Research Briefing
Queen’s Speech 2014
This Standard Note gathers together announcements from ministers and speculation from commentators on the issues that might be included in the forthcoming Queen’s Speech.
-
-
Research Briefing
Ending the Hamilton Affair?
Article 9 of the Bill of Rights 1689 has been the subject of a variety of legal challenges. The Article, which provides (in modern parlance) that: “the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament” is usually considered to be a
-
Research Briefing
Pre-election contacts between civil servants and opposition parties
By convention, opposition parties are entitled to enter into confidential discussions with senior civil servants in the run-up to a general election. This note outlines the current arrangements and also provides a brief history of the convention.
-
Research Briefing
Establishing academic connections
Further to a visit to Lancaster University by specialists from the House of Commons Library and the Committee Office back in March, Kevin Jones, Director of Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC), and Alona Armstrong, Lancaster Energy fellow, came to Westminster to showcase some of Lancaster’s research.
-
Research Briefing
EU Bibliographies: Proposed reform of the Common Agricultural Policy
This Note brings together documents relevant to the proposals to reform the Common Agricultural Policy and its scrutiny in the UK and EU. It is not an attempt to define policy in this area. For information on policy developments contact Emma Downing on extn 6787
-
Research Briefing
EU bibliographies: Proposed reform of the Common Fisheries Policy
This Note brings together documents relevant to the proposals to reform the Common Fisheries Policy and its scrutiny in the UK and EU. It is not an attempt to define policy in this area. For information on policy developments contact Oliver Bennett on extn 2263.
-
Research Briefing
The National Minimum Wage: historical background
This note provides an overview of the historical background to the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.
-
Research Briefing
A&E: A Tale of Two Winters
During PMQs on 14th May the Prime Minister stated: “[The Leader of the Opposition] predicted a winter crisis, and he sat there day after day, dying for it to happen. It did not happen because we have a strong NHS with more doctors and more nurses serving our country.” Is it correct to say that
-
Research Briefing
European Parliament elections 2014
Voting in the 2014 European Parliament elections takes place across the EU from 22 to 25 May. In the United Kingdom, voting will be on Thursday 22 May 2014.
-
Research Briefing
National Insurance Fund: 1975 to 2014
The National Insurance Fund had been in healthy surplus, but this has been declining sharply in recent years to the extent that without Treasury finance the balance on the Fund is projected to fall below the recommended minimum in 2014/15.
-
Research Briefing
Vote or Abstain? Part 2 – Engaging the European Electorate
In yesterday’s post I looked at some reasons that might explain why, over time, the proportion of the European electorate participating in EP elections has steadily declined. The trend that underscores this process is shown clearly below; growth in the size of the electorate has consistently outstripped growth in the number of voters, somewhat driven
-
Research Briefing
Egypt: May 2014 update
Egypt goes to the polls on 26 and 27 May to elect a new president amid concerns about repression
-
Research Briefing
The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition
US President Obama launched the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition at the May 2012 G8 summit at Camp David. It aims to address years of underinvestment in agriculture, and to meet the financing gap for global food security, in order to help pull 50 million people out of chronic poverty over 10 years. Critics of the New Alliance question whether it will help poor farmers. and charge that the New Alliance represents a “new form of colonialism”. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) supports the scheme and has committed £600 million to it.
-
Research Briefing
Vote or Abstain? Part 1 – What’s behind falling Euro turnout
There may be many factors that have driven falling turnout at European Parliamentary elections over the years, but much of this may stem from the expansion of the Union itself. As time has passed and the EU has grown in size, European Parliamentary (EP) elections have seen a continual decline in turnout since the first
-
Research Briefing
A ‘democratic asteroid’: India’s elections
As so often in the past, India’s electorate has sprung a surprise. The count on 16 May gave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its presidential candidate, 62 year-old Narendra Modi, a convincing victory in the elections to India’s lower house, the Lok Sabha. On a 66.38% turnout, the BJP won a majority of the seats – the first party to do so since 1984. Author and academic Sunil Khilnani described the outcome as “a democratic asteroid.” For the Congress Party, the result is a disaster.
Total results (page 382 of 639)