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Parliament is ineffective at performing its functions. Evaluate this view (30)
Parliament has 3 major functions to fulfill which include legislation, representation and
accountability. There are arguments that parliament is effective in terms of government bills as
they must pass every reading stage and is scrutinised by the public bill committee line by line.
However, there are stronger arguments that parliament is ineffective in performing its functions,
shown by how almost every government bill can be passed if there is a majority in parliament,
and that some MP’s may have a hidden agenda and represent their own interests- which
outweighs the reasons why parliament is effective.
The strongest argument that parliament is ineffective is that any legislation can be passed if
there is a majority government, sometimes with less debate than needed and, private member
bills have only 1 day to pass and can be talked out. Although, it has some strengths, such as
how private member bills allow 14 chosen MP’s to propose a bill. Some important bills were
passed in this way, such as the Abortion Act 1967, Abolition of Death Penalty Act 1965 and the
House of Lords reform Act 2014. In terms of government bills, all bills must pass all reading
stages and are heavily scrutinised by the public bill community where it is read line by line. This
ensures that any bills being passed have been thoroughly checked to make sure it is a fair and
balanced bill. However, this process can be time consuming and the government always has a
majority on the public bill committee, so they tend to pass any law, especially if there is a
majority government. Majority governments can pass any government bill, and can “guillotine” a
debate and force a vote with less debate than what’s needed. On the other hand, if there’s a
minority government, almost nothing can be passed as the opposition can strike it down straight
away, shown by how Theresa May’s Withdrawal bill was struck down 3 times in the 2nd reading.
In terms of private member bills, one day often isn’t enough time to propose a bill and it can
often be talked out. Only 15 bills have passed through private member bills. A bill regarding
upskirting was talked out by Christopher Chope in 2018, showing the ineffectiveness of private
members bills. Overall, there are more reasons to suggest parliament is ineffective at
legislation, as if there is a majority government, any bill passes and if there’s a minority, very
few pass. There isn’t enough time to propose a private members’ bill and it is often talked out-
shown by how only 15 have passed.
Another strong reason to suggest that parliament is ineffective is that most MP’s represent their
party or their own personal interests rather than their constituencies’. Although, some MP’s act
in their constituency’s interest like Zac Goldsmith who campaigned against the building of
Heathrow's third runway which would’ve been built in his constituency. MP’s tend to listen to
PG’s and represent their interests like how Labour represents Friends of Israel which seeks to
strengthen the relationship between the British and Israeli Labour party, and they represent
Trade Unions which protect workers from exploitation by bringing up the PG’s interests in
parliament. MP’s must also declare when they have any outside interests. Also, the
demographic is more represented than it was years ago- in 1983 there were only 23 female
MP’s and this has increased to 208 MP’s in 2017. However, women, BAME and younger people
are still under-represented in the House of Commons and the House of Lords is entirely
unrepresentative as it is unelected. Also, a lot of the interests raised by PG’s and constituents
are narrow and unrepresentative of what everyone wants- only what a small group of people
want. Most MP’s act in the interest of their party, rather than their constituents- shown by Lord
Cunningham who was the MP for Cumbria and wanted to keep the nuclear waste site even
though his constituents wanted to get rid of it, and Anne Main who voted for Brexit even though
her constituency, St Albans, widely wanted to remain. This shows that some MP’s represent
their own interests, or their party as there is fear of losing their job and there are 3 line whips
that they must obey.
Parliament is ineffective at performing its functions. Evaluate this view (30)
Parliament has 3 major functions to fulfill which include legislation, representation and
accountability. There are arguments that parliament is effective in terms of government bills as
they must pass every reading stage and is scrutinised by the public bill committee line by line.
However, there are stronger arguments that parliament is ineffective in performing its functions,
shown by how almost every government bill can be passed if there is a majority in parliament,
and that some MP’s may have a hidden agenda and represent their own interests- which
outweighs the reasons why parliament is effective.
The strongest argument that parliament is ineffective is that any legislation can be passed if
there is a majority government, sometimes with less debate than needed and, private member
bills have only 1 day to pass and can be talked out. Although, it has some strengths, such as
how private member bills allow 14 chosen MP’s to propose a bill. Some important bills were
passed in this way, such as the Abortion Act 1967, Abolition of Death Penalty Act 1965 and the
House of Lords reform Act 2014. In terms of government bills, all bills must pass all reading
stages and are heavily scrutinised by the public bill community where it is read line by line. This
ensures that any bills being passed have been thoroughly checked to make sure it is a fair and
balanced bill. However, this process can be time consuming and the government always has a
majority on the public bill committee, so they tend to pass any law, especially if there is a
majority government. Majority governments can pass any government bill, and can “guillotine” a
debate and force a vote with less debate than what’s needed. On the other hand, if there’s a
minority government, almost nothing can be passed as the opposition can strike it down straight
away, shown by how Theresa May’s Withdrawal bill was struck down 3 times in the 2nd reading.
In terms of private member bills, one day often isn’t enough time to propose a bill and it can
often be talked out. Only 15 bills have passed through private member bills. A bill regarding
upskirting was talked out by Christopher Chope in 2018, showing the ineffectiveness of private
members bills. Overall, there are more reasons to suggest parliament is ineffective at
legislation, as if there is a majority government, any bill passes and if there’s a minority, very
few pass. There isn’t enough time to propose a private members’ bill and it is often talked out-
shown by how only 15 have passed.
Another strong reason to suggest that parliament is ineffective is that most MP’s represent their
party or their own personal interests rather than their constituencies’. Although, some MP’s act
in their constituency’s interest like Zac Goldsmith who campaigned against the building of
Heathrow's third runway which would’ve been built in his constituency. MP’s tend to listen to
PG’s and represent their interests like how Labour represents Friends of Israel which seeks to
strengthen the relationship between the British and Israeli Labour party, and they represent
Trade Unions which protect workers from exploitation by bringing up the PG’s interests in
parliament. MP’s must also declare when they have any outside interests. Also, the
demographic is more represented than it was years ago- in 1983 there were only 23 female
MP’s and this has increased to 208 MP’s in 2017. However, women, BAME and younger people
are still under-represented in the House of Commons and the House of Lords is entirely
unrepresentative as it is unelected. Also, a lot of the interests raised by PG’s and constituents
are narrow and unrepresentative of what everyone wants- only what a small group of people
want. Most MP’s act in the interest of their party, rather than their constituents- shown by Lord
Cunningham who was the MP for Cumbria and wanted to keep the nuclear waste site even
though his constituents wanted to get rid of it, and Anne Main who voted for Brexit even though
her constituency, St Albans, widely wanted to remain. This shows that some MP’s represent
their own interests, or their party as there is fear of losing their job and there are 3 line whips
that they must obey.
