Parliamentary graffiti?

One of the more arcane methods MPs can use to scrutinise the government are Early Day Motions.  The BBC’s World at One did a great piece recently on the campaign to scrap them.

AS Revision: Constitutional Reform

It seems very much like a case of if it’s Tuesday it must be Cameron’s turn.  But the Tory leader’s announcement on constitutional reforms provides a rich vein of material for those studying for the UK government papers.

Electing and connecting

Lots of good politics in today’s papers, principally in relation to Alan Johnson’s letter to the Times about the need to hold a referendum on electoral reform alongside the vote at the next General Election.

AS revision: decline of Parliament

Geoffrey Wheatcroft has penned a must read article on the role of the House of Commons in today’s Guardian

AS revision: MPs’ expenses

I’ve had a few questions from my groups about the significance of recent events in Parliament and how important it is that they write about it in the forthcoming exams.

AS/A2 revision: Whither Parliament?

The MPs’ expenses row has thrown up a lot of intelligent comment about the purpose of MPs and the role of the legislature in the democratic process.  It is this author’s view that lots of MPs do work hard and perform an effective role, but it’s just that the good work they do does not involve legislating or (with the possible exception of some select committee work) checking the executive.  MPs do work hard in representing their constituents and often serve as a last resort for frightened and frustrated individuals.  Henry Porter in the Observer writes at length about how ineffective MPs are as legislators.  Useful reference material when considering the extent to which Parliament performs its functions effectively, or even in considering the relative effectiveness of legislatures from a synoptic perspective.

House of Straw

The front page of the Guardian today reports that the government is backing the introduction of a number of reforms to how we elect MPs.  Principal among them is the idea that the current first past the post voting system will be replaced with the alternative vote