Full Parliament Notes

Parliament – legislature

·       Law making is Parliament’s primary function.

·       Most law must be passed through parliamentary procedure.

·       Parliament makes laws more legitimate.

Parliament – the name given to representative bodies. Parliaments have the role of legislating, calling government to account and representing the community.

Brief parliamentary history remains the same in terms of basic functions of Parliament;

-       Exists to make  government legitimate

-       Give consent to legislation without making the legislation

-       Approving financial arrangements

This is all in return to raise grievances against government and make it accountable.

Parliament’s key role is to support government not to threaten it.

Another key role: A vote of no confidence, to dismiss a government. Reserve power that makes government accountable to Parliament.

Parliamentary Government

Parliamentary government – where government is drawn from Parliament and is accountable to Parliament.

The UK parliamentary government is known as bi-cameral: consisting of two chambers or two rooms.

Features of a Parliamentary government

v  Parliament is the highest source of political authority. Political power may be exercised only if it has been authorised by Parliament.

v  The government must be drawn from Parliament, either the Commons or the Lords. (All members of the government must also be members of one out of the two houses)

v  There is no strict separation of powers between that of the legislature and that of the executive – the power of the government and legislature are fused.

v  Government must be accountable to Parliament

Positives and negatives of a Parliamentary Government

Positives	Negatives
Commons are elected, Lords are selected	Undemocratic because selected peers do not have legitimacy, and MPs have greater power as they are elected, giving them greater legitimacy.
Faster to pass legislation	More laws are passed but not necessarily giving greater legitimacy to laws being passed
British executive (PM) and the legislature (Parliament) are fused	Power is more divided and spread out more evenly, making it harder for one person to have ultimate sovereignty
Both opposition and government sit in both Commons and the Lords.	Not equal, as the opposition will tend to be weaker if the government have a majority. However, not the case of 2010 coalition government.

Presidential government

Features of a Presidential government

     The legislature and the executive in the form of a presidency have separate sources of authority. They are separately elected.

     The president is not part of the legislature

     The executive/President is accountable directly to the people not the legislature

     There is a clear separation of powers between the executive and the legislature.

     This implies that there must be a codified constitutional arrangement that separates these powers.

A presidential government – where the president normally has a separate source of authority from that of the legislature. This means that the executive is accountable to the people directly, not to the legislature.

Separation of powers – constitutional principle that the three branches of government; legislature, executive and judiciary should have separate membership and should be able to control each other’s powers.

Positives and negatives of a Presidential Government

Positives	Negatives
President is elected by the people in a direct election.	The legislature and the President have equally valid mandates from the public – there is no way to reconcile internal conflict.
President and the legislature are separated for a balance of power.	Reduces accountability by allowing the president and legislature to shift the blame to each other.
Presidential government makes decisions and policy making easier and quicker	Accountability is directly to the people, and legislation is passed easier.
Presidents serve for a designated period of time and will not be dismissed	Difficult to move an unstable president from office before the term has expired

28.01.2014

Parliamentary sovereignty

UK Parliament is said to be legally sovereign:

·       Parliament is the source of all political power.
Parliament may grant individuals the right to exercise political power or Parliament will delegate power to ministers, devolved governments, local authorities

·       Parliament may restore delegated powers back to itself

·       Parliament can make laws that are enforced by the courts and the authorities as there are no restrictions on what laws Parliament can make.

Parliament is Omni competent – capable of making any act

·       Laws made by previous Parliaments are not binding on the current Parliament.
Existing laws may be amended or repealed,

·       Parliament cannot pass laws that will prevent future parliaments amending or repealing.
Laws cannot be entrenched against future change

Britain cannot have a fixed/entrenched constitution as long as parliamentary sovereignty endures.

Considering political sovereignty, we can infer Parliament has lost much of its sovereignty.
Political sovereignty refers to where the political power lies in reality.

