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PEARSON (PEARSON)
Government and Politics
Unit 2 - Governing the UK
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Harrison Sylvester
Politics
COMPONENT 2: UK Government
Chapter 1: The Constitution
Evaluate the view that the next logical step after devolution Evaluate the view that there are more advantages to
to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is the devolution having a codified constitution than remaining with an
of further power to England (30) uncodified constitution (30)
Point 1: Devolution arguably is the next logical step as the Point 1: An uncodified constitution means that laws can
elected mayor model has arguably worked and also the be easily changed without problems. Evidence: After
1978 Barnett formula gives more money to areas such as huge campaigning for the banning of high calibre
Scotland. Evidence: The institution of an elected mayor handguns after the 1996 Dunblane massacre, in 1997
was created by Blair in 2000, overseeing policy areas such they were quickly abolished and thus over 400,000
as development and policing. The first mayor, Ken tonnes of ammunition were also surrendered to the
Livingstone, introduced a congestion charge in London in police. This suited the interest of the majority of the
response to increased traffic and environmental damage. public, with Blair’s government also adding 22. Calibre
By 2015, a further 16 urban areas including Bristol and handguns to the list shortly after coming into power,
Liverpool also adopted the mayor role. Its success showing that the constitution, as it is uncodified, can be
suggests that further devolution would be successful. Link quickly changed to suit the needs of the people. Link to
to democracy: This allows the people to have more democracy: This shows that an uncodified constitution is
decisions over who influences their local factors, and also more democratic as it can be more effectively changed to
hold them more accountable. suit the needs of Parliament and also the majority of the
people.
Point 2: Certain regions in England have strong identity,
such as cornwall and Yorkshire. According to a study by Point 2: An codified constitution also means that
‘The Question’, 72/100 people in Yorkshire and 76/100 unelected, unaccountable judges have too much power.
people in Cornwall believed that they should have more Evidence: With a codified constitution, judges can
regional power given to them by the government. This effectively reinterpret laws to whatever they please, with
suggests that there is a strong desire for more regional difficulty surrounding it being changed ,such as the
devolution in certain areas, with places such as Cornwall Obergefell vs Hodges case in 2015 that gave same sex
having very strong regional identity (so much to the point couples the right to marry. Link to democracy: Thus,
that they have registered as a minority group). Link to unelected judges can also act against the interest of the
democracy: Thus, it would be more democratic to suit the sovereign parliament and democratic will of the people,
needs of the huge demand for devolution in some areas of and instead dictate how certain laws works, which
England. arguably gives too much power to those who are
unaccountable and unelected.
Point 3: Other areas have rejected further devolution,
which many see as pointless. Blair had a referendum in Point 3: Codification and a constitutional court would be
2004, suggesting that there should be a regional assembly able to assess the constitutionality of actions by
and decision-making board, promoting economic Parliament. Evidence: Parliament itself would be more
development on behalf of the government. This was held legally accountable, and would thus always have to
in the North East, where the result was a resounding 78% adhere to the rights of the people when making law,
no, suggesting that the regional identity is not strong rather than just have certain advice from judges. An
enough across the whole of England to warrant further example of parliament being able to ignore legal
devolution. Link to democracy: Thus it would be recommendations was Tony Blair’s government taking
undemocratic to have devolution, and not representative of away certain civil liberties after the 7/7 attacks and
the whole country. introducing a system of control that enabled suspects to
be closely monitored through electronic tagging, removal
, Harrison Sylvester
Politics
Point 4: English parliament is also fairly useless. The of mobile phones and internet access despite adverse
establishment of an English parliament as part of rulings from judges. Link to democracy: Thus, the judges
devolution would also be fairly pointless, with the vast can be prevent totalitarianism in the state and Parliament
majority of people already seeing Westminster as ‘English as they can ensure that the government always follows
parliament’. Furthermore, the 1978 Barnett formula also legal procedures, and thus even a government with a vast
gives less money per person to people in England than majority of seats cannot just pass through whatever laws
anywhere else in the UK, and a federal solution could they please.
solve this. Link to democracy: Thus, setting up such a
programme would be largely not in the interest of the Point 4: Codification would entrench law and thus make
population. law making a more well thought out process and educate
the public about constitutional issues. Evidence:
Codification would allow people to directly know and
educate themselves about their rights, such as in America
where they can refer to certain areas of the constitution
such as the amendment which allows citizens to own
legally licensed firearms to defend themselves against a
totalitarian state. Link to democracy: This is more
democratic, and encourages participation in the political
system, which has arguably been falling. Furthermore,
the law making process would take on a similar approach
to the US, in which 2 thirds of the state and 3 quarters of
the senate must agree before passing a law.
