have the most impact

Question 55

Do select committee have majority all the time ?

Answer 55

No they can sometimes support opposition party policies for example in September 2020, the treasury select committee urged the government to consider extending the COVID-19 furlough scheme a policy advocated by labour

Question 56

What does it mean when select committee last long and lengthy periods of time ?

Answer 56

They can develop more specialist knowledge than those government ministers who are in office for relatively brief periods of time

Question 57

How do select committee route is an increasingly attractive one for those MPs seeking career advancement outside of joining front bench ?

Answer 57

They are paid an additional salary and have enjoyed a high media profile

Question 58

What power do select committee have ?

Answer 58

Powers to summon witnesses and examine restricted documents, their hearings are often akin to court like interrogations especially with those they suspected of misleading parliament or concealing the full truth

Question 59

What examples are there of this ?

Answer 59

Recent high profile who have appeared include Sports direct owner Mike Ashley who was forced to answer question about working practises in his company and retail manager sir Philip green who was questioned over the BHS pensions scandal

Question 60

What example is there when monster are subjected to tough questions and doesn’t come off well ?

Answer 60

Former immigration minster and Romsey MP Caroline Nokes appeared visibly irritated when questioned about problems faced by highly skilled migrant in the UK, she was later accused of misleading parliament with her answers which appeared to contradict what later emerged from previously written letters

Question 61

Where is there evidence that one poor performance before a select committee is not necessarily a barrier to promotion elsewhere ?

Answer 61

In 2020 nokes was elected chair of the women and equalities committee

Question 62

What other ability do select committee have ?

Answer 62

Have the ability to review major ministerial appointments of those heading quasi-government agencies

Question 63

What are some of the key government post that have been involved ?

Answer 63

MPs on the education committee initially rejected the governments proposed head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman after a lacklustre performance at their hearing, however she was subsequently appointed to the post

Question 64

How many report did select committees produce in the period 2017-19 which 56 (21%) dealt with Brexit related topics ?

Answer 64

267 reports

Question 65

What other areas does this report focus on ?

Answer 65

Some deal with failings by government departments/ministers, others with areas of national concern and some with more low profile bu still significant matters

Question 66

What’s the percentage of how many committee recommendation the government accepts ?

Answer 66

40%

Question 67

What does the commons liaison committee do ?

Answer 67

Questions the prime ministers on policy matters around three times a year

Question 68

Why is the position of civil servants when its comes to select committees a delicate one ?

Answer 68

Because when they are summoned to hearing to explain or justify perceived mistakes or failings in their department, like all witnesses must be honest and not knowingly mislead the committee in their answers. However on the other hand they are also politically neutral so owe a degree to loyalty to their ministerial masters

Question 69

What are the key aspects of ‘the rule’ ?

Answer 69

-the civil service code makes clear that civil servants are accountable to minister who in turn are accountable to parliament, so when civil servants give evidence to a select committee they are doing so not in a personal capacity but as representatives of their ministers -they are not to give their personal views of judgements about any particular policy -personally accountable for the delivery or implementation of government policy and cannot shift any blame back upwards to ministers

Question 70

What did the transport select committee issue in September 2019 ?

Answer 70

Issued a report that critiqued the department of transport for failing to take action on pavements parking, the report highlighted the impact of pavement parking especially on those with children or those with visual and or mobility impairments

Question 71

What was the response ?

Answer 71

In response to the report, in march 2020 the department for transport announced it would consult on weather to give local authorities more powers to tackle the issue

Question 72

What’s the role of lord committees ?

Answer 72

Examine specialist subjects, taking particular advantage of the lords breadths of expertise across a wide variety of areas

Question 73

How are they short term ad hoc committees /

Answer 73

Set up to deal with specific concerns, peers put forwards proposals for special inquiry committees to the lords liaison committee, which makes recommendations to the house of which of them should be established

Question 74

Name an example of the lords special inquiry committees each year ?

Answer 74

In may 2020, the lords agreed to establish a Covid-19 committee in order to consider the long term implications of the covid-19 pandemic on the economic and social wellbeing of the UK

Question 75

What are the characteristics of lords committee ?

Answer 75

They usually comprise 12 not 11 members and the government does not have a majority on them, reflecting the party representation in the lords

Question 76

Name an example of the lords reports with recommendations ?

Answer 76

2014 the communications committee produced a report on televised election debates, among its recommendations was that broadcast produce a single online portal with details about all debates and how to access recordings of them.

Question 77

How can a backbench MP influence policy ?

Answer 77

-Voting on legislation -Proposing legislation via PMQs -Speaking in debates -Asking questions, oral or written of ministers -Informal lobbying or chats with minister, often related to issues raised -Serving on committees -Joining all party groups