Written by Michael Harris (Oct 2007)
Introduction
In this essay I am going to critically evaluate the relationship between Members of Parliament, political parties and pressure groups in the formation of legislation. In order to do this, I will need to briefly look at the legislative process, including Acts of Parliament and delegated legislation. I will consider separately the role of Members of Parliament, pressure groups and political parties and then examine how these three bodies interact in the formation of legislation.
Legislative Process
The process of drafting laws and passing them through the UK Parliament is an elaborate process. Although MP’s and the House of Lords obviously vote on legislation, members of the public can also become involved at particular stages of the process. The government depends largely on these new laws that are passed. However, MP’s and opposition parties do have the right to advocate laws, though usually there is not enough time and support to pass these through the parliamentary stages.
MP’s/ Government Ministers influence on legislation
MP’s and Government Ministers have a great impact on legislation because their ministerial departments are responsible for drafting green and white papers through the process of delegated legislation. MP’s are able to suggest new laws which, in effect, relate to the specific missions of their party’s manifesto. The relationship between MP’s and political parties in the formation in legislation is demonstrated by the fact that individuals or pressure groups can lobby their MP to influence the outcome of a government Bill. The greater the influence of pressure groups, the more pressure is put on MP’s to amend the bill. In such cases, the bill is likely to be debated through a process of affirmative resolution.
Similarly, Private Member’s Bills are also Bills which an individual MP places before Parliament rather than government and may again be initiated by feedback from an individual or pressure group.
Many bills are quickly and easily passed and become law through the process of delegated legislation. However, very few Private Members’ Bills do so. In fact many of these types of bills are not even discussed or debated in the House of Commons. On the other hand, on Friday’s, Private Members’ bills have priority over other government business. This gives the individual MP the authority to make a 10 minute speech to introduce the new piece of legislation. MP’s are selected to do this speech through a ballot. The ballot establishes the priority of the Private Members’ Bills. This is more of a way of trying to make a point about the need to change the law on a specific matter as opposed to an attempt at legislation.
David MacLean is a Conservative MP who introduced a Private Member’s Bill in an attempt to abolish Parliament from the scope of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, but why should they be prevented from disclosing their expenses and government spending? They argue that the measure is needed to protect constituents privacy but I feel that it could also be a cover up from other groups so that they are unaware of the cost of their political parties and individuals spending. Legislation is a costly business. The problem is that those MP’s who support the Bill are also encouraging other authorities to fail to comply with the Freedom of Information Act. .Although the Bill was passed by the House of Commons on the 18th of May 2007; it has not been approved by the House of Lords and so is unlikely to become law.
The relationship between MP’s and pressure groups is also shown by another Private Member’s Bill that was launched by MP Paul McFarrell. Supported by major unions, including the TUC, he was able to attempt to improve legislation on agency workers by introducing the Temporary Agency Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Bill, on 2/3/2007, to overcome huge discrepancies in pay and working conditions. Since 2002, a European Directive relating to Temporary Agency Workers has been stalled by Britain and other countries because they disagree with several clauses.
Political Parties influence on legislation
The relationship between MP’s pressure groups and political parties can be examined through their influence on law making both inside and outside Parliament. The relationship between the Government and opposition parties influences the effectiveness of the party system in Parliament. Without the involvement of MP’s and the contribution of the opposition party in Parliamentary, many laws would be passed without full consideration, lack of detail and undemocratically. However, the opposition plays a role in legislation by offering constructive criticism, offering proposals for amendments to Government Bills and putting forward their own policies in an attempt to win the next General Election. The problem is that a political party does not simply look at the best solution to a legal problem but considers other factors that will allow them to stay in power. They especially attempt to win public opinion near to General Elections by creating law that will be popular with voters. On the other hand, after a General Election, when they don’t need to win votes, more unpopular legal decisions will need to be put in place. For example, in its 1997 manifesto, the Labour Party proposed to change the Judicial Appointments and Training Commission, but after the election, this did not happen. So, political parties are fickle and there is therefore a great element of bias which is not in the interests of individuals or pressure groups who may be fighting for a different cause.
