UK Government + Feminism (Tolley)

UK, Israel, New Zealand

27 since 1787

Dunblane 1996

Elections Act (2022)

197 MPs

Fiona Onasanya, Christopher Davies, Margaret Ferrier, Peter Bone

A v Home Secretary (2004)

Miller V Prime Minister (2019)

Lascelles Principles into Fixed Term Parliament Act

Dissolution and Calling of Parliaments Act (2022)

May ordered air strikes against Syrian govt without allowing Parliament to vote, Corbyn and others called for a War Powers Act (not successful)

p.397 of Erskine May which said that “a motion or an amendment which is the same, in substance, as a question which has been decided during a session may not be brought forward again during that same session”

This is not because they are unimportant. It is because their existence means the HoL are more likely to back down in a disagreement with the HoC

Homicide (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act, Abortion Act

374

Payroll vote

abstain from voting

99.2%

Dominic Raab mistreating civil servants (2023), Matt Hancock breaking social distancing guidelines (2021)

Priti Patel bullying, Gavin Williamson 2020 A-level results algorithm

Robin Cook Iraq War (2003), Lord Frost Covid Plan B (2021)

Terrorist Asset-Freezing Act (2010)

Judicial Review and Courts Act (2022)

179

167

45

230

love between minority cultures must be established

Women’s consciousness of the world (that they are lesser) is created by men

lesbian relationships

men construct a notion of femininity that serves their own economic and physical ends

source of constraint and potential liberation, teachers should encourage students to transgress rather than conform

de Beauvoir, Perkins Gilman

there is no female mind

women can only escape patriarchy when the economic dynamics of relationships are changed

Millett, de Beauvoir

56

govt didn’t consult MPs before bombing Houthi rebels. First time, informed speaker and Starmer, second time informed no one

Humza Yousaf invited Turkish president Erdogan to Scotland, despite foreign policy not being a devolved issue

Jan 2024 Kemi Badenoch and Michael Gove are in a Whatsapp groupchat called “Evil Plotters” despite Badenoch telling tory MPs to “stop messing around” with rebellions

Ken Clarke warned of its risks of an “elected dictatorship”

they have to use their sexuality and bodies to please their husbands

communal living and changes to marriage laws

The male perspective is seen as the norm, female perspective is deviant or inferior. “he is the subject, he is the absolute – she is the other”

women are forced to sell their labour as well as using their labour to support the family. marriage turns women into serfs. Men dominate women as a means of escaping the alienation they experience under capitalism

the nuclear family mirrors the patriarchal system, masculine authority is taught from childhood and reinforced in culture.

women are degraded, being used as commodities for the gratification of men. Portrayal of romantic love must be overthrown in the sexual revolution

Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act (2023). Any retained EU laws became assimilated laws, no longer supreme (helps Parliamentary sovereignty).

Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act (2023). Until 2026, ministers can convert secondary assimilated laws into domestic statutory instruments, revoke them, replace them, and reinsert the supremacy principle. Negative procedure (most common for these) means they automatically become law unless either house passes a motion to annul within 40 days. No fixed time to debate, time given by govt.

free movement of workers, goods, capital and services

Lord Winston, expert of fertility, also called trans surgery “mutilation”

Meg Hillier chairs Public Accounts Committee. In March 2024, she criticised govt’s reluctance to share data that went against Rwanda policy

permanent, only in HoC. Chairs are elected by House and awarded additional salary (part of Wright reforms)

Scotland controls some welfare, abortion. Wales doesn’t.

Scotland controls income tax rates and bands, plus other specified taxes. NI just controls corporation tax. Proportion of VAT revenues assigned to Scotland in April 2019. VAT rates set by UK

October 2020, Wales firebreak lockdown, Scotland 5-tier system, NI introduced 4 weeks of tighter restrictions, England 3-tier system

Women are disadvantaged as a result of gender, state can have a positive role in causing equality

State doesn’t put women’s interests first, some say Capitalism exacerbates these issues