Assess the Most Important Constitutional Changes Introduced in the Uk Since 1997

in the existing system, the Act started to make Britain more democratic. It introduced more just

The SNP main goal was Scotland independence and this issue raised in the 1990s. In 1997 elections, the Conservative Party leader John Major rejected the possibility of establishing the Scottish Parliament, however Tony Blair the leader of the Labour Party was with the establishment of the Scottish parliament, which was the reason for winning Blair the majority of

Throughout history there has always been revolutions, change, and reforms. In 1832, England experienced the death of George IV and accession of William IV in 1830 ,that resulted in a general parliamentary election in which the opposition political party, the Whigs, scored major gains with their platform calling for parliamentary reform. With the Tory party divided, the king asked the leader of the Whigs, Earl Grey, to form a government. Immediately, the Whigs introduced a major reform bill designed to increase the number of voters by 50 percent and to eliminate underpopulated electoral districts (“rotten boroughs”) and replace them with representatives for previously unrepresented manufacturing districts and cities, especially in the industrial

Another contributing factor at this election may have been performance in office, which in the above statement is not seen as important as personality and image. However, performance in office may have been extremely detrimental for the conservatives in 1997 because of their crisis in 1992. This focuses on the retrospective model, as people saw the Conservatives as incompetent in handling the economy because of Black Wednesday in September 1992. The Conservatives and especially Noramnt Lamont, Chancellor of the Exchequer, were to blame for the crisis that saw the pound forced out of the ERM. This didn’t help at the 1997 general election where they did extremely badly in a huge Labour win.

The main reason for independence is to give the people of Scotland a better life and only a Scottish government can put the interest of Scottish people first. Democracy, prosperity and fairness are the values which are driving the yes campaign. Independence gives the Scottish people a chance to put the future of Scotland in their own hands and do what is best for them. Due to decisions for Scotland being made in Westminster (England) the policies just aren’t suited to the needs of the Scots. A Scottish government and parliament promise to build a fairer society, and in doing so will help Scotland to become a stronger

25: ‘The use of referendums in the UK since 1997 has done little to strengthen democracy.’ Discuss.

This therefore brings power closer to the Scottish people, through the Scottish Parliament, but in hand it takes power away from the English people. This may be because there is no purely English devolved body in comparison to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly. Power is also brought closer to the people as devolved bodies can hold referendums; however, on the other hand, they are limited on what they can hold referendums about.

People voting for independence had their reasons for doing so. They believed that now that Scotland’s economy was strong enough now that they could survive on their own. Also if they broke away they might get rid of the monarchy because a good percentage of Scotts are republican and want democracy (theweek.co.uk, 2014). If Scotland were to become independent and didn’t get rid of the monarchy then the queen would become the head of state. This has already occurred in Canada and Australia (theweek.co.uk,

The Labour Party was committed to home rule for Scotland in the 1920s, but it slipped down its agenda in the following years. The Scottish National Party (SNP) was formed in 1934, but did not achieve significant electoral success until the 1960s. A document calling for home rule, the Scottish Covenant, was signed by 2 million people, out of a population of 5 million, in the late 1940s (“Devolution’s swings and roundabouts”). Home rule, now known as Scottish devolution, did not become a serious proposal until the late 1970s. A proposal for a devolved Scottish Assembly was put to a referendum in 1979. A narrow majority of votes were cast in favor of change, but this had no effect due to a requirement that the number voting 'Yes ' had to exceed 40% of the total electorate. No further constitutional reform was proposed until the Labor Party returned to power in 1997, when a second Scottish devolution referendum was held. However, the number of people voting ‘Yes’ once again did not exceed 40% of the total electorate so the vote was thus invalid (“The 1979 Referendums”). A

The most radical industrial relations reforms of the past 20 or so years was brought in soon after the election of the Howard government in 1996. Whilst

independence, to determine whether the Scottish independence from Britain. The independence referendum entered the 100-day countdown stage, Nicola Sturgeon (Deputy First Minister) and Alistair Darling (Former chancellor of the exchequer) both had a very convincing speech on this topic. Nicola argues,Scotland’s huge wealth and extraordinary resources mean there is no question Scottish can be independent (Sturgeon,2014).Darling called on people to say “no thanks” to independence (Darling,2014).I thought that Nicola had a stronger speech. They both had prominent points and were persuasive,but I thought Nicola’s speech is easy to understand.

The recent Scottish referendum played a pivotal role in the Scottish economy, while many people believed the 300-year old union is no longer fit for purpose and is holding Scotland back others believed that Scotland cannot thrive without the UK and the economic and social problems caused by Independence would be disastrous. In this essay I will explore Scotland’s position in Europe and how whether obtaining independence would have been an advantage or disadvantage to Scotland.

During this period the condition of much of Britain was incredibly poor and something desperately needed to be done. Reforms such as extending the franchise in 1884-85 meant a process was beginning that gave a larger majority a voice as to who ran the country but not as to what actually happened. The governments felt that they were improving conditions by introducing minor reforms however conditions had barely changed. Any reforms that involved the

Scotland wants its independence, and there are those who are for it, as well as those against it. Those for independence want to be independent for reasons including that they are against nuclear weaponry, they want oil money to be put to good use, and they would rather make their own decisions. Those against independence argue that if Scotland were independent, jobs would be lost, the BBC would be broken up, and UK funding benefits Scotland.

Scotland is at a turning point. On 18th September 2014 a referendum will be held asking voters a simple yes/no question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?” It has become more apparent that Scotland does not benefit from being part of the union with England, Wales and Northern Ireland and as a consequence of this many people agree that Scotland would be better off as an independent country. Some say the union is no longer fit for purpose and it is holding Scotland back. But many people oppose these views saying Scotland needs the rest of the UK and the economic and social factors of independence would be too great to deal with. Independence for Scotland means that we will have the right to