Parliament and Government, 2005–06: Reforms and Reflections

Abstract

1THE role of parliament vis-a-vis the government has come under persistent discussion as we approach the final months of the 2005–06 session. The House of Lords has continued to inflict defeats on the government, with the current total exceeding the average per session between 1999–2000 and 2004–05. Parliamentary pressure has been evident in the changes to the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill as well as through the Modernisation committee’s investigation into the legislative process at Westminster. The government’s proposals to alter the relationship between Westminster and the National Assembly for Wales (NAW) have made their way through the legislative process and not without opposition. The most controversial aspect of the plans turned out to be the proposal to prevent candidates for the NAW from standing for election in constituencies as well as on party lists. But the legislation will also separate out the Welsh Assembly Government from the assembly itself and, at the same time, hand secondary legislative powers to the new Assembly Government. This would leave the assembly with a reduced role in a major aspect of the NAW’s activities. The imbalance of power between the government and the assembly in Wales could be altered by the proposed allocation of primary legislative powers to the NAW, but this is currently a long way off. 2 At Westminster, the government has continued to suffer rebellions in the Commons over recent months. Votes against the government among Labour MPs were on a large scale for the Education and Inspections Bill. At second reading, the government would not have won had Conservative MPs chosen to vote against the bill. At report stage, 69 Labour MPs rebelled. This amounted to the largest proportion of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) voting against the government on domestic legislation under Blair. 3 The third reading saw another record broken, with the largest rebellion by Labour MPs under a Labour administration at this stage of a government bill. 4 At the time of writing, this bill is in the House of Lords where the government has not yet suffered any defeats. There were also some minor rebellions on the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill at its report stage in May 2006. The small scale of these revolts surely results from the significant amendments