what is the legislative process in parliament Flashcards
(24 cards)
what is a bill
when a law gets proposed
what is an act
when a law gets passed
what are the challenges presented in parliament when it comes to legislating?
- difference of opinion
- different levels of power e.g. opposition
- debates
- MPs going rogue
- ECHR
what is a public bill
applies to all citizens (put forward by government)
what is a private bill
only applies to a small context/ group
what is a private members bill
put forward by MPs or peers
what are the stages of getting a bill through parliament
- Green Papers
- White Papers
- First Reading
- Second Reading
- Committee Stage
- Report Stage
- Third Reading
- The House of Lords Stage
- Consideration of Amendments
- Royal Assent
what are Green Papers (stage 1)
government document setting out the issues and options for legislation. A discussion document.
what are White Papers (stage 2)
government document setting out the detailed plans and proposals for legislation
what is the First Reading (stage 3)
The formal introduction or reading of the bill’s title by the relevant government minister. there is no vote or debate at this stage.
what is the Second Reading (stage 4)
this is where the main debate on the principles of the bill takes place in the commons chamber. Government defeats at the second reading stage are very rare. The last time being in 1986 when a Sunday Trading Bill was defeated.
what is the Committee Stage (stage 5)
Bills are sent on to Public Bill Committees, the members of which consider the bill line by line, often suggesting amendments and sometimes calling expert witness to help inform debate. Major changes to bills at this stage are unlikely as the government always had majority on the Committee.
what is the Report Stage (stage 6)
During this stage any amendments agreed in the committee stage are considered by the commons, and accepted, rejected or changed. There is also the opportunity for further amendments to be put to the vote.
what is the Third Reading (stage 7)
This is a final debate on the amended version of the bill. No further changes are permitted at this stage.
what is The House of Lords Stage (stage 8)
assuming the bill has got through all it’s commons stages, the process is the repeated in the Lords –> ‘parliamentary ping-pong’ - goes back and fourth until both sides are happy
what is the Consideration of Amendments (stage 9)
more “parliamentary ping-pong “
what is Royal Assent (stage 10)
Monarch’s agreement to sign the bill
what is a free vote
when MPs don’t have to align with their party during a vote
what is the Salisbury Convention
if a bill was in an elected party’s manifesto, HoL won’t block
what is the most common way laws are created
the passing of public bills
efforts Theresa May made to get a Brexit bill through parliament
- negotiating deal with EU
- multiple votes
- offered to resign if MPs backed deal
- tried to compromise with opposition
- asked EU for more time
reasons Theresa May failed
- MPs disagreed
- Irish border problem
- No support from her own party
- opposition parties said no
- poor communication
efforts Boris Johnson made to get Brexit deal through
- changed May’s deal to fix Irish border
- tried to prorogue parliament
- held an election (won big)
- with more support, he got deal passed (UK left EU in January 2020
reasons Johnson succeeded
- Changed deal (got more MPs support)
- clear message, “Get Brexit Done”
- won the election (big majority)
- strong leadership
