→Rights
Politics Notes（對話 | 貢獻） 無編輯摘要 |
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|Freedom of Information Act 2000: Gave greater access to information held by public bodies | |Freedom of Information Act 2000: Gave greater access to information held by public bodies | ||
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| rowspan=" | | rowspan="7" |Devolution | ||
|The new system was one of asymmetric devolution | |||
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|The Scottish parliament with primary legislative and tax-raising powers | |The Scottish parliament with primary legislative and tax-raising powers | ||
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|Elected Mayors in some English authorities | |Elected Mayors in some English authorities | ||
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|West Lothian Question: | |||
"Why should Scottish MPs be able to vote on English matters at Westminster, | |||
when English MPs cannot vote on matters devolved to the Scottish Parliament" | |||
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|Electoral Reform | |Electoral Reform | ||
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| rowspan="2" |Parliamentary Reform | | rowspan="2" |Parliamentary Reform | ||
|All but 92 hereditary peers removed from the Lords | |All but 92 hereditary peers removed from the Lords (HoL Act 1999) | ||
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|Limited reforms to the workings of the House of Commons | |Limited reforms to the workings of the House of Commons | ||
Changes to the PMQ | |||
Working hours of the Commons | |||
2009 Reform of the Commons Committee (chaired by Tony Wright) | |||
* chars of selected committees to be elected by backbenchers | |||
* a backbench business committee to determine the business of the Commons for 1 day each week | |||
* a petitions committee to select issues for debate that have been suggested by the public via e-petitiobs | |||
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| rowspan="4" |Judiciary | | rowspan="4" |Judiciary | ||
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|Changes to the role of the Lord Chancellor | |Changes to the role of the Lord Chancellor | ||
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== The Conservatives and Constitutional Reform 2010-16 == | |||
=== The Coalition and Constitutional Reform 2010-15 === | |||
Coalition governments inevitably involve a degree of compromise. | |||
Only 5 can be seen as worthy of more detailed consideration. | |||
'''''Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011''''' | |||
Established a pattern of fixed general elections every 5 yrs. | |||
removed the PM's ability to call an election at an advantageous time. | |||
'''''Scotland Act 2012''''' | |||
Gave the Scottish government the power to vary income tax up or down y 10 pence in the pound and devolved further powers to the Scottish Parliament. | |||
Allowed the Scottish government to borrow up to 2.2B per annum. | |||
'''''Protection of Freedoms Act 2012''''' | |||
Offered citizens greater protection from the state | |||
By putting in place proper scrutiny of the security services and oversight of surveillance and data collection. | |||
'''''House of Lords Reform Act 2014''''' | |||
aimed at halting the inexorable increase in the number of those eligible to sit and vote in the Lords | |||
by giving existing peers the right to retire or resign | |||
it also allowed peers to be removed as a result of serious criminal offences or non-attendance | |||
54 peers had resigned under the terms of the Act by 2016 | |||
with a further 4 removed as a result of non-attendance | |||
'''''Wales Act 2014''''' | |||
UKGOV's response to the Silk Commission's recommendations on further devolution to Wales | |||
transferred control of some smaller taxes to devolved institutions in Wales | |||
put in place a mechanism by which devolution of other lower-level taxes could be developed with the approval of Westminster | |||
provided the legal framework required for a Welsh referendum on the partial devolution of income tax | |||
symbolically changed the name of the Welsh executive from the Welsh Assembly Government to the Welsh Government. | |||
=== The Conservatives and Constitutional Reform, 2015 onwards === | |||
'''"English votes for English Laws"''' | |||
only English MPs should be allowed to vote on measures identified as affecting only England. | |||
== Should the UK adopt a Codified Constitution == | |||
=== Arguments in Favour === | |||
provide greater clarity on what is and what is not constitutional | |||
rules governing the political system would be set out in an authoritative document | |||
reducing ambiguities | |||
rights of citizens would be given further constitutional protection | |||
a codified constitution would tackle the centralisation of power by setting limits on the power of the executive and introducing more effective institutional checks and balances | |||
local and subnational governments would enjoy constitutional protection | |||
=== Arguments Against === | |||
it would remove the flexibility and adaptability | |||