holding the gov to account

Question 1

PMQ’s

Answer 1

• wednesdays at midday, held to account by opposition, backbenchers but also members of their own party
• shows PM can be caught out as unaware of what follow up questions are etc, demanding honest answers to the public
• PM answers to the whole house and wider public as it is broadcast
• shows beneficial as she has to be the one answering, no spokesperson, the leader of our country has to answer for her decisions
• only on air for half an hour
• shows less beneficial as too short to really be scrutinised, been described as too theatrical and no real answers

-beneficial as recently JC challenged TM on 0hr contracts, ended with a new legislation, a reduced ton in payment time from 6weeks to 3weeks

Question 2

select committees

Answer 2

-11 members, one committee per gov department, act as a ‘scrutiny function’ for the commons

• can call witnesses of their choosing, civil servants, experts, ordinary people
• shows they have the available resources and power to get all the facts in order to scrutinise legislation
• they can work across party lines, different to the debating chamber
• shows less party bias or loyalty, just focus on the legislation in question

-a ‘gig economy’ report in 2017, criticised uber, Hermes and deliveroo etc for relations with their drivers, a law was recommended to protect drivers that is now discussed in the commons

Question 3

house of lords

Answer 3

-seen as a ‘revising chamber’, they have defeated the gov 60 times since 1999

• they have no party loyalty as separate to the commons
• lots of time to consider the legislation, not as busy as the commons
• shows under less immediate pressure than the commons so can really ponder over the intricacies and make amendments to the proposed legislation
• they have limited resources as they are appointed not elected
• shows less democratic than the odds and criticised for being old fashioned due to the inherited seats aspect to the house
• shows they have much less authority and are unable to really battle against the commons If they strongly disagree on a piece of legislation

-shown further in 2018 when the lords defeated the Brexit bill 15 times through revising it, but all the 15 amendments proposed by the lords were defeated buy the commons