The Constitution in Review - Third Report from the United Kingdom Constitution Monitoring

20.500.12592/5z5rjd

The Constitution in Review - Third Report from the United Kingdom Constitution Monitoring

11 Oct 2022

In the foreword to the new Code, moreover, the Prime Minister appeared to present the text as applying to ministers rather than the premier, stressing the idea that he answered to Parliament and the electorate. [...] Such steps as were taken or committed to under Johnson to improve the enforcement of standards – such as changes to the Ministerial Code and the role of the Adviser, or the establishment of a new Office of the Prime Minister – did not seem adequate to the task, and certainly failed to offset other, growing problems. [...] As with many such practices, there is an absence of precision over the obligations to which the government is subject.25 Nonetheless, the ability of the House of Commons to vest and remove confidence in the government of the day is the central feature of the accountability relationship between the two, and ensures a connection between the votes of members of the public as cast in general elections. [...] It initiated them on 22 April, when the Commons agreed a motion in the name of the Leader of the Opposition: ‘That this House— (1) notes that, given the issue of fixed penalty notices by the police in relation to events in 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office, assertions the Rt hon Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip has made on the floor of the House about the legality of activities in 10 D. [...] The Bill is unprecedented in its cavalier treatment of Parliament, the EU and the Government’s international obligations.’31 Delegated powers can also raise concerns with regard to the potential diminution of the autonomy of the devolved systems; and the undermining of the rule of law (principles 16-19).
Pages
86
Published in
United Kingdom