1.2 how the consitution has changed since 1997

Why was constitutional reform introduced?

- Blair believed constitution was fossilised
- Wanted a greater focus on voting systems, devolution and Parliament
- Wanted a greater separation of powers between executive, legislative and judiciary to avoid dictatorship

Labour's aims

- Modernise
- Democratise - increase participation
- Decentralise - devolution and decrease nationalism
- Rights - safeguard and strengthen them

Federalism

- a form of government in which sovereignty is divided between the federal, or national, government and the states
- each region can have a selected assembly which decide on transport and health care etc.

Devolution in the UK

- Westminster has ultimate power EVEN if power is loaned elsewhere
- Each devolved assembly has a PR based voting system (Westminster has FPTP)
- Means Westminster could shut down Scottish Parliament if wanted to (reason they may want independence)

Asymmetric Devolution in UK (Scotland and Wales)

• Scottish Parliament has more power than NI assembly (has some tax varying powers)

• This is because many Labour MPs came from Scotland and Blair wanted to appease them

• Tried to steer off rise of SNP by granting more independence to Scotl (still many voted for indyref 2011, +still push for another election

• NI and Welsh assembly - not get tax raising powers – Scottish parliament did

• problem of EVEL

• Barnet Formula (info coming) - but if argued against then risk rise- SNP

• Welsh assembly - not control criminals because it is under the English Parliament + no tax baring power

• 25% - Welsh electorate voted - favour of Welsh parliament – 50% turnout

West Lothian Question

Why are Scottish, Welsh and NI MPs able to vote on matters which concern solely the English, even though they now have their own devolved powers where the others don't have a say over their internal affairs?

result of devolution

Scottish Parliamentary system

- Halfway between FPTP and PR

outline of Troubles

• 1968-98 - NI – Troubles - 30 year war between British and terrorists – Republicans (Catholic)- want Irish reunification – IRA killed Brits

  • blow up pubs + 1984 bombs in Harrods at Christmas + bombed Grand Hotel where Margaret Thatcher was - AND Loyalists (Protestant) (UVF (wanted stay part of Britain), UDA etc. retaliated by attacking Catholics)

devolution in NI under Blair

• Blair - attempted to end Troubles– Belfast agreements – 1998 – signed on Good Friday between different political societies in Northern Ireland (British and Irish governments)

• Nationalists – SDLP (moderate politicians – sought Irish independence)

• Republicans – SINN FEIN – sought Irish independence IRA (extremists)

• DUP and UUP (unionists)

• Part of peace deal – power shared between nationalists and republicans

• NI Assembly regularly suspended - two sides cannot agree to work with each other

  • Still hostility between two sides

• Irish assembly - based on direct link between share of votes and number of seats in assembly

unresolved issues in NI

• Protestant in NI have 2/3^rd majority – everything geared in favour of Protestants – mass discrimination against Catholics

• Police force overwhelmingly Protestant 78.72%; marches which Protestant carries out every year – seen as deeply offensive – commemorating various historical episodes

• First Minister + Deputy First Minister in NI– ideally 1 nationalist, 1 unionist BUT unionists will not go into lower share with SINN FEIN

  • Sausage wars; chilled meats arriving in NI from UK - have to go through many checks due to NI still being part of EU single market agreement (Britain is no longer part) – led to shortages in NI

• Unionists say - unless sorted - will not go into power share with SINN FEIN – if this continues, Radicalists could go back to shooting and bombing

Alternate Vote Referendum info

- 2011
- Lib Dems were in favour of change, Conservatives not as keen (many people voted against LibDem views due to dislike for Clegg- broke promises from campaign about uni tuition fees)
- 42% turnout - was not overturned and showed a lot of apathy
- 68% voted to keep FPTP

Barnett Formula 1978

- Adjusting available finance for devolved powers based on tax revenue and the necessity of the finances
- Scotland, Wales and NI receive more money per head than England by a considerable distance
- Some say essential to keep UK together - otherwise could lead to rise of parties like the SNP

