In the Tory Party’s 1997 manifesto such plans for and are still strongly opposed. Plans to resist moves to a European federal state, to safeguard national interests by staying out of the single and to adopt a wait-and-see approach are also expressed.
In a speech to the Labour Party Conference on 4th October 1994, Tony Blair stated that the party’s programme of constitutional reform was ‘the biggest programme of change to ever proposed’. In keeping with this claim, the new government introduced 12 constitutional bills in the first parliamentary session after its election victory in , which in itself was an extraordinary achievement. New Labour’s programme of constitutional reforms developed during the 1990’s and formed a central part of the 1997 manifesto commitments. There were four main themes:
1. The modernisation of political institutions - the main candidates has been Houses of Parliament, the civil service and local government.
2. Greater democratisation of the political system - in particular, this has been directed at increased popular participation in institutions and the decision-making process. The acceptance of the use of and other forms of are the principal initiatives, but there has also been some movement towards and a number of other, less heralded, proposals.
3. The decentralisation of powers from Westminster and Whitehall - naturally was at the forefront of this process, but there has also been talk of greater powers for local government and even the introduction of regional government in England.
4. Improving and safeguarding individual and minority rights - the flagship for this has been the Human Rights Act, which came into force on 2nd October 2000.
1992-97
The ratifying of the Maastricht Treaty raised questions about Britain’s sovereignty. What many saw as an erosion of civil liberties suggested the advantages of a Bill of Rights. The centralisation of power (the reduction of the powers of local government, for example) and the increasing use of un-elected guanos led to calls for greater and accountability. The uncovering of miscarriages of justice led to calls for judicial reform. Corruption in the and criticisms of its unrepresentative make-up led to calls for the modernisation of parliamentary procedures.
1997-98
Devolution
( and ) Act 1997.
Government of Wales Act 1998.
Scotland Act 1998.
(Elections) Act 1998.
Northern Ireland Act 1998.
Regional Development Agencies Act 1998.
Incorporation of European Convention on Human Rights: Human Rights Act 1998.
Electoral reform: Registration of Political Parties Act 1998.
Elected Mayors: Greater London Authority Referendum Act 1998.
1998-99
Lords reform: House of Lords Act 1999.
Electoral reform: European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999.
Elected Mayor for London: Greater London Authority Act 1999.
1999-2001
Local government reform: Local Government Act 2000.
Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information Act.
Controls on Party Funding: Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Bill.
Northern Ireland: Disqualification Bill.
2)Discuss the significance of the main constitutional reforms since 1997.
The government moved quickly after the General Election of 1997 and introduced three major constitutional bills into parliament. They presented a number of bills that became acts such as:
The Scotland Act, which will set up a Scottish parliament with tax varying powers.
The Government of Wales Act, which will establish a National Assembly for Wales.
The Human Rights Act, which will allow people in the United Kingdom to enforce the European Convention on Human Rights in their own courts.
Also the Freedom of Information Bill.
After that, ministers had even more far-reaching changes:
Removal of the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. – which meant member of the HOL that were members just because their great granddad was a knight or something and were also not elected, wouldn’t have a place in the house of lords unless they were appointed by the party in power.
A new House of Lords consisting of life peers - some appointed and others indirectly elected, perhaps for fixed terms.
On a whole all of these changes or reforms to the constitution, were not in a “big bang fashion” more of a bit by bit change. Because labour reforms have not provided the UK with a codified constitution but they did establish key principles and procedures (e.g. human rights and devolution) in statute law.
