house of lords exerts more influence

• Theme 1: Against - power over legislation

  • power of house of lords in relation to legislation is significantly limited by salisbury convention and parliaments act 1911 and 1049
  • house of commons can invoke parliament act 1949 after a year to force a bill through
  • been used 7 times in total including for equalising the age of consent to 16 for homo/heterosexuals
  • salisbury convention means house of lords shouldn't block any bill that fulfills a pledge in gov election manifesto by voting against it
  • house of commons can vote against amendments by house of lords
• Theme 1: For

  • house of lords can still stand against a bill when it feels justified
  • used to protect human rights or in relation to a bill that has received public backlash
  • 2001 - ten defeats in house of lords led to government removing incitement to religious hatred as an offence
  • house of lords has become more independent
  • since 2019 boris johnson defeated 4 times in the house of commons but 243 times in house of lords
• Theme 2: For - scrutiny of the government

  • house of lords crucial role in scrutinising and revising legislation
  • levelling up and regeneration act 2023 - government accepted 64 house of lords amendments to the bill - 'tactical amendments'
  • house of lords become more professional for example lord andrew adonis
  • house of commons spends little time scrutinising government legislation - mps spent 24% of their time in the chamber between 2006 and 2021 compared to 44% for peers
• Theme 2: Against

  • house of commons providing non legislative scrutiny in a number of ways
  • PMQs enabled the leader of opposition, the leader of the third largest party and backbenchers to direct question the minister every week
  • 8 may 2024 starmer - effectively scrutinise reality of impact of safety of rwanda bill and rwanda plan
  • scrutiny from select committees can have direct impact on gov policy
  • may 2023 accepted all foreign affairs recommendation
• Theme 3: Against - debates and other powers

  • house of commons can hold vote of no confidence and thus bring down government
  • also has exclusive power to uphold a minority government through a confidence and supply agreement
  • 2017 - conservative minority government used a confidence and supply agreement with the DUP in which they agreed to support the conservatives in vote of confidence
  • can exert influence through debates - 11 january 2024 conservative backbencher david davis led a backbench committee debate on SEND provision and funding in the house of commons - attracted media attention
• Theme 3: For

  • house of lords can play a key role in raising the importance of issues through debates
  • can have influence by considering issues that are not focused on by the house of commons due to greater time house of lords has
  • january 18 2024 - house of lords had number of debates on important issues such as climate change, refugee integration, religious education etc
  • allows them to cover a range of topics