Constitution Unit

The Constitution Unit

The UK's leading research body on constitutional change

Welfare Reform Bill & the Financial Privilege: the Lords have both the constitutional power, and good cause, to assert themselves »

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Press Release: House of Commons risks major clash with the Lords over Welfare Reform Bill

Welfare Reform & the Financial Privilege

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News

House of Commons risks major clash with the Lords over Welfare Reform Bill

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:07:42 +0000

PRESS NOTICE 3 February 2012: for immediate release By asserting such wide claims of financial privilege in rejecting the Lords amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill, the House of Commons risks stoking opposition in the Lords, both to the bill, and to the government’s wider plans for Lords reform. Today Dr Jeff King, Senior Law [...]

House of Lords: Welfare Reform and the Financial Privilege

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:00:53 +0000

This post, by Jeff King of UCL Laws, originally appeared on the Constitutional Law Group blog On 1 February 2012, a committee of the House of Commons resolved that the Welfare Reform Bill, which proposes to cap benefits for most families at £26,000 a year, engages the financial privilege of the Commons. Under such a [...]

The size of a Scot-Free House of Commons

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:43:46 +0000

The effect of Scottish independence on the United Kingdom is being discussed in all sorts of contexts, such as division of energy reserves, military resources, national debt (and probably even the Royal Yacht Britannia at Leith!). One interesting effect will be the size of the House of Commons when there are no Scottish MPs. The [...]

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The Constitution Unit
Department of Political Science, UCL
29-30 Tavistock Square
London WC1H 9QU
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Email: constitution@ucl.ac.uk