As part of the Hansard Society’s ‘A Year in the Life‘ study of newly elected legislators, this paper by Dr Mary C. Murphy (University College Cork) looks at the experiences of TDs in Ireland, following the 2011 election when nearly half of the Members of the Dáil Éireann were new to the role.
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Changing EU ‘exit day’ by Statutory Instrument
‘Exit day’ in UK law will need to be changed by Statutory Instrument in the last week of March, if the UK and EU agree an extension to the Article 50 period beyond its default 29 March expiry date.
Westminster Lens: Brexit Statutory Instruments Dashboard
In the run-up to the UK’s exit from the EU on 29 March 2019 we will be tracking the progress made by government and Parliament in preparing the statute book for exit day. Our analysis draws on parliamentary data and our own Statutory Instrument Tracker which we built several years ago to support our research on delegated legislation.
The Independent Group of MPs: will they have disproportionate influence in the House of Commons?
The roles occupied by members of The Independent Group - particularly on select committees, where they retain a number of important posts and command two and a half times as many seats as the Liberal Democrats – could give them more influence than their small, non-party status might normally be expected to accord them.
Commons’ new trade agreement debate is a start, but far from ideal
In the House of Commons’ first debate today on potential new trade deals, two things are worth watching out for: the nature of the occasion itself; and any further information it elicits from the government about the process for making new trade agreements beyond the debate itself.
In the rush to prepare for Brexit, parliamentary scrutiny will suffer
The cancellation of this week’s House of Commons recess provided the government with an extra few days to hold debates on affirmative Brexit SIs. But the low number of debates makes it a wasted opportunity. The government can get its Brexit SIs into force by 29 March, but probably only at the expense of what limited scrutiny already takes place for SIs.