Essay
UK Gov 2 Essay plans with evidence and counter points
- Module
- Unit 2 - Governing the UK
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
UK gov 2 with points evidence and counterpoints for majority of the course .
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Should the consitution be codifiedPoints Yes No
P1- We are overly reliant on House of Lords broke the Salisbury convetion rarely
unwritten conventions that are Salisbury Convention and the broken – even with them
not legally enforceable and that Common’s ‘financial privilege’, codified could still be altered
few understand when the House voted to block e.g us – does not mention a
its tax credit reforms in 2015. cabinet in consituttion or how
Many in the Lords, however, many justicces
took an entirely different view,
leading to a brief constitutional
C1- …conventions are not often crisis in which, ultimately, the
broken, offer a degree of Government backed down.
flexibility, and are arguably OR
inevitable. Scotland Act (2016) formally
recognised the existence of the
Sewel Convention - the rule
that the UK Parliament will not
normally legislate on devolved
matters without first seeking
the consent of the Scottish
Parliament. However, the
Supreme Court ruled in 2017
that it could not enforce this
convention, after the Scottish
Government argued that a
legislative consent motion was
required before the UK
Government could begin the
process of withdrawing the UK
from the EU.
P2 - flexibility arguably allows -For example the conservative - tParliament reacted to the
Parliament to make significant party have opted for a new bill 1996 Dunblane School shooting
constitutional reforms too of rights- to go agaisnt the HRA by swiftly banning the majority
easily after we left for the EU – scary of handguns in England,
C2- its an important aasset because they can cahnge our Scotland and Wales, as
rights whenever theyw ant supported by a majority of the
public. As society continues to
change at a rapid pace, a
codified constitution could soon
become out of date.- Unlike US
P3- – A codified constitution is The Supreme Court cannot . A codified constitution would
needed to establish a proper strike down laws due to also politicise the judiciary,
separation of powers Parliamentary sovereignty and which would need to interpret
, our lack of fundamental laws. A the language of the static,
C2- a stronger separation of new codified constitution could codified constitution, and
powers could lead to gridlock more clearly separate power determine whether laws are
and judicial activism. between the three branches of constitutional. This could lead
government, creating new, to accusations of judicial
stronger, checks and balances.- activism, where unelected
us CNA STIKE DOWN LAW judges are accused of using
questionable interpretations of
the constitution to promote
their own political agenda.
P4-
Should we have english devolution seeing we have devolved powers elsewhere
P1- An English Parliament would permanently resolve the west lothian question- Evel didn’t go far
enough as non-English MPs can still vote on English laws-
E.g less of a divide over brexit as England voted Leave 53.4 percent leave and 46.6 remain but the
decision as still influenced by Scottish MPs who voted 62 percent remain and 38 percent leave –
unnecary disparities
However: Under 20 percent of the public support for the creation of an English parliament- Westminster
is good enough – too hard to understand
P2- Regional assemblies – better reflect the regional identity compared to the UK government
E.g the pasty tax 2012, which would have effected a ton of western country business
However- There was a referendum and On 4 November 2004, in a turnout of almost 77.93% in an all
postal ballot, voters in the North East decisively rejected the proposed regional assembly.
P3-We already have successful decentralization for England, so we should move to the next step of
devolution
E.g. greater London authority act of 1999, led to the first mayor Ken Livingstone who introduced a
congestion charge to tackle pollution, which has now in 2022 led to over 20 percent reduction in
pollution in London
However: low turnout shows a lack of democratization
E.g. 2021 mayoral election had a turnout of 19.1%
How effective is the role of back benchers-CO
P1- One reason why back benchers can be seen as effective is due to the way in which they scrutinize
the executive
, E.g PMQs, a session, held every Wednesday at midday when the House of Commons is sitting,
during which the prime minister answers questions from MPs.- These were used against Theresa
may during the Brexit scandals Deidre Brock asked whether British banks would continue to get so-
called “passporting” to operate in the European Union after Brexit
However their influence may be limited due to the views that other MPs have of them
E.g the longest standing mp in the house of commons referred to them as ‘pointless and useless
declamations’- so not effective as It is useless
P2- Back bench MPs can be seen as effective as they aid in representation of people
E.g evident though private member bills which are public bills introduced by MPs and Lords who are not
government ministers. MP Jonathan Lord introduces the citizenship armed forces act which changed a
law that made it hard for some people to join the military and become British citizens- chows them
being effective as they are representing minority rights and aiding democracy
However – the difficultly of getting private member bills passed can reduce their effectiveness
E.g.out of 365 days only 13 Fridays are given for them to be discussed as well as attendance for these
discussion beign relatively poor. - not effective as they don’t have the time to potray tehri ideas or
enough MPs coming to listen
P3- effective because they can inform, hence passing legislation, through defying whips
E.g 2012 91 Tory MPs defied the whip when it came to further reform on the House of Lords ( a
completely elected House of Lords) during-
However – it is very rare for mps to act independently from their party – carrot and stick method
Or
P3 – Lastly Theya re effective through of parliament itself
E.g. Select committees- in 2014 Walkson, a doctor was elected as head of the health committee BETTER
SCRUTINY IN TEH CREATION OF POLICES
However- 66 percent of the times select committees are not followed by the government – so not
effective
To what extent are the key principles of judicial neutrality and judicial independence upheld by the
supreme court- CO
Judicial neutrality is the principle that judges should not be influenced by their personal opinion as and
that should remain outside party politics
Judicial independence is the principle that the judiciary should be free of political interference and
criticism particularly from the executive
P1 – There is still judicial independence and neutrality as the supreme court I made up of judges that
are used to serving the law and rule of law in a neutral fashion
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