House of Lords before 1999

- Conservatives always had a majority of peers (hereditary peers)
- Law of Primogeniture meant title was passed from father to eldest son
- Blair wanted to stop Cons majority because if Labour were in House of Commons would struggle to pass legislation

House of lords since 1999

- only 92 hereditary peers can sit and vote in House of Lords
- the rest keep titles and property but cannot sit in House
- overwhelming majority of life peers (title dies with you)
- PM can nominate people for peerages if he chooses (example of patronage)
- 2009 - Blair convention so, that no single party can win HOL majority so whoever becomes PM cannot pass laws easily

Reform has not been completed in House of Lords

- March 2018-9 - each peer received £38,000 in expenses, higher than UK average salary (£34k) whilst only sitting for half the year
- Can claim over £300 a day for just turning up, even if do not stay
- 2016-7 - over 300 peers did not speak at all, however claimed £11,000 each

peerage example (still current disadvantage to HOL)

1. Peter Cruddas
   Dec. 2020 - given a life-peerage after BJ nominated him
   - later emerged that Cruddas donated £500,000 to Cons party

2. BoJo Johnson put forwards Martin Reynolds (private secretary who oversaw lockdown garden party)

what does plan to do Starmer for HOL

• Kier Starmer – if gets into power – make HOL elected, strip politicians of right to appoint people to HOL

• HOWEVER – it is fully elected, who is sovereign?

  • Potential for constitutional gridlock – hard to get legislations through

Did Blair achieve electoral reform?

No - devolved assemblies yes (e.g. Scottish Parliament & Welsh Assembly under AMS and NI STV) but Westminster remained FPTP
- Blair was criticised heavily for this (he had big majorities so didn’t really care??)

Why do major party politicians not want Westminster electoral system to change?

- allows major parties to continue to dominate
- only need a simple majority to win
- Blair = won 3 elections with great majority even though never once won more than 50% of the vote; 2001 election - 40.7% vote but got majority

background of HRA

• 1940s, European Convention on Human Rights – not incorporated in Britain – this was after WW2, Britain had won and was a democracy, but did not sign up to this

• 1990s – Britain signed it

  • Blair ratified it; incorporated into Human Rights Act (HRA)

When was human rights act passed and by who

1998 Blair’s gov

What does the HRA do?

• incorporates European Convention on Human Rights into new British law

• Right of free speech; freedom of assembly; freedom from discrimination; right to privacy; right to marry and have a family life

  • Suella Braverman –home secretary- August 2023 said UK should leave European court of human rights – committed to Rwanda plan; prepared to electrically tag illegal migrants - breech

What do supporters claim HRA does

gives judiciary key powers to protect civil liberties
- public bodies (e.g., government) must act in accordance with HRA
- Parliamentary legislation should do its best to align with HRA

Proof of benefits of HRA

In Naomi Campbell's case of 2004, Article 8 was used to declare that press coverage of her in a rehabilitation clinic was illegal
- allows judges to protect the people's human rights

what undermines HRA?

• Act of Parliament therefore can easily be repealed

• UK constitution is not entrenched

• does not hold same significance as US Bill of Rights

• Parliamentary legislation does not always align with HRA (during pandemic, Johnson suspended people's rights to free movement)

• If someone brings a case to the Supreme Court, the courts can compare it to the HRA and comment on how it is inconsistent, but cannot change it due to parliamentary sovereignty

Belmarsh Case

2004 Belmarsh Case
Blair suspended Article 5 after 9/11 so foreign terrorist suspects could be kept without charges
- Judges issued a formal case of incompatibility because foreign and UK citizens being treated differently
- Parliament initially ignored this but after bad press, released the suspects

Reform to Supreme Court by Blair

• Constitutional Reform Act 2005 – separated judiciary from legislature

• Before 2005, Lord Chancellor straddles all three elements of gov

  • Lord Chancellor was head of judiciary and part of the legislature

  • Now not head of judiciary, not head of all lead justice

• Top judges before 2009, sat in the HOL; HOL was part of legislature – total overlap between legislature and judiciary

