Evaluate The View That Parliament Is No Longer Sovereign In The UK.

Question 1

P1: Disagree Can Pass Any Laws (SC)

Answer 1

1. Judges canʼt strike down laws using the HRA, just declare them incompatible with it and advise Parliament to change the offending law, which Parliament can refuse to do.
2. former Home Secretary Suella Braverman introduced the Illegal Migration Bill in 2023 with a section 19 note stating that there was a likelihood the provisions of the bill would be incompatible with the HRA and international law The ECHR but that the government wanted to proceed
   with it nonetheless.
3. The Safety of Rwanda Asylum and Immigration) Act in April
4. The act states that Rwanda must be considered a safe country for asylum seekers therefore removing the individual right to judicial review on these grounds.
5. gives ministers the power to ignore emergency rulings against the act by the ECHR in Strasbourg.

Question 2

P1: Disagree Reasserted In The Last Few Years

Answer 2

1. UKʼs withdrawal from the European Union in 2020 allowed to legislate on areas of policy previously controlled by the EU, whilst the European Court of Justice could no longer strike down laws passed by Parliament if they broke EU laws/regulations.
2. Parliament can therefore be seen as having gained the prerogative power to wage war from the executive.This can be seen in 2013, when David Cameron backed down from calling for
   airstrikes in Syria after Parliament voted against them. This being said, Theresa May carried out similar airstrikes in 2017 without consulting Parliament.
3. Theresa Mayʼs minority government was defeated thirty-three times, including three Brexit-related defeats in one day on 15th January 2019. (Power To Scrutinise).

Question 3

P1: No Longer Sovereign (Elected Dictatorship)

Answer 3

1. Parliamentary sovereignty is really executive sovereignty. Lord Hailsham called this an ‘elective dictatorshipʼ.
2. Tony Blair lost just four votes across his ten years as Prime Minister, whilst since the Second World War, over 99% of divisions (votes) in the House of Commons have been won by the government.
3. In the 2022/23 parliamentary session, the government introduced 56 bills. Of these, 43 (76%) received royal assent by the end of the session. Successful laws included the Illegal Migration Act and Online Safety Act.
4. Sunak was only been defeated once in the HoC as Prime Minister, despite being extremely unpopular with the public.

Question 4

P2: Devolved Bodies Agree

Answer 4

1. SP controls key public services including health and social policy, key welfare benefits (including disability living allowance) and education. It
   now also has significant fiscal powers, controlling income tax rates and bands and the right to 50% of all VAT raised in Scotland.
2. Sewel Convention stipulates that the UK Parliament cannot legislate on policy areas that are devolved without permission from the relevant devolved assembly.
3. This was recognised in the Scotland Act 2016 and Wales Act 2017.
4. In 2020, the UK Government aimed to introduce a ‘Shared Prosperity Fundʼ, a replacement for EU structural funding after Brexit. It planned to administer the fund centrally, bypassing the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Argued that bypassing them contradicted the principles of devolution and their role in regional development. UK Government ultimately agreed to a compromise.

Question 5

P2: Disagree Can Take Away Power From Devolved Bodies

Answer 5

1. P has granted power to the devolved bodies, which it could legally take back. Highly unlikely cause a constitutional crisis, too ingrained.
2. Law relating to public services, which is devolved, and the S and W P withholding their consent, the UK Parliament passed the Strikes
   Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023. Cited the need for continuity of
   critical public services,to protect public
   welfare
3. SC ruled in 2022 that the consent of the UK Parliament is necessary to
   legislate for a second independence referendum in Scotland.
4. Jan 2023, RS used a Section 35 Order to block Scotlandʼs proposed gender
   reform bill, which wouldʼve introduced self-identification for those who wanted to change gender and allowed 16 and 17 year olds to do so. This was the first time it was used. Allowed exceptional circumstances if it believes it will have an adverse impact on UK
   wide law.

Question 6

P3: Agree People Are Sovereign

Answer 6

1.People ultimately have popular sovereignty, with which they grant P and other bodies legal sovereignty through elections. They delegate their political authority to their representatives.
2. Public overwhelmingly voted against
the CParty, therefore removing them from government and replacing them
with the LParty.
3. In the past few decades, there have been referendums on issues, including Scottish Independence, Brexit, the electoral system and devolution. A convention has developed that the people should be consulted in a referendum before a significant constitutional change is introduced.
4. Have legal sovereignty it would be highly politically unlikely that P would defy the clearly expressed will of the people in a referendum

Question 7

P3: Disagree Parliament Over People

Answer 7

1. Whilst the people have popular/political sovereignty, this has always been the case and
   Parliamentary Sovereignty refers to the legal sovereignty that is traditionally held by Parliament.
2. Referendums in the UK are only advisory. Parliament remains sovereign after a referendum and
   could decide not to implement a referendum result or to call another referendum to try and get
   a different result, as the Peopleʼs Vote movement tried in relation to Brexit.
3. Article 50 Court Case, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the
   UK Parliament had to have a vote before Article 50 could be triggered to start the process of the UKʼs withdrawal from the European Union