“Critically evaluate the relationship between Members of Parliament, political parties and pressure groups in the formation of legislation.” By Jade Pickett (March 2012) Introduction Parliament is the law-­‐making arm of the state, consisting of the House of Commons, House of Lords and the Monarchy, and together they hold complete parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom. They have unlimited and unquestionable power and the ability to make and change laws when it feels right to do so. Before new law is made, it must pass through the legislative process; however it is not parliament alone who forms the new legislation. In this essay, I plan to evaluate the relationship between MPs, political parties and pressure groups to assess their influence on government and the formation of legislation. Formation of Legislation The proposal of a new law is published in draft as a consultation document called a Green Paper, usually by a Member of Parliament who is responsible for the issue. The government will invite comments and response from the public on the general aims of the proposals for reform, possibly causing the law to change or develop. Following this, a White Paper will be issued laying out firm proposals on the topic of concern, and again will be followed by a period of public consultation. These two stages are what are known as the pre-­‐legislative process. The bill will then be formally introduced into the House of Commons where it will be debated through a series of readings. The First Reading is a formal procedure where the name and aims of the Bill are read out and, typically, there will be no discussion. A majority vote is taken from the MPs on whether the Bill should be continued, starting verbally with a simple ‘Aye’ to continue or ‘No’ to discontinue. However, if there is no clear distinction of agreement, the MPs will have to exit the House of Commons and return through special doors; a ‘continue’ door or a ‘discontinue’ door, where the number of MPs for each door are recorded by two ‘tellers’. If the Bill is chosen to be continued, it will progress to the Second Reading, which is the debate on the main principles of the Bill rather than the smaller details. The Speaker of the House of Commons controls the debate, and in order to contribute the MPs must first catch the Speaker’s eye. At the end of this reading, a vote is taken like at the end of the First Reading, where there again must be a majority to progress the Bill any further. After the second reading, the Committee Stage is then initiated. Here, a Standing Committee of between 16 and 50 MPs is chosen specifically for that Bill, usually because they have a special interest or qualifications. The Standing Committee will scrutinize the each clause of the Bill to examine the workability. If the committee then have any amendments, they will be debated in the House of Commons in the Report Stage, where they will be accepted or rejected. Jade Pickett February 2012 Page 1 Following this stage, the final vote on the Bill will take place during the Third Reading. Having reached this position, it is unlikely that the Bill will be defeated at this stage. There is only further debate if at least six MPs request it. If the Bill began in the House of Commons, then it will be passed to the House of Lords where it undergoes the same five stages aforementioned. If the House of Lords then make amendments to the Bill, it will be passed by to the House of Commons for consideration. If the Bill began in the House of Lords, then it will be passed onto the House of Commons. The Bill can only become an Act of Parliament if it successfully completes all the necessary stages in Parliament, including passing through both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Bills tend to start in the House of Commons due to party control in the Commons, meaning government bills are rarely defeated. Furthermore, the Houses are not equal in their power to create legislation. The Parliamentary Acts 1911 and 1949 allows a Bill to become an Act of Parliament even if the House of Lords reject it provided that the Bill is reintroduced into the House of Commons and passes all the stages there. The House of Lords only have the power to delay this Bill for up to one year. The final stage is Royal Assent, where the Monarch gives formal approval of the Bill, thus becoming an Act of Parliament. However, under the Royal Assent Act 1961, the Monarch is only given the short title of the Bill without any text, therefore limiting the Monarch’s powers. The Act of Parliament will come into force at midnight of that day. Roles and Influences of Members of Parliament Members of Parliament are elected by the public every five years in keeping with the 650 constituencies of the Country. Their role is to represent the views and concerns of their constituents, which can be raised in the House of Commons. If there is sufficient publicity, Government may be persuaded to act. MPs have a considerable amount of association with the formation of legislation as they are responsible for most of the laws that are passed today. A major influence that MPs have on the formation of legislation is their power to introduce Bills in the form of Green and White Papers, which often proceed to become laws. MPs then have further influence on the proposed