In reality, most political power lies with government.
Typically, a government enjoys a majority in the Commons and can virtually guarantee proposals will be passed by Parliament.

‘The sovereignty of Parliament is in reality the sovereignty of the majority party’

Parliament should only ever block government plans if it seen to be abusing its mandate or operating beyond it.

Parliaments enormous reserve powers, can block legislation, and in exceptional circumstances, Parliament can pass a vote of no confidence and dismiss a government.

This was done in 1979 when James Callaghan’ Labour government was removed from office.

Parliament in the UK is LEGALLY SOVERIGN, but political sovereignty is less clearly located.

Sovereignty lies people at elections with the proviso that Parliament can overrule government.

Westminister model – the UK system of government that is drawn from Parliament and not separately elected.
Also that Parliament is at the centre of the political system.
Government is accountable to parliament.

The erosion of Parliamentary sovereignty

1.     Legislative power has gone to the EU.
EU law is SUPERIOR to British law, so it will EU will prevail.
Legislative authority over trade, environment, employment rights, consumer protection.
Large areas of policy that have not passed to EU: criminal law, tax law, social security, health, education

2.     Executive power has grown; transfer of political but not legal sovereignty.

3.     Referendums are being used to deal with important constitutional changes.
Although referendum results are not binding on Parliament, typically, Parliament will not ignore a popular vote.
The legal transfer of sovereignty has to be approved through a referendum – this suggests that sovereignty returns to the people.

4.     Controversy over the status of Human Rights Act and European Convention on Human Rights – which it establishes in law.
ECHR is not legally binding on Parliament – as it retains sovereignty.
Parliament however, treats ECHR as if it were supreme.
In extraordinary circumstances, Parliament would assert its sovereignty over the ECHR.

5.     Devolution: sovereignty is transferred in reality, and not through constitutional law – this means that it would be difficult to re-establish parliamentary sovereignty.

Parliamentary sovereignty is basically a myth; because it has said to be eroded by the five reasons above.

HOWEVER, Parliament’s reserve powers can:

-       allow Britain to leave the EU at any time, and restore ALL SOVEREIGNTY

-       devolution can be cancelled

-       decide not to accept a referendum result

-       both legal and political power could return to Parliament if there is not a secure parliamentary majority.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

PARTY	MALE MP’S	FEMALE MP’S	TOTAL
Conservative	257	49	306
Labour	178	80	258
Liberal Democrat	49	8	57
Total	508	142	650

Plenary sessions

Prime Minister’s Question Time is the busiest time in the Commons
Not enough seats in the room for all the seats in the Parliament.

Debates that attracted full house

Hunting of dogs
2003 Iraq war
2001 Anti-Terrorism Act
Student tuition fees, 2010
British membership to the EU 2011

All loyal members are expected to vote in legislation, but this does not mean that members of either House have to be present during debates.

Legislative committees of House of Commons & Lords

Legislative committees are not free from party discipline; governing party is always granted a majority on the committee.

Legislative committees are allocated in rough proportion to the membership to the two houses.

Members of the governing party are only required to vote for amendments that are approved by the government and would normally vote against any amendment not approved by government.

The government has a precaution against unwanted amendments; changes proposed in the Lords must be approved by the Commons.

The Lords can make a nuisance, and can hold up legislation that the government would be forced to allow

Unwanted amendments from the Commons legislative committee can be overturned when the ‘Report Stage’ is reached.

The whole House plenary session is invited to vote on a proposed amendment & party whips work at this stage, reversing unwanted changes.

Membership to legislative committees can be frustrating and unpopular.

MPs/Peers who have experience will request for specific committees to be allocated to them.

Pressure groups are very active at this committee stage of a bill’s progress through Parliament- to persuade committee members, and ministers to include amendments supportive of their cause.

Committees of the whole House

Often in the Lords, committee stage of a bill is considered by plenary session of the whole House.

This is rare in the Commons.