Evaluate the extent to which the reforms made to the Evaluate the extent to which the constitutional changes
constitution by the coalition government (2010-15) were since 1997 have been beneficial. (30)
significant. (30) Point 1: Human Rights Act and independence of judiciary.
Point 1: Fixed term Parliament act. Evidence: The Fixed Evidence: The 2005 Constitutional Reform Act led to the
Term Parliament Act, passed in 2011 attempts to ensure establishment of the Supreme Court four years later,
that the Prime Minister can no longer exploit the system of which acted as the highest court of appeal in the UK for
being able to call a general election when the opposing civil cases and for criminal cases. This development is an
party is low in the polls. The PM now has a fixed term in example of the separation of powers - the idea that
Parliament which is fulfilled, rather than calling a general independent branches of government should be
election at some point in that time frame. However, this independent of each other and hold government legally to
can still be subverted, as seen in 2017 with May’s snap account.
election, in which two thirds of Parliament is needed to
vote through the general election and authorise it, which Point 2: Recall of MPs and Fixed term Parliament act.
Labour did. Evidence: Recall of MPs (2015) ensures that MPs can be
held accountable if they are sentenced to a custodial
Point 2: Recall of MPs. Evidence: The Recall of MPs act, sentence or are suspended from the Commons for more
introduced in 2015, enables constituents to recall their than 21 days, a by-election is triggered if at least 10% of
member of Parliament and call a by-election. If an MP has constituents sign a petition. This means that MPs can be
violated the law and received a prison sentence or been held accountable for breaking the law, with Kate Osamor
involved in an expenses scandal, they can be recalled by likely to face such a vote after her speeding and lying to
a 10% vote by the constituents of that constituency. Kate court scandal. The Fixed Term Parliament Act (2011)
Osamor is likely to face such a vote after her scandal prevents Prime Ministers from exploiting the ability to call
involving lying to the police about speeding. a general election at any point during their administration
(when the opposition is polling poorly) and instead a fixed
Point 3: Rejection of AV replacing FPTP. Evidence: The term of Parliament is given. This was subverted by
, Harrison Sylvester
Politics
Liberal Democrats proposed a use of a referendum to Theresa May as the vote to hold a General Election
suggest potential electoral reform switching from FPTP to reached over two-thirds of Parliament as Corbyn
AV. The UK emphatically rejected this by 67.9%, and thus welcomed it.
the Liberal Democrats in the government were unable to
substantially change the nature of the electoral system. Point 3: Point 4: Lack of electoral legitimacy in the House
While the 2010-2015 government pledged to use more of Lords. Evidence: In 1999, The House of Lords Act
referendums, this did not have any significant outcome on receives Royal Assent, reducing the number of hereditary
the political climate. peers by more than 600 and freezing the number which
remains at 92 until further reform. In 2000 The
Point 4: Lack of electoral legitimacy in the House of Lords. independent House of Lords Appointments Commission
Evidence: Under the 2010 coalition, plans for an elected is established to recommend and approve suitable
House of Lords were dropped after a rebellion from 91 candidates for membership. Yet it continued to lack
Tory backbench MPs. There was no substantial change in democratic legitimacy. Under the 2010 coalition, plans for
the nature of the House of Lords, who continue to be an elected House of Lords were dropped after a rebellion
elected amongst themselves and generally unaccountable from 91 Tory backbench MPs.
to the public.
Point 4: Failure to change the electoral system despite
pledged use of more referendums. Evidence: The
proposal of switching to an AV electoral system rather
than FPTP was rejected heavily in 2011 with 67.9% of
voters rejecting the idea. While it could be argued that
this was more voting against the Liberal Democrats rather
than the actual idea, failure to implement any substantial
constitutional change to the electoral system undoubtedly
shows that not all constitutional changes were beneficial
as they did not even succeed. Pledges to hold more
referendums was arguably useful, with the 2014 indyref
arguably settling the argument of Scottish independence,
that is, until, the 2016 Brexit referendum in which
Scotland voted heavily to Remain and are being pulled
out of the UK regardless and thus campaigns for
independence grew popularity again.
Evaluate the reasons why pressure for constitutional
reform has grown in recent years. (30)
Point 1: Human Rights vs Bill of Rights. Evidence: Many,
particularly Brexiters, have called for a new British ‘Bill of
Rights’ to replace the current EU declaration on Human
rights. Many people believe that Britain should have their
own constitution and form of human rights, rather than
have it dictated to them by the EU courts. The prime
example of this demand for reform was Theresa May’s
inability to deport Abu Qatada as home secretary, with
Qatada opposing deportation since 2005 due to fears of
being tortured in his home country, Jordan, which violated
human rights. Theresa May eventually had him deported
in 2013 after she received assurances from Jordan, yet
the fact that it took Britain so long to remove a terrorist
from their country created more demand for a new Bill of
Rights.
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