Week 3: PM powers, Queen's powers

Question 1

What powers are reserved at Westminster?

Answer 1

Foreign policy and international relations
The constitution
Defence and national security
Employment
Broadcasting
Immigration
Trade and Industry
Data Protection
International trade
Majority of benefits and social security
Financial services and pensions
Taxes (amounting to around 70 per cent of the total raised in Scotland – SNP)
Consumer rights
Nuclear energy, oil, coal and gas

Question 2

What powers does the PM have?

Answer 2

Appoint fellow cabinet ministers
Chair weekly cabinet meetings
Appoint members of cabinet committees
Keep the Queen informed of government business on a weekly basis
Declare war
Recommend the appointment of senior judges
Recommendations for the Queen’s birthday honours

Recommend people for senior positions in public bodies such as the BBC
Draw up his/her party’s manifesto
Write the Queen’s speech
Recommend government Bills to Royal Assent
Dissolve parliament
Appoint defence staff (heads) and heads of security service
Hold PMQs on a weekly basis
For more powers, turn to p.81 of Essential Public Affairs, 5th Edition by James Morrison

Question 3

What powers does the Queen have?

Answer 3

The Queen is the symbolic head of state.
She appoints the Prime Minister and other ministers.
Carries out the State Opening of Parliament and the Queen’s Speech;
Grants royal assent to legislation
Has the power to advise, encourage and warn
Hosts state visits and awards honours and prizes.
Has the power to suspend parliament(agrees to her government’s request)

Question 4

Difference between collective and individual responsibility?

Answer 4

Cabinet ministers have two types of responsibilities as government ministers.
Individual responsibility – they are in charge of their own department. The buck stops with them. They make sure everything runs smoothly within their portfolio.

Collective responsibility – they support their prime minister in the cabinet, in public, to the press and in the House of Commons in respect to votes, cheering, unity etc.

Question 5

What is the whip system?

Answer 5

Designed to get MPs to vote for the government
Three-line whip means the MP WILL vote with their party
Free votes can be given, but rarely and usually on matters which don’t affect the party’s reputation
One/single-line whip
Politicians do not have to attend a vote but if they do, they should vote with how their party wants.
Two-line whip
MPs and Lords must attend a division and vote in a particular way unless they give notice about why they can’t be there.
Three-line whip
Divisions that are considered important, such as second readings of significant bills, are underlined three times. Politicians must attend and vote as required. Defying a three-line whip has serious consequences. It can result in the having the whip withdrawn.

Question 6

what does having the whip withdrawn mean?

Answer 6

Losing the whip, or having it withdrawn, is very serious business. It effectively means that an MP or peer is expelled from their party because they have not followed strict instruction from the leadership.
However they do not lose their seat. Until the whip is restored, they sit as an independent in their chamber.

Question 7

Role of backbench MPS?

Answer 7

does not hold a ministerial post nor is a member of the shadow cabinet

Represent constituents concerns
Hold weekly surgeries for constituents
Can ask questions at PMQs
Introduce private members Bills (look at this next week)
Can co-ordinate e-petitions to help constituents
Can request to the speaker of the Commons, an urgent debate.
Can become a member of a select committee, general committee or joint committee
(p. 41, Essential Public Affairs for Journalists, 5th Ed, James Morrison)

Question 8

What are committees and what is their role?

Answer 8

What are the select committee, general committee and joint committee?

Designed to scrutinise various departments of the government.

Scrutinise decision making processes.

Backbench MPs are part of these committees.

Question 9

What is the UK’s unwritten constitution?

Answer 9

The British Constitution is derived from a number of sources. Statutes are laws passed by Parliament and are generally the highest form of law. Conventions are unwritten practices which have developed over time and regulate the business of governing. Common law is law developed by the courts and judges through cases.
The UK’s accession to theEuropean Communities Act 1972has meant that European law is increasingly impacting on the British Constitution. The UK is also subject to international law. Finally, because the British Constitution cannot be found in any single document, politicians and lawyers have relied on constitutional authorities to locate and understand the constitution.
For more reading, visit http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/whatis/uk-constitution

Question 10

How is the monarchy funded?

Answer 10

Sovereign grant

Privy purse

Personal income

(Also Duchy of Cornwall)

Question 11

Sovereign Grant

Answer 11

Comes from the treasuryand it’s funded by taxpayers

The basic agreementis that the Queen getsthe grantin exchange for surrendering all profits fromthe Crown Estate— the Royal family’s massive portfolio of properties — to the government. Every year, the Queen is givenan amount of money equivalent to 15% of the Crown Estate’s profits from two years ago.

For example:In 2013, the Crown Estate generated a profit of £267.1 million That means, in 2015, the Queen’s Sovereign Grant was 15% of thattotal — that’s£40.1 million
However, the percentage given was changed so the Sovereign currently receives 25% of the income of the Crown Estate for official expenditure, with unspent money going into the Sovereign Grant Reserve. It used to be 15% but was increased this year to pay for refurbishments toBuckingham Palaceand will stay at 25% for 10 years.

Question 12

The privy purse

Answer 12

The Duchy of Lancaster private estate is owned by the Queen as Duke of Lancaster, and its rural estates consist of more than 18,000 hectares of land in England and Wales…and is made up of residential, commercial, and agricultural properties.
The Queen’s annual income from her private Duchy of Lancaster estate has increased by £1.5 million to more than £23 million, new accounts have shown.
The money the Queen receives from the Duchy – a portfolio of land, property and assets held in trust for the sovereign – rose by 7% to £23,244,000 in 2019/2020.

Question 13

Personal income?

Answer 13

In 2020, the Queen is estimated to be worth £350 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

She is the largest landowner in the UK.

Question 14

What are five issues of brexit?

Answer 14

• Effect on EU nationals living in the UK
• Impact on UK nationals living in the EU
• Possible adverse impact on economy & trade
• Deal or no deal
• Common Fisheries Policy
• Uncertainty over UK’s future trading relations
• The length of transition period
• Issue of remaining within a custom’s union
• Uncertainty during transition period /divorce bill detail
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Question 15

Five restraints on PM powers?

Answer 15

• the media
• needs the support of backbenchers
• must rely on others to carry out his wishes
• -

Question 16

stages of a bill

Answer 16

Candidates should explain the main stages as First Reading (which formally launches the Bill), Second Reading (the first main debate on the broad principles of the Bill), Committee stage (a detailed analysis of the bill usually by a committee of MPs), Report Stage and Third Reading (in which the final amendments are debated). The amended Bill is then sent to the House of Lords (Commons if it started in the Lords) where it goes through the same process. Candidates should state that a Bill must be approved by both Houses before it goes to the final stage of Royal Assent – a formality. Candidates may also identify that the Lords does not debate ‘money bills’ and only has the right to delay Bills before them for more than a year due to the Parliament Acts.