Bills of special significance or constitutional significance a committee of the whole Commons is called.

Departmental select committees

19 committees: specific area of government responsibility
Made up 11-14 members; elected by the Commons
Chairperson – additional salary above MPs. Try to come to a verdict with unanimous conclusions
Non partisan/neutral – governing party has majority of members on the select committee

Select Committees

·       investigate the efficiency and effectiveness of the government departments

·       well considered taken into account relevant opinion

·       consider proposed legislation – consider its effectiveness

·       major public concern that fall into the responsibility of the committee and the government department

·       serious errors making corrections/recommendations

·       propose future legislation

Adversial style of questioning; aggressive
Approaching select committee hearings with Trepidation/fear

Public Accounts Committee	Standards and Privileges Committee	Statutory Instruments Committee	European Scrutiny Committees Both Houses	Liaison Committee
Oldest, independent. Chair – opposition Public spending correctly as approved by Parliament Wastefulness and inefficiency	Standards of public life Disciplinary against MPs and the relationship with Parliament	Checking govt. use of ‘secondary legislation’ Parliament has statutory instrument wide powers to ministers to make legislation without parliamentary debate	Examine proposed legislation from European Commission Guide ministers in negotiations with Europe.	Chairs of all SELECT COMMITTEES ? PM on his policies & conduct

Committee	House/s	Main roles
European Union Committee	Lords	Examines and makes recommendations concerning proposed EU legislation
Home Affairs	Detention of terrorist suspects 2006	Rejected the government case for up to 90 day detention without trial for terrorist suspects recommending 28 days maximum. Accepted  by the Commons
Culture, Media and Sport	Call in TV quiz shows 2007	Criticised TV companies where it was not clear what the chances of winning were and how much callers were paying. This resulted in the cancellation of these shows
Home Affairs	Domestic violence and forced marriage 2008	Called for better policing and law enforcement in relation to domestic violence and forced marriages. New police guidelines
Culture, Media and Sport	Standards and libel laws 2010 -2012	The conduct of the press in relation to privacy, phone hacking , information from the police Resulting in a major public inquiry Leveson Inquiry on press conduct
Treasury	HM Revenue and Customs tax collection performance 2012	Publicised problems in collecting all tax due from large companies. Failure of the revenue to collect tax due in many cases.

SPEAKERS – oversee debates; neutral, senior MP that is prepared to retire from party politics

COMMONS
2009 – Michael Martin became involved in controversy of the expenses scandal; he was defensive of the MPs and forced to resign

John Bercow; passive admin role restore the reputation of MPs

LORDS
Lord Speaker – replacing Lord Chancellor; member of the cabinet appointed by the PM
Baroness D’Souza; who shall speak and organising the main parties.

The Functions of Parliament

Parliament passes law, but doesn’t usually MAKE law.

The British Parliament can be described as a

‘policy-influencing legislature’ and arguably a ‘weak legislature’

