Abstract
Brexit has been dominating the UK Parliament’s activities as negotiations on the terms of the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU) have been taking place. Parliament is a primary venue for members of Parliament (MPs) to express preferences and attempt to alter the Brexit process. It offers a wide range of opportunities for MPs to voice dissent, signal their preferences and influence the Brexit agenda, especially in light of the government’s minority status. This chapter assesses the role and influence of the UK Parliament vis-à-vis government in the process of the UK leaving the EU. The chapter draws on data collected as part of an Economic and Social Research Council–funded project. We draw on non-attributable interviews with committee clerks and MPs and our own dataset of divisions in select committees, the content of select committee reports, MPs’ positions on the Brexit referendum, MPs’ contributions to debates, parliamentary votes, amendments and other parliamentary activities. We show the extent of Brexit-related parliamentary activity. We examine the role of Parliament in amending Brexit-related legislation, and the role of House of Commons select committees in the Brexit process. We find that while the executive-legislative relationship has not fundamentally changed, divisions within the two largest political parties and the government’s minority status after the 2017 general election have meant the executive has had to make concessions to its own backbench MPs on both sides of the referendum debate, in order to ensure the passage of legislation. Select committees have been influential at times through common themes emerging in some of their reports and their ability to highlight issues not previously on the agenda. Nevertheless, they have also been undermined to some degree by divisions between committees on the Leave-Remain and core-periphery dimensions and within the Brexit committee.
This chapter draws on research funded by an Economic and Social Research Council Brexit Priority Grant (ES/R000646/1)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Note that the government can ultimately override the House of Lords by using the Parliament Act 1949 through which a bill blocked by the Lords in one parliamentary session (normally equivalent to a year) can be re-introduced in the next and passed by the Commons alone.
- 2.
This figure does not include one-off evidence sessions with ministers on the work of their departments.
References
BBC News. (2017). MPs ‘Walk Out’ in Protest at ‘Too Gloomy’ Brexit Report. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39417715
Benton, M., & Russell, M. (2013). Assessing the Impact of Parliamentary Oversight Committees: The Select Committees in the British House of Commons. Parliamentary Affairs, 66(4), 772–797.
Boswell, T. (2018, April 19). Letter to Rt Hon David Davis MP, ref Government Responses. Retrieved from https://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-committees/eu-select/government-response-letter-david-davis.pdf
Clausen, A. R. (1977). Some Basic Approaches to the Measurement of Roll-Call Voting. In D. M. Freeman (Ed.), Foundation of Political Science: Research, Methods, and Scope. New York: The Free Press.
Cowley, P. (2005). The Rebels: How Blair Mislaid His Majority. London: Politico’s.
Department for Exiting the European Union. (2017). Legislating for the United Kingdom’s Withdrawal from the European Union, Cm 9446. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
Hindmoor, A., Larkin, P., & Kennon, A. (2009). Assessing the Influence of Select Committees in the UK: The Education and Skills Committee 1997–2005. Journal of Legislative Studies, 15(1), 71–89.
HM Government. (2018). The Future Relationship Between the United Kingdom and the European Union, Cm 9593. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
Hogarth, R., & White, H. (2018). Voting on Brexit: Parliament’s Consideration of the Withdrawal Deal and Future Framework. London: Institute for Government. Retrieved from https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/voting-on-brexit-report-final.pdf
House of Commons. (2018a). May 16 Debate (Vol. 641, cols. 344–349). Retrieved from https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-05-16/debates/7640144A-6020-4644-94B1-3FC12ABACCAA/LeavingTheEUCustoms
House of Commons. (2018b). May 22 Debate (Vol. 641, cols. 277WH-300WH). Retrieved from https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2018-05-22/debates/2049D937-1F57-4259-AABA-AB16BEFE316E/UKAutomotiveIndustryJobLosses?highlight=car%20manufacturing#contribution-EBEC952B-6BA6-4DB3-A67A-57FFD343D5A2
House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee. (2018). The Impact of Brexit on the Automotive Sector. Fifth Report of Session 2017–19. HC 379.
House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. (2018a). Pre-legislative Scrutiny of the draft Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill 2017. Second Report of Session 2017–19. HC 709.
House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. (2018b). Pre-legislative Scrutiny of the Draft Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill 2017: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report. Seventh Special Report of Session 2017–19. HC 984.
