Revision Update: Parliament: Evaluation of the Legislature

RECAP: THE FUNCTIONS OF PARLIAMENT1. To legislate.2. To scrutinise the government3. To represent the people

THE LEGISLATIVE FUNCTION:

The legislative process: The stages of a bill.

The government may issue a Green Paper which outlines some possible ideas for new legislation. The paper will invite comment from any interested parties such as experts in the field and pressure groups.

Once a government has decided upon a course of action it will introduce a White Paper which will detail specific policy proposals that will form the basis for a bill which will be put to Parliament for their consideration and approval.

1.) The Queen’s speech. Written by the PM which outlines the legislative proposals of the government.

2.) The first reading. No debate takes place when a bill is introduced.

3.) The second reading. The main principles of a bill are considered.

4.) The committee stage. The bill goes to a public bill committee for review “line by line, clause by clause”. Amendments can be proposed.

5.) The report stage. Proposals from the committee stage are considered.

6.) The third reading.

A bill faces a similar process in the House of Lords. The Lords can make their own proposals for amendments and pass the bill back to the Commons in a process termed parliamentary ping-pong.

This process can continue for some time until there is agreement or the Commons can invoke the Parliament Act[1] which allows the Commons to overrule the Lords.

Once a bill has been approved, either with or without the consent of the Lords, the monarch must give the Royal Assent for the bill to become an act of parliament. The monarch today plays only a ceremonial role in British politics and consequently a crisis, similarly to that over Lloyd George’s budget would follow if the assent was not given. Should the Royal Assent not be granted it is very likely the monarchy would need to be abolished and a republic established. The last monarch to exercise this power was Queen Anne in 1708.

PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BILLS

Individual MPs can also introduce legislation into Parliament. Each year a ballot is held and those MPs who come top are free to introduce a bill which may be particularly close to their heart. Pressure groups lobby MPs who have won the ballot with ready-made bills that they hope the MP will adopt and promote.

AN EVALUATION OF THE LEGISLATIVE FUNCTION

A step by step analysis of each of the above stages quickly reveals how well Parliament carries out this function.

PUBLIC BILLS:

1.) The Queens’s speech is written by the government.

2.) The first reading is a mere formality with no debate on the bill.

3.) The government normally has a majority which can be used to ensure success at the second reading.

4.) The government has a majority on public bill committees and consequently only its proposals for amendments are adopted and those proposed by other parties fail.

5.) Similarly, the government can make use of its inbuilt majority and party discipline exercised by the whips to ensure success at this stage too.

6.) The Lords and monarchy have no substantial role to play.

This brief assessment quickly reveals that the government in effect faces no real challenges when it seeks to pass legislation through Parliament.

PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BILLS

The government controls the parliamentary timetable and so the prospect of a private members’ bill getting enough time and support in the Commons is extremely slim. Thus we have another illustration of government control over the legislative process.

THE SCRUTINY FUNCTION

A key function of Parliament is to scrutinise the government. It is through this scrutiny that the government can be held accountable for its actions. There are several opportunities for this scrutiny to take place.

Prime Minister’s Question Time. (PMQs) This occurs once a week on a Wednesday at 12pm when Parliament is in session. The leader of the opposition has the opportunity to ask the Prime Minister six questions. These may be taken in one go or split into parts.

Whilst PMQs may have the highest profile of any of parliament’s activities, their value as a method of scrutiny are open to question.

1. The Prime Minister does not have to answer the question.

2. There is insufficient time for sustained and detailed questioning. Rather than serve as providing answers to questions, both the Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition, use PMQs as an opportunity to introduce a short “sound bite” or witticism that may make the evening news. Hence Miliband accused Cameron of introducing “A tax cut for millionaires made by millionaires”. Hague accused Blair of being “All style and no substance.”

3. Government backbenchers also ask questions of the PM. These are likely to be more supportive of government policy normally prefixed with “Will my right honourable friend agree with me that …..” which allow the PM to comment favourably on government policy. The fact that Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs can also ask questions also provides an opportunity for “planted questions”. These questions from government backbenchers allow the government to claim responsibility for any “good” news that might have recently emerged such as “Will my right honourable friend agree with me that the latest fall in the number of unemployed bear testimony to the effectiveness of the government’s economic policies?” To which the PM will say “Yes”!

4. The heated partisan atmosphere of the packed House of Commons at PMQs results in a petty point scoring exercise rather than in depth scrutiny. The session has been labelled “pantomime” and “yah boo” politics given the antics of the MPs with their rowdy and boisterous behaviour.

In conclusion whilst the gladiatorial spectacle of PMQs may present drama of a high order, it does not greatly assist the effective scrutiny of government.