Function	Limitations	Helps or hinders government
Legitimation – provide consent for the monarch’s legislation. Legislation becoming legitimate.	Parliament contains unelected Lords – that do not enjoy the same ‘mandate’ the MP’s do, and therefore do not have the same authority or legitimacy.	Helps government as it claims consent to legislations being passed. However, because the Lords are unelected, Parliament’s legitimation is not holistic and could be argued to hinder government.
Scrutiny – close inspection and proposing amendments by legislative committees. Scrutiny ensures that discrimination doesn’t occur and laws are not created against the minority. Scrutiny allows important changes to be proposed and accepted.	Cannot block legislation completely.	Helps as it looks at major, primary and secondary legislations and EU laws or proposed regulations. Hinders because scrutiny is simply informing, the ultimate decision cannot be blocked through scrutiny.
Opposition – parties who do not make up the government.	Mostly, governments enjoy a majority in the Commons, so opposition is more ritualised rather than active. Lords do not require a majority.	Helps government as opposition keeps the governing body accountable and makes them justify policies. Hinders, because opposition points out flaws in the governing party constantly.
Accountability – justification of policies, criticisms of policies, to expose mistakes of serious error and for those ministers to resign OPPOSITION accountability – presentation of alternative government proposals. PMQT – free from party whips, MPs ask the PM questions Select committees – power to question ministers, civil servants, witnesses. Debates on legislation – proposed legislation must be debated twice a week, with ministers justifying proposals.	Ministers have civil servants that answer already written questions. Become a ritualised contest between the two party leaders/media show Can go on for a long time Some bills might be given to the Lords to scrutinise, even from the governing body MP’s.	Helps government as PMQT is free from whips. Hinders because questions are pre arranged and answers pre written. Hinders the legitimacy of the accountability in Parliament.   Helps accountability as ministers are on select committees for a length of time. Hinders government as decisions are not made quickly, which is not ideal because government office is for only five years.
Financial control – ability to collect and spend taxes. Has to be renewed annually, with changes to the tax system having to be approved through Parliament.	The Lords lost their power to vote in financial bills, in 1909 when they attempted to block the Liberal government’s budget. The Parliament Act, 1911 took away the right to vote in financial powers. MP’s in the Commons are at their most loyal when considering the budget	Helps government as MPs need to effectively decide how to spend taxes. Hinders as not all of Parliament has the right to vote in financial bills.
Representation – represent their party by ‘toeing the party line’. Representation should be a reflection of the UK in both the Commons and the Lords.	MPs are representing 70,000 constituents. When an MP wants to represent national interest they may defy their own party leadership (EU -  Conservatives, NHS reform – Liberal Democrats) Not representative: 96% are white 90% university educated 62% white, male, 40+ 22% women 4% ethnic minorities 34% went to private schools	Helps government as 75% are paid a retainer to represent an outside group Hinders government as it is not representative of UK. Underrepresentation of ethnic minorities, those without degrees, younger MPs, women, state-school educated individuals.
Redress of grievances – complaints from constituent about a government agency (NHS, police, immigration, social security system)	Paid constituency workers often are used to redress grievances, or neighbouring MPs as MP’s for a constituency is a difficult role.	Helps government as issues are addressed directly, government by the people. Hinders government as Parliament doesn’t always directly deal with it, and delegates the role to paid workers.
Private members legislation – presented by the government 1967 Abortion Act 2007 Forced Marriages Act 2012 Live Music Act	Opposition not permitted to do this. Nearly all private members legislations are blocked by the government.	Hinders government as it is rare for government to support it or find reasons to oppose it.
Deliberation – Parliament is given the opportunity to hold debate on an issue; Iraq war 2003. Lords: detention without trial for terrorist suspects	Parliament is only able to hold debate occasionally.	Helps government as Parliament is able to have discussions on important issues that are current.
Reserve powers – great authority, the ability to veto government legislation. Dismiss a government using a vote of No Confidence.	The Lords voting down of legislation is usually overturned by the Commons. MPs of the governing party are reluctant to use reserve powers for fear of precipitating general election where they may lose their seat/power from government.	Helps government as it gives Parliament ultimate sovereignty, to block legislation and to dismiss a government. Hinders government as MPs are reluctant to use their reserve powers.
Specific Lords powers – to delay legislation in the Lords for a year using the Parliament Act 1949. Forces the government to rethink and ensure sufficient support for the proposal. Enough to obtain important concessions by way of amendments. To amend, must be approved by the Commons where the government dominates. -Defeat of War Crimes Bill, under the Parliament Act was an important example of delay. -Hunting with Dogs Act 2004/2005 passed twice & Lords ensured a debate on the issue.	Commons cannot delay as MPs are whipped to vote in legislation. Obstruction, negotiation and compromise are luxuries controlled and used by the Lords Every amendment must be confirmed by the Commons.	Hinders government as disagreement between the two Houses, passing a bill backwards and forwards is known as ‘ping pong’ – presenting the frustration of the government.

