UK PEv

• Magna Carta - 1215 - first example of parliament limiting power of the king, not very relevant today
• Bill of Rights - 1689 - established parliament almost as we know it, regular, free but unelected, did not protect the rights of individuals
• Parliament Acts - 1911, 1949 - severely limited the power of the lords, increased democratic processes in the UK
• European Communities Act - 1972 - UK joins the EEC, limited parliamentary sovereignty, but benefited the economy with free trade and movement
• Supreme Court Act - 2005 - established the supreme court, protecting Rule of Law
• House of Lords Reform Act - 2014 - only 92 members are hereditary peers, now 90% of the Lords are "Life Peers"
• Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Acts - 1998 - Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales can form their own parliaments (devolution)
• Equality Act - 2010 - prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion and belief
• "Parliament can do anything it wants, except turn a man into a woman" - John Stuart Mill
• "Any group of collective, large or small, is only a number of individuals. A group can have no rights other than the rights of its individual members... A group as such has no rights" - Ayn Rand
• August 2019 - attempted 5 week prorogation of parliament by Boris Johnson to try and get Brexit through parliament, but prevented by the Supreme court. Lady Hale (The Spider) called it "Illegal, null and void"
• COVID rule of 6 - 6 people in a household, 6 metres apart, published only an hour and a half before it came into law
• Brexit - 31st January 2020 - Britain left EU
• Cooper Letwin Act - 2019 - passed in a few days, forced the PM to come to an agreement over Brexit
• EU Withdrawl Act (Benn Act) - 2019 - forced the PM to work quickly and efficiently to get a deal through Parliament
• 56 Labour MPs rebelled and voted for a ceasefire in Gaza in 2023
• The Opposition changed government policy in the 2009 Gurkha citizens status
• In 2018 the Opposition's policies when they could choose the debate for the day were the NHS, Grenfell tower and school funding
• The last time the second reading of a government bill failed was in 1986
• Julian Knight won his place as select committee chair by only 9 votes
• The health committee was led by Sarah Wollaston who had been a GP
• Prima Inter Paris - first amongst equals
• The investigatory powers act (2016) had additional clauses added to protect journalists during the committee stage
• Only 0.5% of opposition amendments at the committee stage are accepted
• Only 8% of MPs on Public Bill committees are also on the relevant departmental committee
• The chair for the Environmental, Food and Rural affairs Committee was Robert Parish who has a farming background
• From 2007-2017 there have been 59 hearings about ministerial appointments within select committees, 13 of which divided the committee or have been rejected
• Select committees produced 267 reports between 2017 and 2019, 56% of which were Brexit related
• The government accepts 40% of committee reccomendations
• In 2014 the Communications Committee (Lords) produced a report on televised election debates
• Robert Warpole was the first PM
• The Ministerial code - 1992 - set out the rules governing ministers' conduct
• In 2017 no party had an overall majority, but Theresa May became PM as she was the leader of the largest party
• Harold Wilson retired in the middle of his term as PM in 1976
• In 2020, the cabinet was responsible for the fast paced response to the COVID-19 crisis without having to go through parliament
• During COVID-19 Boris Johnson advised people to stay at home, but for it to have any real effect the Coronavirus Act 2020 had to be passed through parliament
• "The head of the British Government is not a Grand Vizier. He has no powers properly so called, over his colleagues" - William Gladstone, ex PM
• "The first essential for a PM is to be a good butcher" - Herbert Asquith, ex PM
• "I'm not a good Butcher but I have learned to carve the joint" - Margaret Thatcher
• "The office of PM is what the holder chooses and is able to make of it" - Herbert Asquith, ex PM