Security vs. freedom? MinisterDateReason for resignation Geoffrey Howe1989Disagreement over EU policy Peter Mandelson1998Failure to declare a home loan.

Security vs. freedom?Minister Date Reason for resignation

Geoffrey Howe 1989 Disagreement over EU policy

Peter Mandelson 1998 Failure to declare a home loan

Stephen Byers 2002 Failings in his special advisers

Robin Cook, Clare Short 2003 Disagreement over Iraq invasion

Beverley Hughes 2004 Misleading Parliament over immigration

David Laws 2010 Parliamentary expenses

Liam Fox 2011 Breaching the ministerial code

Maria Miller 2014 Parliamentary expenses

DO NOWStudy the table above and identify which of these ministers resigned over an issue of individual ministerial responsibility and which resigned over an issue of collective cabinet responsibility. What do the latter resignations have in common?

Explain the term free votes used in the extract. (5 marks)

Free votes are votes in the House of Commons in which party discipline is suspended. Neither the party of government nor those of opposition attempt to influence the way their MPs vote on a specific motion. In theory, therefore, free votes should deliver a truer picture of members’ opinions. In practice, however, MPs tend to divide on party lines even in free votes. Free votes tend to be held on issues with a significant moral dimension, such as stem cell research.

Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, explain why individual ministerial responsibility is central to the operation of UK government. (10 marks)

Individual ministerial responsibility is vital to the democratic process. IMR ensures that an elected official, someone accountable directly to the electorate or to their representatives in Parliament, takes responsibility for the actions of all public servants and services. For example, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is responsible for the professional conduct and decisions of everyone working in the Department of Health. By placing public services under the control of an elected official and subjecting that official to regular scrutiny, the actions of government acquire greater democratic legitimacy. In recent years, IMR has arguably been eroded by the tendency to ‘spin off’ government functions into quasi-independent agencies. This has brought forth expectations that the civil servants running those agencies should take greater personal responsibility for their operations, rather than hiding behind the responsible minister. In 2011, for example, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, successfully deflected criticism of the UK Border Agency onto its operational head Brodie Clarke, forcing his resignation.

Learning objectives

• To evaluate arguments for and against an extension of surveillance powers

• To explore the relationship between privacy and security in modern Britain

Counter terrorism measures

This was how Home Secretary Theresa May unveiled her Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill yesterday.

Counter terrorism measuresWhich of these provisions is not included in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill?

• Security services could force people to move to another part of the country and restrict their movement if, on the "balance of probabilities“, they might be involved in terrorism

• Security services would have greater powers to stop people heading abroad to fight for radical groups

• Security services could bar anyone suspected of terrorist activity from returning to the UK

• A ban on insurance companies from covering ransoms• Schools, colleges and probation services would have an obligation to

help prevent young people being “radicalised”

What’s missing?

David Anderson QC is the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation. He raised a specific concern about the Counter Terrorism and Security Bill. What is that concern?

Privacy vs. security?

Much coverage of the new Counter Terrorism Bill has focused on its implications for communications data. Read the news article on the ISC report into the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby and answer the following questions:

• What do you understand by the term ‘surveillance state’ used in the article?

• Do you feel this term can fairly be applied to modern Britain? • Why might the security services want to enhanced powers to

seize communications data? • Why might some politicians and campaigning organisations

oppose such powers?

DO NOW

Read the article on the background to the Counter Terrorism and Security Bill.

“Snoopers charter”?

Would you support the extension of surveillance powers to cover personal data, such as email and social media accounts?

Attendance at debates in the House of Commons, as any viewer of the BBC Parliament Channel can see, is often very low indeed. With most recent governments having comfortable majorities in the House of Commons, votes at the end of debates are often foregone conclusions. Points put forward by the official opposition or by backbenchers often seem to have very little effect. Committees which deal with legislation are controlled by the Whips. Question Time has become little more than an empty ritual, where leaders try to score points off each other and ministers try to avoid answering awkward questions. Only written answers have much effect, but these rarely arouse much media attention.

• Explain the term official opposition used in the extract. (5) • Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, outline the ways in

which government affects the working of Parliament. (10 marks)

Party

Parliament

Public opinion

Cabinet

Media

Prime minister

Limits to the power of the prime minister

• ‘Parliament no longer plays an important role.’ Discuss.

• Discuss the view that political parties have too much power in Parliament.

• Evaluate the view that the appointment and dismissal of ministers is the prime minister’s most important power.