Analyse the main factors that limit the effectiveness of Parliament. (25 marks)

Argument	Counter argument	Mini conclusion
Discipline that is exercised by the party whips and leaders prevents MPs and peers from operating independently. Divisions and standing committees are usually strictly whipped.	MP’s today are not just ‘lobby fodders’ as reported by Peter Riddell in his article scrutinising the House of Commons, concluding that MPs today are more effective than ever of holding the government accountable. MPs rebel more than ever, EU budget vote: 53 Rebel Tory MPs defeat their own government over spending cut call – voting against their own party.	Although party whips exist, they are much more lenient because of the fusion of the legislature and the executive, in the British parliamentary democracy. However, in a presidential democracy, party whips are able to have greater control and less rebellions occur.
MP’s do not have sufficient time, expertise, knowledge, research to examine legislation and government policy to its fullest.	Lords are of many fields, and the delegation and perhaps sharing of the role of scrutiny could be shared between both Houses to enable the widest range of expertise and knowledge to be utilised. Legislation is passed relatively quickly due to not having a codified constitution, so MPs should use time effectively whilst dealing and scrutinising legislation before passing to the Lords.	There are many MPs, and between them and the Lords – totalling 650 members of Parliament there should be enough time, expertise and knowledge to examine legislation to create the most effective sets of laws for the country to be run by.
Commons lacks legitimacy due to a distorted representation because of the electoral system for Westminister – FPTP. The Lords are also unelected and therefore have no legitimacy, particularly the 92 hereditary peers that still exist.	Commons can be perceived as legitimate, as an MP would need concentrated support in a constituency to achieve a seat, so there is representation, although it is arguably very limited. Hereditary means are not the only way to get at Lordship; part of the PM prerogative powers is the ability to select Lords; they have legitimacy from the governing party.	Commons is debating electoral reform after the coalition in 2010. The effectiveness of Parliament is significantly reduced purely by the existence of a coalition; the lack of legitimacy to the Commons and Lords is further highlighted because of the coalition making Parliament ineffective because of internal divisions within the current government.
Traditional secrecy of government making it difficult for MPs, peers and select committees to obtain information and examine policy effectively	Freedom of Information Act 2000 makes information accessible and open. The ‘expenses scandal’ 2009, caused public outrage by disclosure of widespread actual and alleged misuse of the permitted allowances and expenses. .	The Freedom of Information Act 2000 has made it easier to access information, and therefore obtain and examine information. Trust in a lot of MPs has declined after the expenses scandal.

Conclusion: Dismiss counter: Judgement:

See page 224 for reference to the legislative process

Membership to the House of Lords – March 2012

Categories of membership	Number
Life peers	671
Hereditary peers	90
Bishops	23
Archbishops	2

Life peers that die are reselected in proportion to the party representation in the Commons.
Conservatives nominated more peers in 1979-97, after that Labour had an advantage.
Most nominations for Lords are retired politicians:

Lord Sebastian Coe, (MP and athlete), Lord Lawson (former Chancellor of the Exchequer)

or current professional politicians:

Lord Adonis (former Junior Education minister & prime ministerial adviser) and Baroness Warsi (cabinet Minister)

A recent appointment is Doreen Lawrence, the mother of Stephen Lawrence who was killed. She has done a lot of work related to gun and gang crime.

Crossbenchers are appointed as life peers with no party allegiance
This guarantees that government can never enjoy an overall majority.
Can be nominated by anyone, but usually through the independent Appointments Commission.

Lord Hastings – a former TV executive
Lord Ramsbotham – prison reformer

Prior to 1999, the Lords didn’t attend debates – the Conservatives that did attend could usually achieve a majority.

The 1997 Labour government set to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the Lords.

