Share this page!

Constitution Unit Profile picture
Twitter logo
20 Oct, 6 tweets, 3 min read
HUGE defeat in the House of Lords on the #InternalMarketBill - we believe the biggest since Lords reform in 1999

395 peers opposed the government, just 169 supported, a margin of 226. Biggest prior defeat was by 191 on the Counter-Terrorism Bill in 2008

votes.parliament.uk/Votes/Lords/Di…
Total 39 Conservative rebels, incl. recently-resigned Lord Keen and Theresa May's former Chief of Staff Gavin Barwell.

Also Michael Howard and various other former Cabinet ministers.

103 independent Crossbenchers against the govt; just one in favour. All 7 Bishops against.
The vote was on the 'regret' motion proposed by former Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge.

To regret "that Part 5 of the bill contains provisions which, if enacted, would undermine the rule of law and damage the reputation of the United Kingdom.”
lordsbusiness.parliament.uk/ItemOfBusiness…
For details of all government defeats in the House of Lords since 2005 see our website below (today's will be added soon).

The previously biggest defeat since 1999 was on 13 October 2008. The 2nd biggest was just before these records began, in March 2005

ucl.ac.uk/constitution-u…
Worth a reminder of this recent piece by Meg Russell on our blog.

It predicted: "Peers will most likely want provisions which explicitly entertain the possibility of breaking international law taken completely out of the bill"

So what next? Read on...

constitution-unit.com/2020/09/13/wil…
Very useful summary here of the constitutional position re next steps in a showdown between the Lords & the government on the #InternalMarketBill

Explained succinctly in the speech by former Cabinet Secretary Lord Butler, via Lord Anderson (@bricksilk)

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Constitution Unit

Constitution Unit Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ConUnit_UCL

Constitution Unit Profile picture
23 Sep
NEW BLOG🧵(1/14)

@CommonsProcCom Chair Karen Bradley argues that the system of proxy votes + in-person voting for MPs during the pandemic is flawed & puts parliament at risk

Ahead of a debate today, she proposes a temporary return to remote divisions

constitution-unit.com/2020/09/23/req…
2/14: The Commons Procedure Committee last week published its report on proxy voting in the House; today MPs will vote on whether to continue to permit its use for baby leave, and will consider proxies as a means of managing COVID-related absences.
3/14: Although the pilot scheme for baby leave did not satisfy everyone, the Procedure Committee concluded that it had worked well, and the motion to be debated today proposes to make that system permanent.
Read 14 tweets
Constitution Unit Profile picture
10 Sep
We're joining @involveUK this morning for the launch of the #ClimateAssemblyUK report 📖

Over 100 citizens from across the UK met for four weekends of learning, deliberating and voting

Watch the live stream from the @NetZeroUK home page
climateassembly.uk
2/ The assembly was established by six select committees to inform their work on how the UK can meet its target of net zero by 2050.

It is designed to strengthen and support decision making in parliament by providing a valuable body of evidence about the views of the public.
3/ The 108 assembly members who committed nearly 60 hours to the process, came from “all walks of life and across the UK”. The youngest was 16 and the oldest 79, including people who work for the NHS, business owners, full time carers and many others.
Read 8 tweets
Constitution Unit Profile picture
1 Sep
NEW BLOG: With the Commons returning today, Meg Russell reviews 13 episodes in Boris Johnson's relationship with parliament during his 13 months as Prime Minister.

This relationship has often been remarkably rocky. But is that sustainable?

constitution-unit.com/2020/09/01/bor…
1. Becoming PM on 24 July 2019, Johnson held office for just 1 day before MPs broke up for summer recess.

There was no immediate chance to quiz the detail of his Brexit plans, and no chance to recall parliament (as that is controlled by the government).

constitution-unit.com/2019/07/23/pre…
2. The defining controversy was then Johnson's attempt to prorogue parliament for five weeks as the Brexit deadline approached.

In a case where one challenger was former Prime Minister John Major, this was overturned in the Supreme Court.

constitution-unit.com/2019/09/27/the…
Read 15 tweets
Constitution Unit Profile picture
26 Aug
/1

BLOG POST: Members of the Innovation in Democracy Programme team give a valuable insight into the methods, challenges & lessons learnt from running citizens’ assemblies in 3 local authorities in a year that included a snap general election & Covid-19

bit.ly/34vVJxj
/2

IiDP was set up in 2019 by @DCMS & @mhclg w/@involveUK @demsoc @mySociety @theRSAorg to:
🗣️Give local people more opportunities to have a say in decisions affecting them
🤝Build trust between citizens and local authorities
💪Strengthen civil society

bit.ly/3hnNtD3
/3

This video follows the story of three participants involved in IiDP citizens’ assemblies, giving a unique insight into the process from the perspective of those taking part. #demopart

Read 5 tweets
Constitution Unit Profile picture
19 Aug
1/
 NEW BLOGPOST: @alanjrenwick & @MichelaPalese, authors of the Unit’s Doing Democracy Better report, write about the govt’s new election transparency rules for @prospect_uk. They conclude that while the rules are a welcome step, they don’t go far enough.
bit.ly/31crmKh
2/
The rules will require online election materials to carry an imprint – a disclosure stating the name and address of whoever is promoting and paying for them. The rules will apply to material regardless of where in the world it comes from & will be in force all year round.
3/

With online campaigning growing in importance—from less than 1% of campaign ad spending a decade ago to near half today - the new rules are long overdue. The Electoral Commission has called for such a move since 2003. Image
Read 7 tweets
Constitution Unit Profile picture
14 Aug
ON THE BLOG: Do men and women communicate differently in the House of Commons?

@LotteHargrave and @TLangengen have analysed speeches delivered in UK parliamentary debates between 1997 and 2016 and find there are gender differences in how MPs talk.

bit.ly/3iEITQZ

1/
The blog post summarises a new article, 'The Gendered Debate: Do Men and Women Communicate Differently in the House of Commons', published in @PoliticsGenderJ (full text below).

The authors assess the widely held belief that male & female MPs have different political styles.
2/
They find while there are some overlaps, there is compelling evidence for a number of differences too: women are more likely to evidence arguments with personal experience, discuss policies in a more concrete way, and are less adversarial than men.

3/ Image
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get email notifications when new thread is out from this Author!

Check out other threads from this Author!

Read all threads by @ConUnit_UCL