Outside of Parliament, MP’s are able to influence legislation at a local level because their political parties’ are able to contest local government elections. Party control is therefore exercised by local and national organisations. MP’s are able to influence amendments to the Enabling Act whilst also influencing delegated legislation to local government when passing bylaws, for example. Local authorities work within the powers that are set by various Acts of Parliament. The functions of the local authorities are broad and extensive. Some are mandatory, meaning that the authority must do what is required by law. Others are discretionary, allowing an authority to provide services if it wants to.
The main connection between local authorities and central government in England is the Department for Communities and Local Government. There are also other departments concerned with different local government functions, such as, the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions.
There are both advantages and disadvantages for political parties in the formation of legislation. Manipulation of the media can dictate the news agenda and have an enormous influence on the popularity of a political party. This is achieved by using Party spin doctors who advise Ministers on how they should present their case to the media. They attempt to steer media coverage in the area that their party wants by sensationalising the issue and making it bigger than it really is by careful, exclusive selection of newspaper or journalist that they give the story to. This gives a one-sided account and therefore, the relationship between MP’s and political parties can result in misinterpretation and inaccuracies of legal and political issues.
One disadvantage to political parties in the formation of legislation is that the ‘loans for peerages’ scandal brought debate about the funding of political parties to the fore. The problem is that the parties get wrapped up in this vicious circle and are faced with a reduction in the numbers of particular activists. They depend on large donations to fund an election campaign which consequently, reduces citizens’ commitment to parties.
Pressure Groups influence on legislation
A pressure group is any group that tries to influence a political decision. Its aim is to influence the people in power who can amend or create new legislation for their particular cause. These days, more people in Britain are active in pressure groups than political parties.
Pressure groups give ordinary people the power to influence issues that concern themselves. This can involve informing Government of legislative preferences, protests, campaigns, petitioning Government or blocking votes.
Running a campaign requires a lot of time, money and expertise. Labour costs can be reduced by using members to undertake otherwise costly tasks of advertising and collecting statistics. The more members a pressure group has, the more influence it can exert. Some pressure groups, such as trade unions, exploit party funding and provide financial backing for political parties. In turn, as an insider pressure group, this often allows them access to MP’s or Government Ministers who are powerful in fighting their cause. Some may view this as corruption.
The main relationship between pressure groups and MP’s and political parties is that they are able to gather sufficient force to be able to lobby Parliament and force the government to either change or scrap legislation. For example, in March 1998, about 300,000 people protested in London over the government’s rural policies in the ‘Countryside March’. The Government responded by investigating all aspects of public life, publishing a white paper and setting up a Ministry of Rural Affairs. In this instance, the white paper is the axis upon which pressure groups influenced government plans for legislation. However, this is not the only means. Pressure groups often have a single-issue cause and it is in the more detailed issues of local government that they have greater knowledge and can exert a greater force.
Well known pressure groups like Child Poverty Action group or ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) are so involved in politics that they have full time staff putting their case to government, politicians and the media. Also private companies and their representatives operate as pressure groups. These private companies have the benefit of having resources that many of public pressure groups do not.
Pressure groups can also help democracy because they have the ability to get citizens involved in an issue they feel strongly about, such as the closure of a school. The advantage of participating in the local government is that you personally get your say on a particular matter as well as speaking up for the constituency. However, very rarely does your say end up on the way to becoming a ‘Private Member’ Bill.
There are many pressure groups, but just a few of them include the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (This is the campaign to stop breeding and use of animals in experiments), the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and RSPCC (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children).
Conclusion
In this essay I have examined the relationship between MP’s, Political Parties and Pressure Groups and found them to be inter-twined when it comes to the formation of legislation. Pressure groups can influence MP’s and MP’s can influence political parties, or vice versa. There are many permutations. But the question that really has to be asked is that with politics also on the agenda, can law-making really be democratic? With bias, spin doctors, breaking promises and back-handed money involved, I think not.
Bibliography.
Martin J., The English Legal System, Hodder Arnold ,2007
Charman M., Vanstone B., Sherratt L,AS Law, Willan publishing, 2003
www.parliament.uk/documents
www.revision-notes.co.uk
www.spinwatch.org
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk
http:/bizednet.bris.ac.uk/educators/16-19/