House of Commons Exiting the European Union Committee. (2017a). The Process for Exiting the European Union and the Government’s Negotiating Objectives. First Report of Session 2016–17. HC 815.
House of Commons Exiting the European Union Committee. (2017b). Sectoral Reports. Retrieved from https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/exiting-the-european-union-committee/publications/
House of Commons Exiting the European Union Committee. (2018a). EU Exit Analysis: Cross Whitehall Briefing. Retrieved from https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/Exiting-the-European-Union/17-19/Cross-Whitehall-briefing/EU-Exit-Analysis-Cross-Whitehall-Briefing.pdf
House of Commons Exiting the European Union Committee. (2018b). The Progress of the UK’s Negotiations on EU Withdrawal: December 2017 to March 2018. Third Report of Session 2017–19. HC 884.
House of Commons Exiting the European Union Committee. (2018c). The Future UK-EU Relationship. Fourth Report of Session 2017–19. HC 935.
House of Commons Exiting the European Union Committee. (2018d). Parliamentary Scrutiny and Approval of the Withdrawal Agreement and Negotiations on a Future Relationship. Sixth Report of Session 2017–19. HC 1240.
House of Commons Procedure Committee. (2017). Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation Under the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill: Interim Report. First Report of Session 2017–19. HC 386.
House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. (2018). An Immigration System that Works for Science and Innovation. Eighth Report of Session 2017–19. HC 1061.
House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee. (2017). European Union (Withdrawal) Bill: Implications for Devolution. First Report of Session 2017–19. HC 735.
House of Commons Treasury Committee. (2017). Transitional Arrangements for Exiting the European Union. Fourth Report of Session 2017–19. HC 473.
Institute for Government. (2018). What Has Changed on Parliament’s ‘Meaningful Vote’? [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/what-has-changed-parliaments-meaningful-vote
Jenkyns, A. (2018, May 24). My Decision to Resign from My PPS Role in the Government. Retrieved from https://www.andreajenkyns.co.uk/news/my-decision-resign-my-pps-role-government
Lidington, D. (2018, April 25). Written Ministerial Statement: European Union (Withdrawal) Bill – Agreement Between the UK and Welsh Governments. London: Cabinet Office. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/written-ministerial-statement-european-union-withdrawal-bill-agreement-between-the-uk-and-welsh-governments
Lynch, P., & Whitaker, R. (2018). All Brexiteers Now? Brexit, the Conservatives and Party Change. British Politics, 13(1), 31–47.
Morgan, N., & MacNeil, A. (2018, July 16). Joint Letter from Chairs of Treasury and International Trade Committees. Retrieved from https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/treasury/Correspondence/2017-19/nm-abn-free-trade-160718.pdf
Norton, P. (1990). Parliaments: A Framework for Analysis. West European Politics, 13(3), 1–9.
Rogers, R., & Walters, R. (2015). How Parliament Works (7th ed.). Abingdon: Routledge.
Russell, M. (2013). The Contemporary House of Lords: Westminster Bicameralism Revisited. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Russell, M., & Benton, M. (2011). Selective Influence: The Policy Impact of House of Commons Select Committees. London: University College London Constitution Unit.
Russell, M., & Gover, D. (2017). Legislation at Westminster: Parliamentary Actors and Influence in the Making of British Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Russell, M., Gover, D., & Wollter, K. (2016). Does the Executive Dominate the Westminster Legislative Process? Six Reasons for Doubt. Parliamentary Affairs, 69(2), 286–308.
Smith, J. (2019). Fighting to ‘Take Back Control’: The House of Lords and Brexit. In T. Christiansen & D. Fromage (Eds.), Brexit and Democracy: The Role of Parliaments in the UK and the European Union. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sturgeon, N., & Jones, C. (2017, July 13). Statement on the EU (Withdrawal Bill). Retrieved from https://news.gov.scot/news/eu-withdrawal-bill
Thompson, L., & Yong, B. (2019). What Do We Mean by Parliamentary Scrutiny of Brexit? A View from the House of Commons. In T. Christiansen & D. Fromage (Eds.), Brexit and Democracy: The Role of Parliaments in the UK and the European Union. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lynch, P., Whitaker, R., Cygan, A. (2019). Brexit and the UK Parliament: Challenges and Opportunities. In: Christiansen, T., Fromage, D. (eds) Brexit and Democracy. European Administrative Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06043-5_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06043-5_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-06042-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-06043-5
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)