UK Government Flashcards
(97 cards)
1
Q
when was devolution first proposed and by who?
A
In 1997 in Labour’s manifesto.
2
Q
which acts devolved power to Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales?
A
Scotland Act 1998
Government of Wales Act 1998
Northern Ireland Act 1999
Greater London Authority Act 1999.
3
Q
which devolved body has the most power?
A
Scotland
4
Q
what did the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum do for devolution?
A
Around this time, Scotland were given more devolved powers to satisfy their desires for nationalism
5
Q
what act gave Scottish Parliament tax raising powers, which can be seen as fiscal devolution?
A
Scotland Act 2016 have Scotland tax raising powers that can be considered fiscal devolution.
6
Q
2 cool facts about the devolved economics of Scotland
A
- they have the right to 50% of all VAT in Scotland.
- Holyrood raises around 60% of the money it spends.
7
Q
what did the scottish parliament recently do to taxes?
A
They increased the higher and top rates of income tax.
8
Q
what constitutional powers do Scotland have?
A
controlling Parliament’s composition and choosing the electoral system.
9
Q
the 2016 Scotland Act enshrined the Sewel Convention into law. What was the Sewel Convention?
A
Westminster must have permission from Scottish Parliament before legislating on devolved matter
10
Q
what was the significant Supreme Court ruling about Scotland’s devolution in 2022?
A
that the Scotland Act does not give Scottish Parliament the power to unilaterally legislate for an independence referendum.
this shows the power of the UK Supreme court to clarify the different powers of different parts of the political system, and the validity of parliamentary sovereignty.
11
Q
potential future reforms for Scotland
( i couldn’t think of any so these are sort of wishy washy)
A
take the country to ‘devomax’
lots of polls suggest that if there was another referendum, the Scottish public would vote for independence.
12
Q
what is the nationalist sentiment like in Wales?
A
Very little.
13
Q
what was the turnout and result of the 1997 Welsh referendum?
A
50% turnout and 50.5% majority.
14
Q
what happened after the 2011 welsh referendum?
A
64% of people voted for primary legislative power, showing an increase in nationalist sentiment.
15
Q
What did the 2017 Wales Act do?
A
Gave Wales further powers and renamed the Welsh Assembly as Welsh Parliament.
16
Q
since 1997, Labour have always been in power in Wales.
A
yes, thats true
17
Q
Can Wales control their law and order?
A
No, but Scotland can
18
Q
what can wales do economically?
A
Collect 10% of Wales’ income taxes and can vary the bands and rates for this 10%.
19
Q
potential welsh reforms
A
controlling law and order
20
Q
how does the welsh public currently feel about independence?
A
growing support, with polls showing this to be over 30%/
21
Q
when and why was devolution given to NI?
A
Introduced in 1998 as part of the good friday agreement.
22
Q
what happens to the executive in NI as a result of power sharing agreements?
A
Executive must be led by the first minister and deputy first minister, causing key decisions to require cross community support.
23
Q
is the government stable in stormont? why?
A
government in Stormont fragile, with frequent suspensions where parties refuse to work together. this is because of the power sharing.
24
Q
example of suspended governments in NI
A
The NI government is currently shut down because the DUP refused to nominate a speaker and form a government with O’Neil, leader of Sinn Fein, as First Minister.
25
what happens when NI government is suspended?
government functions are assumed by Westminster, which can potentially lead to significant changes, such as the legalisation of same sex marriage.
26
what powers does NI lack?
NI lacks major tax raising powers.
27
what type of devolution does NI have?
service devolution
28
is further devolution likely in NI?
Further devolution is unlikely as unionists are very opposed and it is estimated that Catholics now outnumber protestants in NI. However a referendum on reunification is possible.
29
what power does wales have when it comes to taxes?
Wales collects 10% of Wales' income taxes and can vary the bands and rates for this 10%.
30
when were powers devolved to England?
1998 in the Greater London Authority Act.
31
why are there no regional England assemblies?
new labour proposed having regional assemblies but dropped this after a 78% no vote in a 2004 referendum.