A compromise was reached to allow 92 hereditary peers to retain their seats; however the rights and political significance of hereditary peers will be short lived.

Bishops and archbishops are members of the Church of England.; an established religion of the UK.
The position is controversial as:

1.     Majority of citizens do not observe any religion

2.     Doesn’t represent the religious traditions of the UK

However, the bishops are influential when moral and religious issues are discussed; politically neutral and form a type of pressure group within the Lords.

The Lords position as the highest appeal court was replaced by the Supreme Court.
Senior judges within the Lords creates a wealth of legal knowledge making a great contribution to the legislative process.

Peers who have a party allegiance tend to be more independent than MPs because politics isn’t there principal occupation, so the whips have little leverage over them.

The House of Lords is becoming more significant because…

-       Previously less significant as there was a large majority of hereditary peers that had no interest in legislations.

-       Previous permanent in-built Conservative majority

Lords couldn’t wield any great influence as it was clearly undemocratic.

Changes in the prestige and influence of the Lords:

-       Large government majorities became normal in the Commons. (1983, 1987, 1997, 2001) meaning opposition was weaker meaning the Lords felt it their duty to strengthen parliamentary opposition.

-       Lords developed a new ‘professionalism’ – taking their role more seriously, specialists in their area of policy,

-       Reform of the Lords, 2000 removed all but 92 hereditary peers, giving the Lords greater authority. Not a democratic body, but more representative politically and socially of the country.

-       Coalition changed the behaviour of the Lords: coalition lacked a mandate as its coalition agreement hadn’t been presented to the electorate. Lords argued that the coalition hadn’t been elected either. Coalition became a second opposition.

-       Stronger rights culture because of the ECHR on British law in 2000. Lords: containing lawyers and human rights experts has taken the guardian of individual rights against governments that have been accused of being too dictatorial.

The average number of government defeats per annum in the Lords under:

Labour (1997-2009) – 43

Conservative (1979-97) – 13

This was because up to 2000 there was a built in Conservative majority in the Lords; hereditary peers that were allowed to vote.

After 2000 the Lords gained greater legitimacy and acted in an independent, confident manner.

ISSUE	DETAIL	OUTCOME
House of Lords Reform 1999	Objected to the complete abolition of voting rights for hereditary peers	Government had to compromise; 92 hereditary peers remained
The legal age of consent for homosexual males 1998/9	Voted twice, to lower from 18 to 16	November 2000, forced the measure through the 1949 Parliament Act Passed in two consecutive sessions in the Commons
Anti-Terrorism legislation 2001	Defeated on 10 occasions; proposing key amendments	Compromise: Removing incite to religious hatred as an offence
Hunting with Dogs 2001	Blocked. Time ran out – 2001 GE	Postponed and passed by both Houses in 2004
Anti-Terrorism legislation 2005	Unacceptable after a successful appeal by Belmarsh prisoners in the law lords – suspects shouldn’t be detained without trial	Accept amendments; terror suspects had movements restricted but couldn’t be detained Hostile suggestions for amendments to force the government to compromise
Gambling Order 2007	Rejected a plan to allow super casino to be built in Manchester	Review its plans for casinos to be opened
Political Parties and Elections Bill 2009	Rejected a clause ‘all donors to UK political parties should be resident in the UK for tax’	Clause dropped
Equality Bill 2010	Amendment excluding the Church of England end discrimination against the old, gay, disabled	Against government opposition but it was accepted Hostile amendment to make an exemption for Christian churches to discriminate on sexuality when employing priests
Health and Social Care Bill and Welfare Reform Bill 2012	Both bills amended extensively; delayed the progress through Parliament	Accepted the amendments Changed significantly.

