20/3/2006

The “Abolition of Parliament” Bill

Don’t be fooled by the dull title; the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill proposes a radical shift in the balance of power from the legislature to the executive. The Regulatory Reform Committee considered that the Bill “has the potential to be the most constitutionally significant Bill that has been brought before Parliament for some years” and the Constitution Committee has expressed its concern at the “unprecedentedly wide powers” the Bill seeks to confer on Ministers.

This Bill would enable Ministers to pass laws with virtually no parliamentary scrutiny. It gives enormous unchecked power to the executive and fundamentally changes the way we make laws. Under this Bill almost any law could be amended, repealed or replaced: the powers of the House of Lords could be changed; local government could be reorganised or even abolished. All this could potentially take place without a debate in Parliament.

The Bill is part of the Government’s better regulation agenda and aims to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses and public services. The Government argues that the current process for removing legislative burdens is ineffective and that unless the process is changed many of the proposals the departments have for cutting red tape will not be able to be implemented. This Bill, it is argued, will make it quicker and easier to tackle unnecessary or over-complicated regulation and help bring about a risk-based approach to regulation.

This may well be how the Government intends to use these powers. They have repeatedly given assurances that they would not use this Bill to pass highly controversial measures. But the fact remains that there is nothing in this Bill to stop them. Future Governments may not be so scrupulous and would certainly not be bound by such assurances. The real issue here is an already powerful executive being given the power to act without parliamentary scrutiny. This is simply unacceptable. Governments should be able to amend, repeal or replace legislation but they should not be able to do so without being scrutinised by and accountable to both Parliament and the people.

Campaign Against the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill