Parliament is no longer the centre of political life in Britain. Discuss.

University Degree Social studies

Dessislava Dimitrova

Student # 0402371

Course: Int. Studies

Course: Government and

Politics of the

UK and the USA

University of Buckingham

Grade:B (64%)

PARLIAMENT is no longer the centre of political life in Britain. What reforms would be necessary for Parliament to re-assert its sovereignty?

Thesis

In order to discuss the role of Parliament in contemporary politics, it is essential to examine its theoretical functions and powers within the British political system. As Dicey's notion of Parliamentary sovereignty states: "Parliament has, under the English constitution, the right to make or unmake any law…and no person has the right to override… the legislation of Parliament“(72). Furthermore, Parliament is also the primary basis of Britain's representative democracy and the centre of scrutiny of the Executive. It has been argued that such developments as Britain's membership to the European Union, Devolution and the increasing shift to strong ’residential’ government have significantly undermined these roles and have led many to believe that Parliament is no longer of central importance in the contemporary British politics.

Britain and the EU

British membership to the European Union has created a debate about the Diceyan view of Parliament being the only sovereign lawmaker. Since joining the European Economic Community in 1973, Parliament has been bound by the supremacy of European law. Membership therefore, was a challenge to Britain's long-standing constitutional conventions and led to plentiful legal rulings undermining parliamentary sovereignty. Further European integration such as the Single European Act (1986), which strengthened the powers of the European Parliament in the legislative process, and the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which laid out provisions for greater co-operation in areas of justice and home affairs, have led to further concerns about the legislative independence of Parliament. It is also a cause of the well-known legal rulings, which have undermined parliamentary sovereignty, such as the Factortame case in 1990. What this case illustrates is that European institutions, such as the Council of Ministers, have an exclusive right to make or overrule laws in certain areas, whatever the wishes of Parliament. Undoubtedly, the European Union is a powerful factor which causes the independency of any state member to diminish. Namely that is the purpose of the coalition-to regulate the powers of the nation states in order for all the members to achieve prosperity and welfare. Although, in the beginning it was meant to be an economic organization, one of the Union’s goals is to become a political power. Moreover, Great Britain, together with a small group of other countries has a differently oriented political thought, which now more than ever has caused some conflicts with the rest of the authoritative members. It was the War in Iraq which has shown that the European Union is not yet ready to have one united foreign policy. The process of accepting United Europe as something more than an economic power will be long, therefore Britain will be able to use this time to either pass on its Pro-American ideas to the rest of the members, or eventually accept the concept of Europe as an independent policy-making power. Nevertheless, the possibility of Britain seceding from the EU is growing. If that is the case in the future, the UK will no longer be a subject of EU regulation, being either legislative or political.

What Britain can do to keep Westminster sovereign is to use its power to scrutinize European documents, proposals and legislation, through Select Committees, debates on the floor in both Houses, or in the European Standing Committees

Devolution

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Devolution

Another concept, which is considered to diminish the political sovereignty of Westminster, is devolution. It has undermining affect on Parliament's independence and its representation. The creation of a Scottish Parliament, a Welsh assembly, a strategic authority in London and possible eventual assemblies in the English regions have all had a profound effect on Westminster. Brought in under a wave of constitutional reform by the Blair government, devolution has questioned the role of Parliament, most notably, the role of MPs who represent a constituency in a devolved region. Better known as the 'West Lothian question', there is a debate about the role of Scottish and to a lesser extent Welsh and Northern Irish MPs. For example, issues of responsibility for the Scottish Parliament include housing, education and the environment. These are matters, which account for a large proportion of a MPs constituency work. Therefore, it could be stated that the role of these MPs are now largely defunct. It has also led to the growing call for 'English votes for English laws'. The devolution has caused many to think that this is the start of a federation. That, in its sense means that Westminster will no longer be the decision-making body, but it would rather be the regional assemblies’ all-together decision that would matter. .

\\ Another way of viewing devolution is that by its means the Parliament is able to concentrate on such key areas of national importance as taxation, defense, foreign policy, and legislation. With such a rapid growth of government business in recent times, giving certain legislative autonomy to regions will enable Parliaments roles of scrutiny of the Executive, in those key areas of public policy to be more efficient. For example, both Houses can devote more time to such pressing issues as combating terrorism and debating the conflict with Iraq. Considering that view of the devolution, it can be suggested that Parliament has not yet lost its power. However for Parliament to be sovereign in the future it has to scrutinize the regional bodies and exercise checks and balances over them on a regular basis.