LORDS

Can delay passages of bills for a year – 1949 Parliament Act

No power over financial bills – 1911 Parliament Act

They cannot block legislation that appeared in the governments previous election manifesto – Salisbury Convention

Amendments proposed by the Lords must be approved by the Commons Protect minorities/ improve the quality of legislation University top up tuition fees 2003/4

Lords can delay legislation by passing same amendments over and over until a compromise is reached Hunting with dogs

Debate current issues; IVF, mercy killing, abortion, embryo research

RELATIONSHIP between Government (executive) and Parliament (legislature) = FUSED

Backbenchers and frontbenchers sit together in the chamber

©     Governments are rarely removed from office prematurely; give 5 years before another election – much more stable ©     Can carry out their manifesto commitments without obstruction; electorate vote for a party that can be granted a solid mandate

§  Can become too dictatorial; legislation not scrutinised properly §  Government loses the confidence of the public – Parliament can remove a government by a vote of no confidence

Government dominates Parliament…

-       Single party majorities help the executive to dominate
No party majority means the executive power is weakened

-       Party loyalty is traditionally strong ; parliamentary majority with confidence
Party rebellion would weaken the government

-       Prime ministerial patronage; bound by collective majority
Coalitions weaken PMs power as posts are controlled by the coalition partners

-       Whips can suspend or remove MPs from a party
De-selection they will not be the party candidate anymore

-       PM used to threaten MPs with dismissal
Fixed term parliament removes this

-       Lords are a thorn in the governments side
Lords are not legitimate, must bow to the authority of the government 

COMMONS STRENGTHS	COMMONS WEAKNESSES
The ultimate power to remove a government – Vote of No Confidence	Normally comfortable majority – dominate MPs through patronage and discipline
MPs can veto legislation under exceptional circumstances Threatening a veto forces compromises	Legislative standing committees are controlled by whips – amending legislation is difficult
Force legislative amendments from the government	Insufficient time and support to be able to call government to account Ministers are skilful in avoiding intrusive questioning
MPs call ministers to account – select committees	Limited role in developing legislation
Constituency MPs – raise grievances	Not socially representative – lacking ethnic minorities and women
Interest and cause groups are represented by MPs	Government ignores Parliament, consulting groups and the public
Influence and can thwart the will of the government	MPs don’t like election time; government can fall at anytime demanding obedience

Parliamentary reform – Lords

Stage 1- removing the voting rights of hereditary peers; 800 or so. 1988 Margaret Thatcher’s Poll Tax; backwoodsmen voted – legislation was passed. 92 remained.

Stage 2 -  Removal of the remaining 92 hereditary peers – allowing them to die out as the only way to remove them. There really should be a fully appointed second chamber

Stage 3 – Main parties agree that there should be a fully elected chamber/ partly elected

FUTURE:
Brown – unable to complete reform
all elected second chamber by regional list

Second chamber: consider opponents and supporters

FULLY APPOINTED – for	FULLY APPOINTED – against	FULLY ELECTED – for	FULLY ELECTED - against
Brings people who don’t want to go through election	Too much power into the hands of those responsible for appointing members – corruption	More democratic	Elected second chamber would mirror Commons creating a deadlock between the Houses
Adequate representation – major groups and associations	Undemocratic holds – prehistoric ideals	Eliminate corrupt practices in relation to appointments to the Lords	Too many elections – voter fatigue and apathy
More independents – cross benchers/ politically neutral	Lacks legitimacy and public support – people have no part in the composition	Democratic balance against the power of the government if elected by PR so no party wins overall majority	Over powerful second chamber would weaken the legislature
		Smaller parties have a greater representation	Another part of the legislature that is dominated by parties

COMMONS reform

-       Select committees receive additional salary raising their status and influence

-       Select committees are elected by backbenchers making them more independent – not by party whips

-       Backbench Business Committees – members elected by other MPs; schedule debates independent of government, 20 days in the year triggered by e-petitions

-       Commons is reduced to 50 members

-       Size of constituency is made equal – Commons more legitimate

-       Constituents given the power of recall – unsatisfactory MPs can be removed, by elections 

-Tamanna

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