Bills as they are the ones who debate, vote and make amendments on the Bill. This ability allows the Bills that are introduced to be subjected to their own views and their political parties certain manifestos. MPs can also influence the creating of new laws by their power to introduce Private Member Bills, affecting specific individuals or corporations but not the nation as a whole. Although, Private Member Bills rarely progress on to become law they can cause a public reaction which may have an effect on legislation indirectly. There are two ways in which a Private Member Bill can be passed; the Ballot or the Ten Minute Rule. The Ballot is where 20 private members are selected to present their Bill to parliament. Since the time for debate of the Private Member Bills is limited, only the first six or seven private members realistically will be given the opportunity to present their Bill. A major example of a Private Member Bill is the Abortion Act 1967 which was introduced by the MP David Steel and legalised abortion in the UK. Jade Pickett February 2012 Page 2 The alternative method of issuing a Private Members Bill is the ‘Ten Minute Rule’, which is commonly used to express views on existing legislation. Under this method, any MP can make a speech of up to ten minutes, arguing the principles of their Bill. Providing there is no opposition to this Bill, it stands a chance of being successful. However, this rarely occurs and a Private Member Bill has a smaller chance of becoming law when introduced by the Ten Minute Rule. An act that was successful was the Bail (Amendment) Act 1993, which allowed prosecution the right to appeal against the defendant being granted bail. An MPs decision to introduce a Bill may be influenced by pressure groups; the more pressure being exerted by the pressure groups makes it more likely that the MP will pass or amend a Bill. This therefore demonstrates the relationship between MPs and pressure groups. An example is the Hunting Act 2004, which was an extremely controversial matter. Pro-­‐hunting groups fought to keep hunting legalised, applying a great deal of pressure to the MPs. On the contradicting side of the debate, anti-­‐hunting and animal cruelty organisations campaigned for the Bill to be passed and applied a vast amount of pressure on MPs again. This pressure was successful and in 2005 hunting became illegal in England and Wales. This example demonstrates the firm influence that pressure groups can have on MPs. Although the MPs have a forceful influence on formation of legislation, they themselves can also be heavily influenced by individuals and pressure groups. Roles and Influence of Political Parties Although there are many political parties throughout the United Kingdom, the 3 dominant parties in the House of Commons are Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The current government is a coalition with the Conservatives (led by David Cameron) and the Liberal Democrats (led by Nick Clegg), meaning that they must agree on policies and share the power, and having a shared manifesto for the coalition enables a wider range of proposals for new laws. It also means that there are currently more seats in the House of Commons for Conservatives and Liberal Democrats than there are for Labour and other minority parties, such as the Green Party. However, this does not mean to say that these parties have no influence on the formation of legislation, quite contrary to this fact. The constant criticisms of proposed policies by rival minority parties mean that the main party in the House of Commons can never pass any law it wishes. The proposed policies are questioned and debated for long periods of time with these rival parties, influencing the Bills by their conflicting views and opinions. For example, by voting against a proposed Bill, opposing parties can influence a Bill into being abandoned, so the legislation is never formed. Each political party has a strong influence over their MPs. The MPs belong to the party of which is most representative of their own views and ideologies, therefore causing them to support that particular party. On occasion, an MP’s own beliefs may conflict with that of the party they support, usually causing the MPs to suppress their own beliefs and follow that of their party. If they contradict their party however, the MP may be expelled from that party, a process called ‘withdrawing the whip’. As most MPs wish to remain under that particular Jade Pickett February 2012 Page 3 party, they will support the party’s decisions whatever the circumstance. Therefore, political parties have a major influence over an MPs beliefs and decisions. Political parties can also have an influence over the formation of legislation through their manifestos. Each party creates a manifesto of proposed reforms or new laws that they wish to make if they come into power. The manifesto of the party is likely to influence new laws as the laws would have already been set out in the manifesto itself. Political parties can also be influenced themselves. For example, pressure groups and public opinions can also have great influence over the parties. The media coverage of a certain political party can have great influence, as the public opinion is directly affected by how the media portrays the party. ‘Spin doctors’ are