Author: Publisher:
ISBN: 9781910812884
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Losing Confidence
Fixed-term Parliaments. A Bill to Provide for Fixed-term Parliaments
Author: Fixed-term Parliaments Bill
Author: Great Britain. Parliament House of Lords. Select Committee on the ConstitutionPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Elections
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
This report considers the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill which would remove the Prime Minister's power to call an election at the time of his choosing, and sets a five year fixed term, subject to the possibility of early dissolution following a vote by the House of Commons. It examines the key issues of the Bill's principals as well as the process by which it was brought forward. The Committee takes the view that the origins and content of the Bill owe more to short-term considerations than to a mature assessment of enduring constitutional principles or sustained public demand. In the view of the majority of the Committee, the shift from a five year maximum to five year norm would inconsistent with the Government's stated aim of making the legislature more accountable; with existing constitutional practice; and with the practice of the devolved institutions and the clear majority in international legislatures. However the Committee does accept that an elected government should have a full term in which to develop their policies and take their legislative programme through Parliament. It considers a four year term should be adopted for any fixed-term arrangement at Westminster. Potential date clashes with elections to the devolved institutions should also be avoided. Some form of safety valve which would allow for an early election in circumstances such as the government losing the confidence of the Commons or where a political or economic crisis has affected the country is also necessary. The report also makes several specific recommendations for amendments for the Bill.
Fixed-term Parliaments Bill
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Political and Constitutional Reform CommitteePublisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215554772
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 78
Book Description
This is the 2nd report from the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee (HCP 436, session 2010-11, ISBN 9780215554772), and examines the Fixed Terms Parliament Bill (HCB 64, session 2001-11, ISBN 9780215546296). The principle behind the Fixed-Term Parliaments Bill is that it is wrong that a Prime Minister should be able to time a general election to his own partisan advantage. Due to the speed of the Bill being expedited through Parliament, there has been no prior consultation on pre-legislation, which the Committee believes the issue deserves. If the Bill is enacted, the Committee expects that future Parliaments would run for their full fixed term, and that this will become an unremarkable aspect of our modern democracy. The proposed requirement for a super-majority in the House of Commons to vote for an early general election is novel for the United Kingdom, and the consequences of the provisions for confidence motions contained in the Bill are uncertain. The report proposes two options that the House may wish to explore as possible ways of simplifying the provisions in the Bill for ending the fixed term prematurely: (i) a super-majority might not be necessary if a Parliament following an early general election lasted for only as long as the remainder of the term of the previous Parliament; (ii) a super-majority could be dispensed with if an early general election could be called only with cross-party agreement. Dispensing with the super-majority could also arguably avoid the need for separate provision for an early general election where no government could be formed that commanded the confidence of the House. The Clerk of the House believes that the Bill as currently drafted could allow the courts to question aspects of the House's internal proceedings.
Fixed-term Parliaments Bill
Author: Great Britain. Parliament House of LordsPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Elections
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Fixed-term Parliaments Bill
Author: Great Britain. Parliament House of CommonsPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Elections
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Fixed-term Parliaments Bill a Bill to Provide for Fixed-term Parliaments
Author: Fixed-term Parliaments Bill
Author: Great Britain. Parliament House of CommonsPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Elections
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Fixed-term Parliaments Bill
Author: Great Britain. Parliament House of LordsPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Elections
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Governing Britain
Author: Philip NortonPublisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526145464
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
Who governs Britain? Is Parliament sovereign? Who chooses the Prime Minister? And who enforces the rules? The United Kingdom is in the throes of political and constitutional conflict. Tensions between different Westminster and Holyrood, and between the UK and the European Union, are part of a wider picture of constitutional flux. The United Kingdom is one of only three nations that does not have the principal provisions of the organs of state, nor is how they relate to one another and to the citizen embodied in a single document. Devolution and Brexit have given rise to calls for a codified constitution, but the debate has taken place against a background of confusion and uncertainty as to existing constitutional arrangements. We must first understand what already exists and how our constitution works today. This deeply informed and elegantly written book addresses the problems that have arisen in the context of the greatest political crisis our country has faced in decades.