32
examples of places with 'metro mayors'
Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield. Andy Burnham of Manchester challenged the government during COVID, suggesting they had some real power.
33
how many city regions have been created?
7
34
examples that some regions were unhappy with city regions
Hartlepool and stoke have scrapped them and returned to traditional local government.
35
How does London have the most devolved powers in England?
it is controlled directly by an elected mayor and elected London Assmebly
36
what does the Greater London Assembly have power over?
some responsibility over policing, transport and economic development. e.g. Ken Livingstone introduced the congestion charge and free travel for young people.
37
why are city region deals less substantial than what other devolved bodies got?
Only administrative powers with control over implementation rather than legislation.
38
when and why was EVEL introduced?
EVEL was introduced in 2015 to tackle the west lothian question, which allowed English MPs to veto laws only affecting England, though they can't make their own laws.
39
how often was EVEL used from 2015-2017?
EVEL was only used for 1/3 bills in the 2015-2017 parliament.
40
Why did BJ scrap EVEL in 2021?
he criticised it for having 2 tiers of MPs as well as having unnecessary complications.
41
what is the name of the formula used to determine funding for devolved bodies and what is wrong with it?
Barnet formula, and it doesn't take into account the relative need, e.g. the fact that Wales is poorer than Scotland, though it receives less funding.
42
Examples of policy differences in education
Scotland - tuition fees completely scrapped in 2008.
England - tuition fees increased to 9.25k per year and most grants were gone.
Wales and NI - cap tuition fees at lower prices (9 and 4.6k respectively) and offer grants.
43
Policy differences in healthcare
england - prescription charge of £9.35 per item
everywhere else - abolished prescription charge
44
policy difference in social care
Scotland - Free elderly long term care
NI - Free elderly care for over 75s.
England - Some government help funding if u meet criteria, otherwise no concessions.
45
how has devolution been good for democracy?
1. allowed for more effective representation
2. use of more proportional electoral systems lead to a more representative mix of parties.
3. UK has remained sovereign, able to remove these powers.
46
how has devolution been bad for democracy?
1. Decision making power moved away from UK parliament, undermining sovereignty.
2. Turnout in devolved elections relatively low.
63.5% 2021 Scottish
63.5% in 2022 NI
46.6 in 2021 Senedd
3. Devolution undermines equal citizenship as divergences in politics mean that different citizens are subject to different laws and have different access to healthcare and education.
47
How has devolution been good in the unification of the UK?
1. no nationalist movement has achieved independence, preventing the breakup of the UK..
2. Devolution has led to relatively stable peace in NI, providing the framework for long term change.
3. recent increasing support for independence because of the unpopularity of conservative leadership, rather than support for devolution itself.
48
how has devolution been bad at unification of the UK?
1. Asymmetric devolution undermines the unity of the UK as some parts have more power than others and are subjected to different laws.
2. Devolution led to an increase in national sentiment, as it gave nationalist parties a platform to prove they have the ability to successfully govern themselves. E.g. SNP has been in power since 2007 and now there is majority support for independence, according to polls.
49
what impact has devolution had in economic and policy improvements?
1. good in terms of experimentation. E.g. ban on smoking in public places tried in Scotland, then adopted by the whole of the UK.
2. Devolution allows for policy that affects the interests of local populations, e.g. during COVID, for healthcare and education.
3. however little 'devolution dividend' in economic and policy improvements, with devolved bodies falling behind. e.g. scottish education.
4. devolution undermines equal citizenship
5. devolved bodies spend too much time on nationalisation than day-to-day policy making
50
example of Scotland falling behind due to devolved actions
Scottish education changed drastically by SNP, but has fallen behind England in PISA rankings.
51
arguments for and against potential further reforms.
1. devolved bodies shown that they can run public services well.
2. Brexit allows many policy areas previously used by EU to be given to devolved bodies, such as agriculture and energy.
3. further reforms may discourage Scotland from voting for independence.
however
1. further devolution may lead to greater disparities.
