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Voting on Military Action in Syria (Part I)

Please note that this piece was published on the UK Constitutional Law Association’s blog on 28 November 2015, and is available here. It has been re-published here with the permission of the author.

By Veronika Fikfak

Next week Members of Parliament will debate and vote on whether to support the Government’s proposal to extend military action against Islamic State (IS) to Syria. On Thursday, the Prime Minister made his case to the House, relying on the new Security Council Resolution to insist that the intervention would be legal. In this post, I analyse the limits of this argument, showing that the Resolution adopted by the Security Council does not unequivocally make the use of force legal. More importantly, however, I make the case that next week MPs should not limit their questions and therefore scrutiny of the Government’s proposals to international (legal) questions but rather turn their attention inwards – to domestic interest, concerns and implications of any future action.

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After the election: Burma’s Pyidaungsu Hluttaw

By Liam Allmark

Last month’s election to Burma’s Pyidaungsu Hluttaw was an historic moment for the country and an important juncture in its ongoing political transition. Unlike the 2010 election which fell short of international standards and was boycotted by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), the majority of Burma’s people were this time able to exercise a real choice.

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The Petitions Committee’s first six months – paving the way for a new style of public engagement

Please note that this piece was originally published on the Constitution Unit blog, and is available here.

The 2015 parliament has seen the establishment of a new Petitions Committee and e-petitions system. Cristina Leston-Bandeira discusses the committee’s initial activity, arguing that it has achieved much in the space of six months and has the potential to pave the way towards a new kind of public engagement with parliament.

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The Art of Oratory in the House of Commons

By Andrew Crines

The House of Commons represents one of the main arenas where our politicians seek to make a name for themselves. Be that in the feisty engagements at PMQs, or more generally through the normal deliberative debates, noteworthy MPs have used the Chamber to orate effectively when pursuing a particular line.

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Select Committees Should Leave the Westminster Bubble

Please note that this piece was originally published on the PSA Insights Blog, available here.

By Leanne-Marie McCarthy-Cotter

Following from yesterday’s launch of the report ‘Building Public Engagement: Options for Developing Select Committee Outreach’, Dr Leanne-Marie McCarthy-Cotter (The Crick Centre, University of Sheffield), discusses the findings from her, Prof. Matthew Flinders and Prof. Ian Marsh’s research. The research was commissioned, and published, by the Liaison Committee. You can access the report in full here.

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Reforming the Italian Senate

Please note that this post was originally published on the UCL Constitution Unit‘s blog, and is available here.

By Roberta Damiani

The UK is far from the only country with a long-standing controversy over the composition and powers of its second chamber. In this post Roberta Damiani provides an update on the latest attempt to reform the Italian Senate. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is proposing to significantly reduce the Senate’s powers, and to move from direct to indirect elections, but it is far from certain that he will be successful.

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Parliamentary Researchers: The unsung heroes of Westminster?

By Robert Dale

‘Much is written about the work of MPs, but comparatively less is written about their staff’ says John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, in the forward to my book How to be a Parliamentary Researcher.

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The impact of academia on Parliament: 45 percent of Parliament-focused impact case studies were from social sciences

Please note that this piece was originally published on the LSE Impact Blog on 19 October (available here), and has been re-published with permission from the Impact Blog and the author.

By Caroline Kenny

The impact case studies, submitted as part for the REF, tell an interesting story about how UK academia interacts with policy at a local, national and international level. Over 40 per cent of cases mentioned impact on policy as part of their narrative.

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Prime Minister’s Questions: Perpetual Pointless Puerile Panto Politics?

By Mark Shephard

Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) attracts a high level of interest because it is the one procedure where the Prime Minister is expected to face questioning in the House of Commons by parliamentarians each week that parliament is sitting. However, it is often derided as an ineffective procedure. For example, in a 2015 radio interview Nick Clegg called it a ‘farce’ that should be ‘scrapped’ and research by the Hansard Society has revealed that large proportions of the public do not like the pantomime point-scoring of PMQs which is perceived to undermine the capacity for effective scrutiny and influence of the government. Even the current PM and the current leader of the largest opposition party don’t like the way it operates. When David Cameron became leader of the Conservative Party in 2005 he called for an end to point-scoring ‘Punch and Judy’ politics. When Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party in 2015 he also wanted less theatre and called for more fact during the procedure.

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No Reform Please we are Canadian: The 2015 Federal Election campaign

By Gary Levy

The last four Parliaments, three minority and one majority, have convinced most Canadian parliamentary scholars that much damage has been done to the constitution. [1] One would think the 2015 election would be a time for parties to put forth ideas to improve what we still refer to as our Westminster model. So far this has not been the case and one wonders if there will be improvement, as opposed to change, after Canadians cast their ballots on October 19. This post look specifically at how issues of electoral reform, House of Commons reform and Senate reform have been treated in the campaign.

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