The revelations about the process by which Peter Mandelson was appointed to serve as Ambassador to the United States of America have once again raised questions about the suitability of the UK’s standards regime. Peter Riddell argues that ministers must be proactive, seeking to future proof the system through legislation, rather than reactively asking for reviews and tinkering with the rules when flaws in the system are exposed.
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Monitor 92, published today, provides an analysis of constitutional events over the last four months. In this post, which replicates the issue’s lead article, Alan Renwick and Meg Russell argue that the government continues to make small strides in areas such as constitutional standards and electoral reform, where instead bold action to renew the health of democracy is badly needed.
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – commonly known as the assisted dying bill – is now very unlikely to pass in this session. Its supporters have accused opponents of filibustering – a charge which they strongly deny. Lisa James looks at how delay tactics work in the House of Lords, where they have been used in the past, and what peers could do to stop individuals using procedure to block bills rather than allowing them to stand or fall on their merits.
Continue readingThe government’s long-awaited proposals for electoral reforms, published last month, will receive their first scrutiny in the House of Commons next Monday. Ahead of that debate, Alan Renwick analyses which of the bill’s proposals – and omissions – are likely to spark most contention. He suggests that pressure to strengthen the bill will be intense on multiple fronts.
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The government has publicly committed to removing Lord (Peter) Mandelson’s peerage following additional revelations about his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Robert Hazell considers potential mechanisms for achieving this, and argues that if it is to be done by legislation, then the government should consider carefully how wide its scope should be, what criteria should trigger the removal process, and whether its provisions should be retrospective.
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