• CRA – has JAC (Judicial Appointments Commission) - judges and non-lawyers – recs of nominations to PM and Lord Chancellor (can only veto once) to replace any judge when one dies

  • Reduced political influenced over courts – not completely stopped it - this is progress;

  • Different to USA, where the President nominates judges

Current Lord Speaker of HOL and new Lord Chief Justice, lord Chancellor

• John McFall, Baron McFall of Alcuith

• Dame Sue Carr

  • boss of all judges in England and Wales

  • Alex Chalk

what year did the Supreme Court move buildings out of Houses of Parliament

2009

criticism of judiciary

• not being an accurate representation of wider British society – 1/12 women, all white

Under the coalition 2010-2015 - Fixed Term Parliaments Acts 2011

• limit PM’s power to hold early election

• e.g., general election in May 2017, next in 2019 - does not follow the act - (Theresa May wanted larger majority)

• 2019 the Early Parliamentary General Election Act – passed + contradicts previous Fixed Term Parliamentary Act – parliamentary sovereignty

  • Paid off for Boris Johnson with majority of 80

  • Fixed term parliament act repealed 24^th March 2022

Under the coalition 2010-2015 - further devolution to Wales

• Referendum - March 2011 - Welsh assembly could now make policy without consulting Westminster – 63.5% vote yes

• 2014 Wales Act - Welsh government now has power over some taxes, can decide over stamp duty + landfill tax

The Recall of MPs Act: 2015

- Aim was to restore faith in politicians after political scandal over Parliamentary expenses
- Aimed to make MPs more accountable by constituents calling for a bi-election
- Some had been claiming money for non-existent mortgages
- 10% of constituents have to sign recall petition for bi-election to be successful

Example of unsuccessful recall of MPs

2018
- DUP MP Ian Paisley
- Suspended from Parliament for not disclosing a holiday funded by Sri Lankan gov. and lobbying for that gov.
- Only 9.4% of his constituents signed so no by-election called and he stayed as MP

Example of successful recall of MPs

2018
- Labour MP Fiona Onasanya
- Found guilty of attempting to pervert the Court of Justice
- Was expelled from the party
- More than 10% of Labour MPs triggered a recall petition and she lost her position as MP

English Votes for English Laws

- started 2015

-an attempt to address WLQ - laws that effected the English could be passed with a majority of only English MPs
- England felt disadvantaged as did not have its own parliament like Scotland and Wales do
- This meant Scottish, Welsh & NI MPs could vote on legislation which only effected England, but not vice versa
- Was suspended in April 2020 (SNP claimed it was persecutory against Scottish MPs - needed their support)

further devolution regarding Scotland since 2015

• 2014 indiref - 55% of Scottish voters said no to independence but was call for greater devolution

• Scotland Act 2015 – Scottish parliament - more powers with tax

• Could the Scottish government call indiref without Westminster? Took case to the SC - said NO!!!!!🤪

• Scotland Act 2016 - Scottish parliament - complete control- income tax rates

  • They control up to 50% of their VAT returns

  • Franchise rules – elections to the Scottish 16+, England is 18

  • Scotland has diverged in certain significant results

  • stopped Westminster just closing the Scottish parliament when they want to

• Conservative keen to keep voting age at 18

constitutional changes under Boris Johnson

• Fixed Term Parliament Act - repealed - The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022

• EVEL - repealed

• NI protocol - sausage wars (Sunak tried to address with red and green lanes)

BoJo opinion on devolution

• Johnson – strong believer in Union seems less convinced

  • Says devolution - ‘disaster’ + was Blair’s ‘biggest mistake’

  • frequently clashes with SNP, did not work closely with Scottish/ Welsh governments during COVID

  • Johnson’s levelling up agenda – version of devolution with local devolution in England, but opportunities offered is not yet clear

• Still asymmetric

• West Lothian question still an issue since rid of EVEL