Scottish Parliament

he First Minister (FM) in Scotland is the head of the Scottish cabinet and has responsibility for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish government policy. These roles- and numerous additional ones- indicate that the FM does, in fact, play an important roles within the Scottish Parliament. This essays main focus will be to evaluate the FM's importance; specifically, his importance in regards to decision making within the parliament and consequently within Scotland itself. The First Minister represents Scotland in all devolved areas. This means that the elected First Minister is expected to have a clear vision for running the country and to make decisions and frame policies for education, health and transport. It is also…

The performance of power in the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament is simply that: a performance. With a meaningfully set stage and players who know their roll well, this act give the illusion of transparency to the public. I am not claiming all actions are predetermined, there is some room for improvisation, but on the whole the room which the general public is allowed admittance is one only used for meticulously planned and approved remarks. Does this mean it lacks power? Not…

The Scottish Parliament Building (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, [2] Scots: Scots Pairlament Biggin) is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh.[3] Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) held their first debate in the new building on 7 September 2004. The formal opening by Queen Elizabeth took place on 9 October 2004.[4] Enric Miralles, the Spanish architect…

In 1707, The Act of Union forged the nation of Great Britain. This joined the English and Scottish Parliaments into the British Parliament centered in London. The Union promised Scots unhindered access to English markets and colonies. The possibility of economic benefit through trade was a significant pro-union sentiment, expressed best by a Commissioner of Scottish Parliament: This nation is behind all other nations of Europe, for many years, with respect to the effects of an extended trade.…

L01 Increasingly in recent times there have been questions raised as to whether the interests of the Scottish people would be better served closer to home. Some have argued for greater legislative powers to be transferred to Holyrood, whilst others instead see separation from the Union as being the key to meeting the needs of the people. This essay will examine these issues and more surrounding the governance of Scotland. When looking at what events were pivotal on the road to Scottish…

Bennett once stated “A written constitution is one contained within a single document or a series of documents.” [ ] Large parts of the UK constitution are in fact written down, much of it in the laws passed in parliament, otherwise known as statute law. There are many principles involved in the British constitution however one of the main and perhaps the most important of the principles surrounding it is parliamentary sovereignty which I will be discussing in this document. First of what is…

had control over the economic welfare of Scotland. Some of the economic levers that Great Britain controls is currency, finances, oil sales and debt. This control over the years has caused a lot of friction and in 2014 the first vote for independent was made. This first referendum was voted down due to the people thinking that Great Britain provided a safe blanket and felt Scotland was too weak to stand on its own economically. Now under the leadership of Minister Nicola Sturgeon, which is the…

unprecedented boom in the Scottish National Party (SNP), originally a relatively unimportant minor party pursuing the dream of independence for Scotland, which has changed Scottish and British politics forever. This has been a prominent issue challenging journalists, researchers, political commentators and certainly other major parties for the last decade or so, provoking a seemingly simple though entirely complex and certainly disputed question – why is it that people vote for the SNP? Forming…

In 1707 the Acts of Union were approved by the Westminster Parliament and by the Parliament of Scotland. With the Acts of Union, England and Scotland were declared united ‘by the Name of Great Britain’. Scots law is a legal system which includes elements of civil law and common law. Scots law is based on several sources of law: the legislation or statute law, a written enactment of legal rules passed by the Parliament; the common law: judicial precedent, institutional writings and custom.…

British Parliament is widely vied as relatively weak. According to Graham Brady MP, only a third of the public think that the Parliament is effective to hold the government to account. He claims that after serving 18 years in the Commons has given him the thought that the Parliament is weak and ineffective. According to Kreppel’s statement in Typologies and Classification, many contemporary analyses maintained the classic relative opinion that ‘the U.S. Congress and the British Parliament serve…