Research Briefing
A draft Communications Data Bill was introduced and scrutinised by Parliament in 2012-13. The draft Bill, referred to by critics as a “snooper’s charter”, was not taken forward, following opposition from the Liberal Democrats. The Queen's Speech in 2015 promised an Investigatory Powers Bill, which is expected to replicate features of the earlier draft Bill.
Research Briefing
The living wage is an hourly rate of pay set annually by reference to the basic cost of living in the UK and London. The current living wage is £7.85 per hour outside London and £9.15 per hour in London.
Research Briefing
This article is by Graham Winter, National Assembly for Wales Research Service, with contributions from Louise Smith, House of Commons Library. It first appeared on In Brief. An increasingly complex picture is emerging about who will be taking decisions on large energy projects in future, with the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 about to appear on
Research Briefing
What's next for Turkey? The AKP has lost power after 13 years in government, following a surge in support for the Kurdish HDP. Coalition negotiations may be underway, but fresh elections loom, and the uncertainty is likely to damage Turkey.
Research Briefing
The endowment mortgage mis-selling scandal was the first and largest financial scandal of this century. It shaped both the new regualtor and the then new office of Financial Ombudsman.
Research Briefing
Sanctions don’t work? It is difficult to be sure why a country has changed its policy. Most academics used to conclude, however, that there was precious little evidence for international sanctions changing anything. In 1985, an author argued that there were few subjects where international relations analysts agreed as much as on the proposition ‘sanctions
Research Briefing
This briefing provides a downloadable tool which allows the user to make a graphical comparison of unsuspended custodial sentences for like crimes across the EU. Two countries may be selected for comparison of nine different offence types, with graphs showing the percentage of custodial sanctions awarded by sentence length.
Research Briefing
There are now many analysts who argue that sanctions do work, partly because of their increasingly sophisticated design. However, evidence remains mixed at best. Politicians may be finding them useful for other things than their stated aim of causing 'rogue' countries to choose a different policy
Research Briefing
An overview of rights and benefits afforded to carers in law, covering local authority assessments, employment rights, benefits and protection from discrimination.
Research Briefing
There were repeated calls for an inquiry into the 2003 invasion of Iraq from 2003 until the announcement of the Chilcot Inquiry in 2009
Research Briefing
This briefing paper has been withdrawn. It has been replaced by the Library briefing on the Psychoactive Substance Bill 2015.
Research Briefing
The Commons Library's briefing note on the Scotland Bill 2015-16.
Research Briefing
This note outlines the development of EU legislation designed to improve the Single Market in equity investments through the MiFID, and now MiFID II, Directives.
Research Briefing
This briefing provides detailed information on the welfare and employment support provisions in the Scotland Bill. The Bill is scheduled to receive its Second Reading on 8 June 2015. With the exception of a new power to top-up reserved benefits, there are no substantive differences between the welfare and employment provisions in the Bill and the previously published draft clauses.
Research Briefing
The European Union Referendum Bill 2015-16 requires the holding of a referendum on the UK’s EU membership before the end of 2017. This paper provides information about the provisions in the Bill.
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