2. devolved bodies already hold significant power and there is little demand for further devolution in any country
52
why can britain be argued to be quasi federal?
power can be removed from devolved bodies, though this is politically impossible.
53
what are the twin pillars of the constitution and who suggested this?
AV Dicey suggested these are parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law.
54
what are the 7 key historical documents of the constitution?
1. magna carter
2. Bill of rights 1689
3. Act of Settlement 1701
4. Acts of Union 1707
5. Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949
6. 1972 European communities Act
7. 2020 UK-EU withdrawal agreement
55
in what ways did the historical documents develop the constitution?
1. reduced the power of the monarchy
2. increased the rights and freedoms of citizens.
3. Drew together components of the UK and centralised power.
4. Defined the relationship between institutions which later evolved into the EU.
5. Increased the power of the House of Commons and decreased the power of the House of Lords.
56
what are the 5 main sources of the constitution?
1. treaties
2. statue law
3. authoritative works
4. common law
5. Conventions
57
example of treaties
ECHR in 1951, which means that individuals and bodies are held to account by the European Court of Human rights.
2020 UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement
58
Examples of constitutional statute law
1969 representation of the people act
1949 parliament act
Human rights act 1998
Scotland Act 1998
Government of Wales Act 1998
59
example of authoritative works
AV Dicey's 1885 study
60
example of common law
innocent until proven guilt was common law for centuries until it became statute law in 1679.
61
examples of conventions
Salisbury convention and IMR
62
recent constitutional issues
- decrease in parliamentary sovereignty when we were in the EU, through devolution and the HRA giving SC power
- 2019 prorogation case
63
what role does PM have in ministerial responsibility
all of them. 'judge, jury and executioner'.
64
evidence that there is no mechanism to hold PM to account if they break IMR
partygate
65
example of civil servants being blamed instead of MPs taking accountability (IMR)
Suella Braverman blamed 'an activist blob of left wing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour party' for her departmental failure to stop channel crossings.
Following the 2020 exam algorithm failure, head of ofqual sally Coulier resigned rather than Williamson.
66
evidence that IMR is decreasing in importance
In 2022, BJ changed the ministerial code, removing the words 'transparency, honesty, integrity and accountability', as well as removing the expectation that MPs should resign. Instead they should publicly appologise and accept lower pay.
67
estelle morris (IMR)
estelle morris resigned in 2002 after her department failed to meet ltieracy and numeracy targets they set. she wasn't pushed by PM to do this, but said its because she failed to be effective enough
68
Amber Rudd (IMR)
resigned in 2018 due to media pressure after misleading the Home Affairs Select Committee
69
Matt Hancock (IMR)
resigned after affair breached COVID regulations in 2021.
Initially he just apologised and PM BJ accepted this, saying the matter is closed.
However increasing media backlash led to his resignation a week later.
this shows that IMR was still important under BJ, or the opposite as BJ tried to ignore and would if media wasn't involved.
70
Suella braverman (IMR)
in 2022, Truss forced her to resign after she used her personal email to send classified documents.
Shows successful IMR.
weeks after, Sunak reappointed her as Home secretary, showing the limits of IMR.
71
Nadim Zahawi (IMR)
forced by Sunak to resign in 2023 after failing to disclose that he was under investigation by tax authorities when appointed chancellor under BJ.
this shows that Sunak cares about IMR
72
Chris Grayling (IMR)
didnt resign in 2019 despite serious failings in his department, such as a dodgy multimillion ferry contract that had to be cancelled.
Media mocked him, calling him 'failing grayling'
didnt resign, showing IMR is weak.
73
Priti Patel (IMR)
didnt resign in 2020 after investigation concluded that she bullied civil servants.
Sir Alex Allen, the author of the report, resigned in protest.
this shows that IMR in terms of personal conduct is ignored when it comes to popular and powerful ministers.
74
Gavin Williamson (IMR)
failed to resign after botched a level exam algorithm. let sally coulier take the blame, showing IMR not important.
75
arguments that IMR is not important
1. dependent on the personal honour of individual ministers.
