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| Labour’s defence policy review open Posted: 19 Jan 2016 03:43 AM PST
The Shadow Defence Secretary, Emily Thornberry MP, has launched Labour's Defence Policy Review, publishing its terms of reference and calling on Labour Party members, affiliates and the wider public to contribute to its work. The review will examine how the safety of the British people can best be secured in the global conditions of the 21st century. It follows the Conservative government's failure to offer a serious strategic response to the threats the country faces in its own defence and security review last year. Labour's review will consider the whole range of defence challenges, including the future of the Trident nuclear weapons programme. Thornberry was asked by Jeremy Corbyn to lead the defence review, which is to be 'comprehensive, open and inclusive, and its conclusions will be based on the evidence', and to encourage the widest possible participation of party members and the public. Initial contributions are invited before 30 April 2016. There is no actual time limit set on the review, but Thornberry is aiming to publish an interim report in June 2016. Reports will go forward to the Labour Party's National Policy Forum (NPF) and the Annual Conference for agreement. Thornberry said: "This will be a comprehensive review of Britain's defence challenges and options for the 21st century. “We will encourage the widest possible participation of Labour party members and affiliates, as well as defence specialists, NGOs and the armed forces. "At every stage of the process, we will give full scope to the wide range of views on this subject in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust." All submissions are welcome and can be made using this email address. To read Labour's Defence Policy Review, click here.  |
| Posted: 19 Jan 2016 03:25 AM PST
The government has published the review by Lord Strathclyde on secondary legislation and the relationship between the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Strathclyde was asked in October to consider how to secure the decisive role of the House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters and secondary legislation. He appointed an unpaid expert panel of parliamentary and legal experts and worked with them to look at options for providing the House of Commons with a decisive role in secondary legislation and produce the report with him. The members of the panel were Jacqy Sharpe, former Clerk of Legislation in the House of Commons and Commons Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions in 2006, Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments. The report details 3 possible options: Option 1 would remove the House of Lords from the statutory instrument procedure altogether – to take statutory instruments through the House of Commons only; Option 2 would seek to retain the present role of the House of Lords but clarify the restrictions on how its powers should be exercised, by codifying them passing a resolution; and Option 3 is a compromise option would create a new procedure in primary legislation. The new procedure would allow the House of Lords to ask the House of Commons to think again when a disagreement exists but gives the final say to the elected House of Commons. His report has recommended option 3. Strathclyde said: "In my review, I have looked carefully at the history and current practice of the House of Lords as it regards secondary legislation and financial matters and I have spoken to a wide range of parliamentarians. "I believe that my recommendations strike the right balance between preserving the vital role of the House of Lords in scrutinising legislation, and enabling the elected House of Commons to have a decisive role on statutory instruments." Remarking on the review, the Constitution Unit, an independent, non-partisan research centre based in the Department of Political Science at University College London, said the Strathclyde report proposes a reduction in the chamber’s powers over secondary legislation, which is likely to prove controversial with members of the Lords, and particularly with the Labour opposition. But there are also changes that members of the Lords themselves urgently want: in particular control over the chamber’s size and unregulated prime ministerial appointments. Professor Meg Russell, director of the Constitution Unit, therefore suggested that there could now be a deal to be struck. Russell said: “The Strathclyde report sets out ambitious proposals to reduce the House of Lords’ powers. “This would be the first such reduction since 1949, and Strathclyde’s preferred option can only be achieved through legislation – which the House of Lords itself will be reluctant to agree. “But peers want change too. There is widespread concern inside the Lords about the chamber’s growing size, caused by excessive prime ministerial appointments. There may hence now be a deal to be struck.” Of the three options, the Unit pointed out, two would require legislation, which could be blocked by the Lords, causing at least a year’s delay and potential disruption. The third proposal is for renewed conventions, which would only work if there was widespread agreement across the Lords. Either way, the position of the Labour opposition will prove critical to getting change agreed. Russell continued: “The opposition holds the key to what happens on the Strathclyde proposals. The government holds the key on appointments to the Lords. “A bill to implement a cut in powers could have a very rough ride through parliament, with significant disruption to the government’s programme. “But if a deal could be struck with the opposition on a fair appointments formula, the Lords would get something it wants in return. “A package comprising regulated appointments plus an agreed reduction in powers could be both attractive and very sensible, bringing an end to two long-running and bitter controversies at once.” Prime Minister David Cameron said he would consider the recommendations carefully before responding in the New Year. To read the Strathclyde Report click here.  |
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