Prime Ministerial Power

Another perspective which has to be examined when discussing Parliament's importance is Prime Minister's general contempt for the functions of Parliament. There is an abundance of examples during both the premierships of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, which suggest a significant undermining of both the legislative and Executive in Parliament. Firstly, during Thatcher's reign, the Speaker of the Commons, Bernard Weatherill constantly had to persuade her to come to the Commons to report on policy decisions. However, her contempt for her Cabinet was more remarkable. During the Westland Affair, Michael Heseltine, her Defense Secretary, resigned because she prevented his wish of the Cabinet Economic Committee to consider a European rescue package for the troubled Westland helicopter firm. This dislike of cabinet government has continued under Tony Blair. For example, cabinet meetings are few. They rarely last an hour and there is no proper agenda. In addition, the growing power-base of his Number Ten staff, including Director of Communications, Alistair Campbell and Chief of Staff, Jonathon Powell, have an increasing role in policy formulation. Powell had a personal role and input into such policies as in Northern Ireland and Kosovo. It is the growth of theses 'Special Advisers' and their growing power and influence which has destabilized the idea of cabinet government under Blair. Furthermore, with regards to Parliament itself, he is an infrequent visitor. He increasingly prefers to make government announcements outside Parliament and he has changed Prime Minister's Questions from twice to once a week. Skeptics also argue that the reforms made to the House of Lords, with the removing of hereditary peers, have removed the last significant check of his behavior. Without the Prime Minister attending Parliament and increasingly side stepping the checks and scrutiny of Parliament, its role and ultimately its importance to the political system is undermined.

This problem is compounded by the growing apathy of the British public to Parliament. With turnouts at elections rapidly decreasing, (59.4 per cent at the 2001 General Election), and surveys showing that people are losing interest in politics, it surely must partly be due to the current state of Parliament. Huge Parliamentary majorities of the government and weak opposition parties have made people deeply cynical about the effectiveness of their representatives. Also, with referenda planned on such key policies as monetary union with Europe and electoral reform, it could be argued that Parliament is incapable of making decisions of that magnitude.

It is a problem, which to a certain extent, is now being addressed at Westminster. Recent reforms have been made to the Commons working hours, which modernizers claim, will make the Chamber more relevant and 'up to date' to the voting public. However, more needs to be done. Such areas as a solution to the composition of the House of Lords and new methods to make the Executive more accountable to Parliament needs to be devised, if Parliament wishes to remain the forum of the country, in which the views of the public find voice.

Conclusion

Such political developments as Devolution, European membership and the growth of 'presidential government', have, in some way, undermined the Diceyan view of the ultimate sovereignty of Parliament. However, this does not mean that it is no longer of central importance to contemporary British politics. Parliament still has the crucial roles of legislation, representation and the scrutiny of the Executive to perform. These new developments should provide the desire for reform and parliamentary evolution to the new political climate and enable it to retain its position as a vital component of the British political system, which till that moment has proved to be one of flexibility and at the stability

Bibliography

Bradley, A W. The Changing Constitution . Oxford: Oxford , 2000.

Hennessy, Peter. The Prime MinisterThe Office and its Holders since 1945. London: Penguin, 2001.

Kingdom, John. "Parliamentary Sovereignty." Government and Politics in Britain. 3rd ed.

2004.

“Northern Ireland.” BBC. 14 Feb. 2005. 5 Feb. 2005 <http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern.ireland/2379137.htm>.

Riddell, Peter. A Parliamentary Revolution Parliament Hasn’t Noticed. London: Politico’s Publishing, 2002.

. Parliament Under Blair. London: Politico’s Publishing, 2000.

Roberts, David. British Politics in Focus. Ormskrik: Causeway Press, 1995.

Stoker, Gerry. Towards MultiLevel Governance. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001.

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Carstens

Kingdom, John. "Parliamentary Sovereignty." Government and Politics in Britain. 3rd ed. 2004.

Parliament is no longer the centre of political life in Britain. Discuss.

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