2. Heavily reliant on the PM to not be an idiot.
3. resignations often forced due to media and backlash, rather than ministerial code.
4. Near complete breakdown of this under BJ, which could have set a precedent that it is no longer important.
76
Arguments that IMR is important
- works in personal conduct failures
- works in departmental failures.
77
how could IMR be improved?
Giving an independent body the power to enforce ministerial code.
But this is highly unlikely because PM wouldn't want to give up power of patronage.
78
what are the 3 exceptions to CMR?
Referendums, Free votes and coalition governments.
79
Free vote examples
2013 Cameron allowed a free vote on legislation on same sex marriage, which Phillip hammond voted against.
in march 2023, sunak said he would hold one on the imposition of sanctions against BJ if found to have lied to parliament about partygate.
80
why CMR allowed to be ignored in referendums?
Prevent the referendum from dividing and harming the government. e.g. was allowed in the 1975 European Communities referendum.
81
why CMR allowed to be ignored in coalitions?
because government comes form 2 parties. e.g. LibDems allowed to disagree and abstain from certain votes.
82
CMR loophole
leak disagreements to the media and rest o the party, so they can still have plausible deniability. e.g. BJ during May's government.
83
who is functionally above CMR?
ministers that are important figures, too powerful or popular to sack as may cause revolt from the party.
84
what conditions is CMR limited in?
Ideologically divided government. e.g. Under May, there were differences between ERG and One nation that made maintaining government unity extremely difficult.
85
Lord Wolfson (CMR)
Resigned in 2020 over partygate as he said he couldn't support a government that broke rule of law.
86
Robin Cook (IMR)
resigned in 2003 because he didnt want to accept CMR on the iraq war out of principle.
87
Rishi Sunak (related to CMR)
Supported Northern Ireland Protocol in public. However when he became PM, he criticised it and replaced it with the Windsor Framework to fix mistakes.
This suggests he wanted to put forward a united front, despite disagreeing with it.
88
BJ under May (CMR)
leaked to the dissatisfaction media constantly under May. he wrote critical weekly articles in the daily telegraph, however due to his popularity within the party, May wasn't able to sack him.
89
Penny Morduant and Robert Buckland under Truss (CMR)
they opposed Truss government policy in 2022 that benefits shouldn;t rise with inflation. they didnt resign
90
steve barclay (CMR)
voted against government plans to extend articel 50, despite defending them in commons. It wasn't a free vote but he wasn't required to resign.
absolute plonker
91
is CMR important?
no because ignored in free votes, referendums and coalition gvts.
no because it significantly breaks down when PMs are weak and government is ideologically divided.
yes because works majority of the time.
yes because encourages PMs to use patronage to control party and government.
flexibility is a good thing because can be relaxed when needed which helps stay significant.
92
where does political sovreignty come from?
the people
93
evidence the PM often behaves as the head of state
Tony Balir drove foreign policy in Iraq.
During brexit, PM played a key role in determining the withdrawal agreement and negotiating w eu.
PM represents UK inn international conferences such as the G7 and G20.
Boris johnson was initially popular in the pandemic and rallied the country whilst hosting regular press conferences about the situation.
94
Evidence that the PMs use Media to reach out to public and develop personal image
e.g. tony Blair got support from right wing press
also can happen through pmqs
95
evidence that PMs rely on non elected advisors rather than cabinet
Dominic Cummings is a SPAD taht was super duper significant recently.
96
Evidence that PMs have tried to distance themselves from the rest of the government and their party
In order to gain personal support.
e.g. BJ distanced himself from conservative parry which had been in power for 9 years,offering the electorate a change.
his personal popularity caused the red wall to be broken.
97
arguments that the PM has NOT become more presidential
1. PM still accountable to legislature and party, both of which can remove them. cant sideline cabinet too much or theyll be removed, like thatcher was.
2. PM still relies on cabinet.
3. events and a divided party limit PM's ability to act presidentailly. e.g. may and truss compared to Blair and Thatcher.