• ‘The cabinet is no longer an important part of the core executive.’ Discuss.

Friday, November 28, 2014

News quiz

1) Which former Conservative chip whip could face a legal bill of up to £3m after losing the ‘plebgate’ libel case?

2) Under a scheme unveiled by David Cameron today, how long would migrants from the EU have to be in the UK before being eligible for in-work welfare benefits?

3) How much per week would this reform cost the affected average family?

4) What did Cameron say he would do if the EU attempts to resist these benefit reforms?

5) Net immigration in the year to June was 260,000. Why is this a politically toxic number for the Conservative Party?

News quiz

6) The cross-party Smith Commission has just recommended the Scottish Parliament be given which important new power?

7) David Cameron said that the above recommendation made the case for which of his policies “unanswerable”?

8) Based on current opinion polls, which party is on-course to be the fourth largest, and to hold the balance of power, in Westminster after May 2015?

9) Who has the Conservative Party allegedly tried to persuade to stand as their candidate for London Mayor?

10) The killers of Lee Rigby were not under surveillance by the UK security services at the time of their attack, but how many times had they been subject to surveillance?

Immigration – True or False11) There were around 10m foreign-born people were

working in the UK at the end of 201312) The number of foreign born workers in the UK has more

than doubled in 20 years?13) Almost half of all foreign-born workers are based in

London?14) The unemployment rate is slightly greater among foreign-

born workers than among those born in Britain?15) The Home Office is preparing to provide wealthy

foreigners with a “fast track” entry system that will include a personal ‘account manager’?

Foreign affairs

16) What is the name of the police officer who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, who told reporters his “conscience is clear”?

17) How many black people were among the 12 member grand jury that decided not to prosecute the police officer above?

18) The foreign ministry of which country condemned the USA for its “extreme culture of racial discrimination” after the Ferguson verdict?

19) What percentage of Russians say they support President Vladimir Putin’s actions in the Crimea?

20) Who this week controversially likened the EU to “a grandmother, no longer fertile and vibrant”?

News quiz

1) Which former Conservative chip whip could face a legal bill of up to £3m after losing the ‘plebgate’ libel case?Andrew Mitchell

2) Under a scheme unveiled by David Cameron today, how long would migrants from the EU have to be in the UK before being eligible for in-work welfare benefits? Four years

3) How much per week would this reform cost the affected average family?£100

4) What did Cameron say he would do if the EU attempts to resist these benefit reforms? Recommend that Britain leave the EU in the 2017 referendum

5) Net immigration in the year to June was 260,000. Why is this a politically toxic number for the Conservative Party?It is higher than it was under Gordon Brown, despite Cameron’s pledge to cut immigration to below 100,000

News quiz

6) The cross-party Smith Commission has just recommended the Scottish Parliament be given which important new power? Control over income tax

7) David Cameron said that the above recommendation made the case for which of his policies “unanswerable”? English votes for English laws

8) Based on current opinion polls, which party is on-course to be the fourth largest, and to hold the balance of power, in Westminster after May 2015? The Scottish Nationalist Party

9) Who has the Conservative Party allegedly tried to persuade to stand as their candidate for London Mayor? Jeremy Paxman

10) The killers of Lee Rigby were not under surveillance by the UK security services at the time of their attack, but how many times had they been subject to surveillance? Seven

Immigration – True or False11) There were around 10m foreign-born people were working in the UK

at the end of 2013False – it is 6m

12) The number of foreign born workers in the UK has more than doubled in 20 years?True – is was 2.9m in 1993

13) Almost half of all foreign-born workers are based in London?True – its 46%

14) The unemployment rate is slightly greater among foreign-born workers than among those born in Britain?True

15) The Home Office is preparing to provide wealthy foreigners with a “fast track” entry system that will include a personal ‘account manager’? True

Foreign affairs16) What is the name of the police officer who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson,

Missouri, who told reporters his “conscience is clear”? Darren Wilson

17) How many black people were among the 12 member grand jury that decided not to prosecute the police officer above?Three

18) The foreign ministry of which country condemned the USA for its “extreme culture of racial discrimination” after the Ferguson verdict?North Korea

19) What percentage of Russians say they support President Vladimir Putin’s actions in the Crimea? 88%

20) Who this week controversially likened the EU to “a grandmother, no longer fertile and vibrant”? Pope Francis

And finally . . .

Jamie Cooper-Hohn this week won Britain’s largest divorce settlement from her former husband, hedge fund manager Chris Hohn. How much is it worth?

And finally . . .

£337 million