Constitutional Reforms under New Labour DEVO HRA HOL etc

What were the 4 main constitutional reforms tony Blair pledged

Democratisation

Modernisation

De-centralisation

Maintaining unity of UK

What 3 Acts for devolution did Tony Blair implement

Scotland Act (1998)

Northern Ireland Act (1998)

Government of Wales Act (1998)

What is Devolution

transfer of power from central government to regional or local government

What areas of policy were transferred to Scottish Parliament and NI Assembly

education health transport agriculture

What was agreed in the Good Friday Agreement

The northern Ireland executive would include both a republican Government and unionist Government

What is a success of Devolution on turnout

Devolved election have had fairly high turnout

NI 62%

Scotland 55%

What is a success of Devolution for the whole UK

Laws implemented in devolved regions such as public smoking Ban scotland and plastic carrier bags wales have been implemented across the whole of the UK

What is a success because there has been significant what in NI?

significantly less violent since devolution

What is a failure of devolution- turnout?

Wales elections have not gone about 50%

What is a failure for devolution- activity?

Wales and NI has low economic activity and productivity rankings

What is a problem with Devolution for NI?

NI has been suspended for over 40% of the time between 1998 and 2024 due to arguments between republicans and unionists

What other big Law did Tony Blair Implement?

The Human Rights Act 1998

What did the Human Rights Act do?

Incorporated European Convention on Human Rights into UK statute law

What impact has HRA had on UK law- declarations of incompatibility

17 laws have been amended since HRA

What is the 2019 example for a law that was amended

Civil partnerships Act 2004

How many laws have been suggested to be amended

34 so only half have been upheld

Who has the HRA protected

victims of abuse and modern slavery

Rulings by European court of Human rights and UK courts are? Example

often ignored

Smith V. Scott 2007 was incompatible w HRA because it denied prisoners the right to vote

Because the UK constitution is unentrenched what can happen to the HRA?

can be repealed as easily as any other statute law

When was the HOL act?

1999

What did the HOL act do?

reduced the number of hereditary peers from 700 to 92

What has the HOL act done?

promoted an even split between cons and labour in Lords and creates a better check on the executive

When there was conservative majority how many defeats did MT face

156 in 11 years

How many did Boris Johnson now there is a more even split

243 defeats in 3 years

Who holds the power in the HOL now and what does that mean?

Crossbench peers so the executive has to reach across party lines when passing legislation

What is an issue with the HOL act WITH IT STILL BEING OUTDATED

Tony Blair pledged to modernise the constitution however UK democracy is the only democracy in the world that has seats in its parliament based on birth right

Why is hereditary peers still sort of an issue with HOL Act

They do not add anything

Between 2019- 24 they spoke around 48 times where as life peers spoke 70

What does the presence of hereditary peers do?

Harms the description of parliament because they are all white and male and half attended Eton

What is the argument against the act- cronyism

The idea that PMs can then just appoint people like Lizz Truss appointing 17 in her short time

When was the constitutional reform Act

2005

What did the Constitutional Reform Act aim to do?

Abolished the ‘Law lords’ which was the highest court in the UK and replaced it with the Supreme court

What did the CRA reduce for the executive

the executives influence over the judicial reforms process

Who are supreme court judges chosen by

Ad hoc selection panels