AS Level Politics- Precise knowledge examples

In the sense of 'voting instructions', there are three categories of whip in British politics that are issued on particular business. An expressed instruction on how to vote could constitute a breach of parliamentary privilege, so the party's wishes are expressed unequivocally but indirectly. These whips are issued to MPs in the form of a letter outlining the parliamentary schedule, with a sentence such as "Your attendance is absolutely essential" next to each debate in which there will be a vote, underlined one, two or three times according to the severity of the whip

Three-line whips are generally only issued on key issues, such as votes of confidence and supply

Disobeying a three-line whip is a newsworthy event, indicating as it does a potential mutiny; an example was the decision on 10 July 2012 by 91 Conservative MPs to vote against Prime Minister David Cameron on the issue of reform of the House of Lords.

On 6 April 2010, the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) estimated that going into the 2010 general election, of the 650 constituencies, 382 (59%) were safe seats.

Many areas of the Central Belt of Scotland such as Glasgow and Edinburgh were seen as safe seats until the 2015 election, when the Scottish National Party took all but one Labour seat in Scotland: Edinburgh South.

In 2015 the Labour Party lost many formerly safe seats in Scotland including Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, which had previously been held by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown,

2015 election Safe Seats

Maidenhead, Theres May, Conservative - 29,059 majority

Hampshire NE, Ranil Jayawardena, Conservative - 29,916

East Ham, Stephen Timms, Labour - 34,252

Knowsley, George Howarth, Labour- 34,655

The voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 in 1969

the ONS found that there are 88 constituencies out of 650 where the number of 16- and 17-year-olds outnumber the majority of the sitting MP

There was some criticism about not reducing the voting age to 16 years for the referendum on the membership in the European Union in 2016

In June 2015, the Scottish Parliament voted unanimously to reduce the voting age to 16 for Scottish Parliament elections and Scottish local government elections

44% of 18 to 24 year olds voted in the 2010 general election compared with 76% of the over 65s

held as a single session every Wednesday at noon when the House of Commons is sitting, during which the Prime Minister spends around half an hour answering questions from MPs

In questioning the policies of government ministers, MP Amber Rudd states, “PMQs is central to our democracy.”

Speaker John Bercow has routinely allowed the session to overrun its allotted 30 minutes by 10 to 20 minutes to allow more questions, though without objection from either front bench.

Since becoming Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn has attempted to reform PMQs by using questions submitted by members of the public and attempting to reduce the theatrical element.^[27][28] However, YouGov polling of viewers suggests that Corbyn has failed in his attempts to reform PMQs, with 77% of respondents revealing that it consists of 'too much point scoring'.^[29][30] This is an increase of 31% since Corbyn became leader of the opposition in 2015.

Questions from government backbenchers are either intended to allow the Minister to discuss the virtues of government policy, or to attack the opposition

In the House of Lords, half an hour is put aside each afternoon at the start of the day's proceedings for "Lords Questions". A peer submits a query in advance, which then appears on the Order Paper for the day's proceedings

Theresa May came under fire during Home Office Questions for her department's ongoing inability to deport Abu Qatada.

Theresa May avoided questions about Abu Qatada deportation deadline fourteen times.

Debates are an opportunity for MPs and Lords to discuss government policy, proposed new laws and current issues. It allows MPs to voice the concerns and interests of their constituents, and Members of the House of Lords can speak about issues brought to their attention by the public.

E.g. Andy Burnham led a debate calling on the Health Secretary to scrap the Health and Social care bill.

Programme motions normally debated after a second reading- government can dodge scruitiny by curtailing the process of debate.

Lords debate:

Many Members have considerable experience in industries, professions and organisations and they are able to put this experience to good use during debates in the chamber, which the public can attend.

The Lords is self-regulating. Therefore, there can be greater flexibility to examine an issue for longer than is typical in the Commons.

The chairs of (the majority of) select committees have been elected by the house as a whole since June 2010: before that members were appointed by their parties

The European Union Committee also scrutinises EU legislation and other EU proposals, as well as conducting inquiries

Public Bill Committe- The composition of the committee is roughly proportional to that of the House itself, so it is rare that amendments are accepted that are contrary to a majority Government's wishes.

WATCHDOGS WITHOUT TEETH?

Select committees can investigate any issues relating to their policy domain. The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee have recently been to the fore with their investigations into the phone hacking scandal which saw the high profile attendance of Rupert and James Murdoch.

Recent reforms have meant that members are now selected by MPs and not the whips. Select Committee chairs receive an additional £15,000 p.a.. Consequently, select committees are now viewed as being an alternative career path for MPs, not necessitate kowtowing to the party line.

Gladatorial nature of PM and the leader of the opposition- e.g. Cameron vs Corbyn, Cameron attacking Corbyn based on his choice of suit

'Planted' questions- In 2012 Cameron organised for secretary Desmond Swayne to orchestrate jeering at Ed Milliband- create a 'protective wall of sound'

'punch and judy show'

Hugh Gaffney was jeered at by his 'working class' appearance

Parliament is structured in an adversarial fashion

'short money' is given to aid the opposition office as they do not have access to the civil service

In 2015, the Conservatives reduced the amount of short money- Labour called it 'anti-democratic'

Earl of Darby said in 1841 that the role of opposition was to 'oppose evrything, to propose nothing'

Difficult if the gov have a large amjority to oppose legislation- only 20 days to propose subjects for debate

Leader of opposition takes a leading role in responding to the gov programme in the Queens Speech and replies to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's budget speech