people who are known to steer the media into portraying a party in a positive light, making the party appeal to the public to gain as many votes as possible from the electorate. Tony Blair had a ‘spin doctor’ called Alistair Campbell between the years 1994 and 2003. A public opinion may be shown in the form of a public demonstration. These demonstrations may then cause the issue to be debated in parliament, as the government wishes to show the electorate that their input is important and uphold a reputation as listening and caring party, which could in turn gain them more votes during elections. These pressure groups then therefore have an influence on political parties, demonstrating the relationship between the two. Roles and Influence of Pressure Groups A pressure group is an organisation that shares the same strong beliefs and ideas and takes action on these beliefs, in order to influence political decisions. Some of these pressure groups are known as ‘insider groups’ and have close links with the government, allowing them to have direct influence over the government’s decisions, known as ‘direct methods’. However, most are referred as ‘outsider groups’ which operate outside of the government by using a more public approach of promoting their opinions. There are various options available to pressure groups for publicising their views, including the media, such as campaigns that are often aired on the news or administering petitions against government laws or reforms. Another option is to write directly to their MP expressing their concerns over certain issues. The relationship between pressure groups and political parties is one that plays a massive role on the formation of legislation, with their impact being surprisingly significant. Many pressure groups are successful in receiving public sympathy for their cause. If a political party is seen to be unconcerned by the pressure groups principles, then they may become unpopular with the electorate and loose votes. In addition, a pressure group is willing to fund the electoral campaign of the party that agrees with their views (known as the cooperative legislator). This added financial support for the party means that the group will have even more influence on the laws that the party makes should they come into power. If a political party should refuse to help one of these pressure groups, then they can agree to vote in union, meaning that they will vote against that particular party, or the ‘non-­‐cooperative legislator’. This further reveals the relationship between pressure groups and political parties. Jade Pickett February 2012 Page 4 Pressure groups are relied on by MPs to provide them with information with insight to public views which may be useful in assessing whether the nation in general will support certain laws that the government intends to make. As aforementioned, the Hunting Act 2004 was an example of pressure groups effects on the Governments laws, as the League of Cruel Sports showed disgust towards fox hunting, lobbying to prohibit this activity by influencing a change in the law to prohibit this activity. On the other side of the argument, the Countryside Alliance tried to prevent fox hunting from being outlawed. This debate caused a lot of political tension, as there were two pressure groups with conflicting concerns. Also, the formation of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is another example of the government being influenced by pressure groups. This demonstrates the relationship between MPs and pressure groups, of which pressure groups are in an influential and persuasive position. Conclusion In conclusion, Members of Parliament, political parties and pressure groups all play a significant role in the passing of new Acts of Parliament. With each body’s input, the MPs can in turn pass laws that suit the needs of the people and would benefit the country as a whole. Political parties propose new laws to be made through their manifestos, and the MPs scrutinise and pass these laws. However, this whole process can only be successfully completed if firstly the public show an interest in these proposed laws. The voice of the public expressed through pressure groups are critically important and must be taken into consideration when forming new legislation. This relationship between MPs, political parties and pressure groups at present appears to work well, although it is questionable as to whether reforming certain factors, such as MPs having to restrain their views in order to present those of their party’s, would be beneficial. Bibliography 1. Jacqueline Martin, 2010, The English Legal System, Hodder Education, ISBN 978-­‐1-­‐444-­‐10758-­‐6 2. http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/parliament-­‐government-­‐and-­‐politics/legislative-­‐
process/ (accessed 19 Feb 2012) 3. http://pa.oxfordjournals.org/content/XXX/4/356.extract (accessed 19 Feb 2012) 4. http://www.spinwatch.org.uk/reviews-­‐mainmenu-­‐24/48-­‐lobbying/245-­‐the-­‐agents-­‐of-­‐
influence-­‐mps-­‐and-­‐lobbying-­‐companies (accessed 19 Feb 2012) 5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting_Act_2004 (accessed 20 Feb 2012) 6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability_Discrimination_Act_1995 (accessed 20 Feb 2012) 7. Dr Jepson’s Laws Blog Jade Pickett February 2012 Page 5