Tag: House of Commons

Categories
Blog

A ‘Gender Friendly’ Parliament after GE 2015? The Case for a Women and Equality Committee

Please note that this blog piece was originally published on PolicyBristol Hub on 27 April, and is available here.

By Sarah Childs

The 2015 general election portends an era of  ‘dangerous’ women having undue influence on British politics come May the 8th, if the print and social media are to be believed. Nicola Sturgeon – variously depicted as Miley Cyrus’ ‘wrecking ball’, Putinesque, the woman ‘holding all the aces’ and the ‘most dangerous woman of all’ will be pulling Ed Miliband’s strings. The women’s hug at the end of the Opposition leader’s debate epitomises an apparently ‘red sisterhood’ that will leave the Labour leader defenceless in the face of their collective seductive powers. To make matters worse, Ed’s ‘girly laugh’ (as Guido Fawkes put it) renders him insufficiently manly for the Premiership. All of this might be discounted as election banter, colourful to be sure, but nonetheless underpinned by legitimate concerns about post-election governing arrangements. Be that as it may. Such depictions also re-present Westminster politics as male, opposing and privileging the ‘male-politician-norm’ with the ‘female-politician-pretender’.

Continue reading “A ‘Gender Friendly’ Parliament after GE 2015? The Case for a Women and Equality Committee”
Categories
Blog

Petitions Committee, the most significant reform since 1979 – did you notice it?

By Cristina Leston-Bandeira

Remember the week of the cash-for-access scandal? It was the same week as the infamous interview with Green Party leader Natalie Bennett and the Labour party’s announcement of its policy on university fees. No doubt you remember these. This was also the week when the House of Commons passed a motion to set up a Petitions Committee. Remember that? No, didn’t think so. It is no surprise that in the midst of it all, little notice was given to a motion creating a new Committee. This may seem a small decision of little consequence for wider party politics, however it does signal an important moment in the UK parliament. As was said in the debate: “if we, as Parliament, got this right, it would be the most significant reform since the setting up of Select Committees in 1979”.

Continue reading “Petitions Committee, the most significant reform since 1979 – did you notice it?”
Categories
Blog

Simpler language in Parliament must go hand in hand with simpler processes

By Louise Thompson

One of the key targets outlined in last month’s Digital Democracy Commission report was that the House of Commons should make sure that everyone can understand what it does. One of the examples it gave to demonstrate this was the rather arcane language still used during Parliament’s scrutiny of legislation. As someone who spends most of their time reading bill committee transcripts, I completely understand where they are coming from. How can we expect members of the public to know what MPs mean when they ask to ‘move’ or ‘speak to’ an amendment? Or what it actually means if a clause ‘stands part of a bill’ or an MP asks to ‘beg leave to withdraw the amendment’? And this is all before we get to starred amendments, manuscript amendments and clause stand part debates. Such language, the report says, is a ‘barrier to understanding’.

Continue reading “Simpler language in Parliament must go hand in hand with simpler processes”
Categories
Blog

In Defence of Prime Minister’s Questions

Please note that this blog piece was originally published on the Crick Centre blog on 21 January 2015, and is available here.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg’s suggested this week that prime minister’s questions should be abolished. Today we follow up our blogs on BBC Democracy Day by responding to Clegg’s comments. Marc Geddes, Associate Fellow of the Crick Centre disagrees with Clegg, arguing that he misunderstands how the drama of PMQs helps the public understand how politics works.

Continue reading “In Defence of Prime Minister’s Questions”
Categories
Blog

“A model of good practice and innovation?”: The governance of the House of Commons

By Barry Winetrobe

The recent fiasco over the appointment of a House of Commons Clerk/Chief Executive has led to the appointment of a select committee on House governance chaired by Jack Straw.  It is tasked with reviewing this complex topic, especially allocation of the most senior responsibilities currently held by the Clerk/Chief Executive, and reporting to the House by 12 January 2015.

Continue reading ““A model of good practice and innovation?”: The governance of the House of Commons”
Categories
Blog

Monday Night’s Debate on the European Arrest Warrant will have damaged public perceptions of Parliament

A version of this piece was published on The Conversation on 11 November 2014.

By Louise Thompson

It’s not often that parliamentary procedure hits the headlines. And it’s even less often that delegated legislation does. So the debate (if you can call it that) in the House of Commons about whether the UK would opt in to various parts of European legislation was a rarity indeed.Those watching the House of Commons on Monday evening were treated to a truly confusing spectacle that may have left many disheartened with Parliament – and with democracy.

Continue reading “Monday Night’s Debate on the European Arrest Warrant will have damaged public perceptions of Parliament”
Categories
Blog

Parliament’s digital engagement through issues – a case study: Diabetes in Parliament

By David Cragg and Cristina Leston-Bandeira

Parliaments have been experimenting with public engagement initiatives for some years now. From general cultural and educational initiatives, to far more specific events. From these the main lesson has been that the public engages through issues, not politics per se. Adapting its approach to this principle, the UK parliament has recently been developing new ideas, which try to maximise the idea of engagement through issues, at the same time as using digital means for a wider communication, beyond the usual suspects. Below we present the reflections of someone involved in a recent example of this type of engagement initiative: a #ParliChat around a Westminster Hall debate on the Melbourne Declaration on Diabetes.

Continue reading “Parliament’s digital engagement through issues – a case study: Diabetes in Parliament”
Categories
Blog

What is the problem with the British political class?

By Paul Cairney

It is now commonplace in Britain to bemoan the failings of the ‘political class’. A wide selection of broadcast, print and social media commentators argue that elected politicians in the UK are not representative of their constituents. Instead, they are part of a self-referential ‘political class’ which is increasingly distant from the real world and mistrusted by the public.

Continue reading “What is the problem with the British political class?”
Categories
Blog

One Small Step for Technology, One Giant Leap for the Commons

By Louise Thompson

House of Commons Speaker John Bercow suggested in a speech last week that it “wouldn’t be so heretical” to consider whether Commons votes might in the future be taken with the help of modern technology. Housed in the nineteenth century building is an increasingly techy Parliament and a digitally aware cohort of MPs. In the last few years alone we have seen MPs tweeting directly from the chamber, parliamentary papers delivered to Members’ iPads and speeches given from tablets rather than handwritten notes.  Electronic voting then seems quite a natural progression.

Continue reading “One Small Step for Technology, One Giant Leap for the Commons”