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Summary Debates on further reform of the UK constitution
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Detailed notes on reform of the UK constitution
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Debates on Further ReformWhat have been the main constitutional reforms since 1997 introduced by Labour and
then the coalition?
House of Lords Acts
Human rights Act
Freedom of information Act
Devolution
Electoral Reform
Judiciary
Devolution
The constitution is kept uncodified, but they are decentralizing power and disseminating it
at a local national level.
Good Friday Agreement was one of the biggest successes of the Blair administration,
bringing an end to widespread violence across Northern Ireland where they brought
together the nationalists and unionists. E.g., multi faith schools.
Scotland
Independence was rejected in 2014 which was supposed to be a once in a generation vote
however the 2016 EU referendum reignited the nationalist feeling in Scotland as most of
Scotland voted to stay in the EU.
A federal solution?
The UK could become like America where more power is devolved but a centralized
government remained with representatives from those countries. However, federalism can
never be undone but devolution can, and this would involve codifying the constitution.
Electoral Reform
The movement away from first past the post means that smaller parties in devolved
governments are better represented.
However, in Scotland and Wales major parties still dominate for example the SNP benefitted
from the new voting system but have now become a dominant party in their own right and
in Wales Labour are always well represented.
UK wide reform?
The AV referendum (LD) was firmly rejected as first past the post is liked and accepted by
the nation in terms of general elections due to its simplicity and speed of result. It delivers
strong mandates and strong governments and preserves the link between MPs and their
constituents, but it does block smaller parties from getting seats in the HOC as majorities are
created for large parties with a minority of votes thus there is a case for reform.
House of Lords Reform
There is now an upper house based more firmly on merit and experience which has a
mandate to hold the government and the commons to account. However, if all Lords were
elected it would just be another HOC so there would not be a diverse range of experience to
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