The Constitution

Question 1

Key points of the UK constitution

Answer 1

• Uncodified
• Unentrenched and flexible
• Relatively easy for laws and principles to to be changed
• Unified based on parliamentary sovereignty

Question 2

Key points of the Magna Carta (1215)

Answer 2

• Designed to deal with political crisis at the time
• Estbalished that everyone is equal before the law
• Established limits to the powers of the monarch
• Seen as the first constitutional check on executive power
• Seen as a prototype for for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act.

Question 3

Bill of Rights (1689)

Answer 3

• Viewed as the start of the UK having a constitutional monarchy where Parliament is sovereign
• Began to transfer the royal prerogative powers to the prime minister

Question 4

What are the five key sources of the UK constitution?

Answer 4

• Statute Law
• Common Law
• Convention
• Works of authority
• Treaties

Question 5

Statue law

Answer 5

• Is laws passed by parliament: Acts of Parliament
• Takes precedence over other sources of the constitution
• Most statute law does not relate to the constitution
• Only requires a simple majority in parliament to become a law and therefore to form part of the constitution

Question 5

The parliament acts (1911 & 1949)

Answer 5

• Established the primacy of the House of Commons and restrict the powers of the House of Lords
• Under the 1911 act money bills could be delayed for up to 1 month and other public bills for 2 years
• The 1949 Act reduced the amount of time the Lords could delay a bill to a year

Question 6

what is common law?

Answer 6

• Made up of customs and judicial precedent
• A lot of constitutional principles are part of common law.

Question 7

What are conventions?

Answer 7

• Customs and practices that are accepted as the way of doing things.
• Can be removed or made permanent by statute law.

Question 8

arguments for the UK having a codified constitution

Answer 8

• Entrenching principles of the constitution protects them from government interference.
• It clearly sets out the limits of executive power and restricts its excesses
• Citizens rights are entrenched into the constitution
• Allows the constitution to be more consistent and rational

Question 9

Arguments against the UK having a codified constitution

Answer 9

• Uncodified are more flexible and therefore more responsive to situations and change
• Gives too much political power to judges who are unelected and unrepresentative of British society
• Constitutions do not guarantee rights

Question 10

Constitutional reform under new labour (Blair government 1997-2010)

Answer 10

• Measures to decentralise power- Scotland Act 1998 established the Scottish Parliament
• Measures to enhance or embed citizens rights- Human Rights Act 1998
• Measures to modernise the constitution and embed judicial independence
• Measure to make the constitution more democratic- House of Lords Reform Act 2014

Question 11

Constitutional reforms (Coalition government under David Cameron 2010-2015)

Answer 11

• Wright Reforms of 2010 - designed to transfer some powers from the executive to backbench MPs
• Recall of MPs - constituents can force a by-election if they are unhappy with their representative

Question 12

Arguments for keeping the Fixed Term Parliament Act

Answer 12

• Promotes stability and predictability
• Takes away an advantage previously held by the PM
• Still allows for some flexibility
• Transfers some power from the executive to the legislature

Question 13

Arguments for repealing the Fixed Term Parliament Act

Answer 13

• Can create a ‘zombie parliament’ (towards the end of 2010-2015 parliament there was little to do)
• Hasn’t ben effective anyway (2017 and 2019 snap elections)

Question 14

Constitutional reform since 2015

Answer 14

• More devolution to England (English Votes for English Laws)
• Most significant reform since 2015 is Brexit, leaving the European Union and repealing the European Communities Act of 1972

Question 15

Arguments for devolution being a success

Answer 15

• UK has remained united
• Devolved assemblies are popular with the local populations
• Has helped support peace in Northern Ireland

Question 16

Arguments against devolution being a success

Answer 16

• If one reason for devolution was to reduce calls for Scottish independence, it has failed
• Interest in devolution is low with low turnout for referendums and elections

Question 17

Arguments for further devolution to England

Answer 17

• Fairness
• Move towards a federal structure
• Some demand from areas with strong regional identity ( Cornwall, Yorkshire, North-East)

Question 18

Arguments against further devolution to England

Answer 18

• England is so much bigger than other areas, What would Westminster do?
• Little demand for an English Parliament
• Some parts of England have little in the way of regional identity and so would not ‘buy in’ to regional devolution
• The increasing number of City Mayors has begun to resolve the issue anyway

Question 19

House of Lords Act 1999

Answer 19

• Removed all but 92 hereditary peers
• Lords became a mainly appointed chamber, with the removal of most hereditary peers

Question 20

Arguments that the House of Lords Reform did enough

Answer 20

• Removal of hereditary peers made the House of Lords a more legitimate and professional body
• An unelected house means experts can be appointed
• People who can represent underrepresented groups in society can be appointed (e.g. Lord Bird, the big issue magazine)

Question 21

Arguments that the House of Lords still needs reform

Answer 21

• There rae still 92 hereditary peers
• 26 bishops but no representative for other religions
• Party leaders still make political appointments to the House of Lords