Tag: Jack Simson Caird
Does the House of Commons have power without influence?
The impasse over the Withdrawal Agreement has highlighted the inability of the House of Commons to shape the substance of the Brexit deal. There is a growing sense of frustration at the apparent unwillingness of MPs to face up to the limited choices before them, writes Jack Simson Caird. A key lesson from the Article 50 process is that the UK needs a parliamentary system which is more oriented towards consensus and that is less adversarial, he concludes.
The Constitutional Standards of the House of Lords’ Constitution Committee: A valuable tool for enhancing scrutiny
To mark the launch of the second edition of The Constitutional Standards of the House of Lords Constitution Committee, Jack Simson Caird considers the role that a set of constitutional standards could play in the current government. Drawing on the example of English votes for English laws, he argues that such a code would increase […]
Book Review: Democratic Decline and Democratic Renewal: Political Change in Britain, Australia and New Zealand
Ian Marsh and Raymond Miller link the decreasing quality of democracy to the failings of political parties in Democratic Decline and Democratic Renewal. This detailed study of the politics of the UK, Australia and New Zealand is an ambitious attempt both to document decline and to reverse the trend, finds Jack Simson Caird, who is impressed by the […]
Little to lose and much to gain: making more use of soft law codes of standards in Westminster
The Constitution Unit of University College London recently published a report which sets out a code of constitutional standards based on the reports of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution. Jack Simson Caird talks through the rationale for – and findings of – the new report, which has the potential to improve greatly our […]
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