Changes to the British Constitution (Y12)

British Prime Ministers have always been able to choose the date on the next General Election, thus giving them some power over the opposition parties. Since 1911, they have had to call an election within at least 5 years since the last one. This is an element of the British Constitution.

The Coalition government are  currently passing a bill which will see Britain have 5 year fixed term Parliaments. In the process of this bill they have recently announced that there will be no Queen’s Speech next year,with the next one occurring in Spring 2012 (when they will happen every 12 months, instead of the traditional Autumn sitting – think Guy Fawkes!).

This story shows that some believe that this is an example of the Government stealing power away from Parliament. We will return to this story in the coming weeks

(Parliament, Constitution, Executive)

Change to Power of the PM (Y12)

In the past, one of the key powers of the Prime Minister derived from Royal Prerogative (or Powers previously held by the Monarch) was the power to declare war and make peace.

This changed under Tony Blair when he had a vote in the Commons on whether to invade Iraq in 2003. Gordon Brown continued this by saying that were he to take troops into war, he too would get the permission of Parliament first.

This has been further set in stone by the vote being held later today on whether we should keep troops in Afghanistan. This may seem a small thing, but it is a traditional power of the PM that has now been transferred to Parliament.

(Executive, Parliament)

House of Lords defeat the Government (Y12)

Here is another example of the House of Lords defeating a government bill. I think the Anti-Terrorism Bill defeat from 2008 is still the more newsworthy, due to the important nature of the legislation, but this is a good up to date example a story worth reading (if you can understand the language used – unlike a digital immigrant like me!)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8549112.stm

(Parliament, Executive)

Ballot for Private Members’ Bill is Made (Y12)

At the beginning of each Parliamentary session, all MPs can put their names into a ballot to have a bill of their chosing put before Parliament. These are called Private Members Bills. They do not necessarily have a proposed piece of legislation in mind before entering the ballot, and are generally contacted by various Pressure Groups after winning the vote. The Pressure Groups then try to convince the MP to support a piece of legislation relating to the groups aims.

This is one of the few bills that is put before Parliament that does not come from the government, and is a small example of the power of Parliament. but even more so, one of the ways that pressure groups can have a direct involvement in the legislative process. This story relates to the winner of the ballot, which was held this week.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8380391.stm

http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/private_members.cfm

(Parliament, Pressure Groups)

House of Lords Scandal over Legislation

A story from todays Sunday Times alleging that some Labour Peers have accepted money to influence legislation in the Lords. Fits well with our current topic

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5581547.ece

Stages of A Bill

Just to link to the trip on friday – here is the Parliament  website’s page on the different stages of a bill, exactly as we were shown at Portcullis House

http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/stages.cfm

Private Member’s Bills

Further to what we were talking about on Private Member’s Bills, here is a BBC News story from thursday about them.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7778161.stm