Parliamentary Affairs articles from January 1993

Parliamentary Affairs archives from January 1993

The British constitution 1991-2.
January 1, 1993... 'WE are now told that referendum has become part of the Constitution, but I am a simple fellow and I was brought up to believe that we do not have a Constitution, so I do not see how a referendum can be part of it'--thus Edward Heath in the...

Public administration and government 1991-2.
January 1, 1993... AT the Conservative Party Conference in October 1991, John Major set out his vision for the British state. Strong in defence, firm in law and order, committed to education and quality of life in the inner cities, it was above all one in which...

Scotland and the politics of devolution: a patchy past, a hazy future.
January 1, 1993... THE Scots have drawn back from self-government for the second time in thirteen years. Labour's bill in 1979 required a referendum on devolution and, despite what seemed huge support in the preceeding months, the number of 'yes' votes was...

The Labour Party leadership and deputy leadership elections of 1992.
January 1, 1993... LABOUR'S fourth successive general election defeat on 9 April 1992 made a change in the party's leadership inevitable. Neil Kinnock had led the party to two defeats and it was clear that his lack of personal popularity had made him an electoral...

The pitiless probing eye: politicians and the broadcast political interview.
January 1, 1993... declares 'could be taken as proof that politicians have not destroyed the political interview.' He prefers to lay the blame for any possible decline not on the politicians but on the broadcasters. Politicians may have improved their performance...

The New Zealand way of committee power.
January 1, 1993... DEPARTMENTAL select committees have been the most successful product of the parliamentary reform movement, yet standing committees remain a disaster area. Formally they perfect legislation, in fact they waste time. Opposition MPs must talk too...

Social democracy in power.
January 1, 1993... THE British Labour Party's confinement to the opposition benches for a fourth successive term underlines the deep crisis in European social democracy. In continental Europe, social democrats wield power only in Spain, France, Norway and...

Israel: the 1992 election and after.
January 1, 1993... ISRAEL'S thirteenth general elections, which took place on 23rd June 1992, attracted world-wide interest--and not without good reason. Perhaps the most important of these reasons was the fact that the Arab-Israel conflict is considered to have...