Committee referendums inquiry continues
20 January 2010 (updated on 22 April 2010)
The House of Lords Constitution Committee continues its inquiry into the role of referendums in the UK’s constitutional experience. Watch live from 10.45 am
Witnesses
10.45am
- Professor Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government, Brasenose College, University of Oxford
- Professor Stephen Tierney, Professor of Constitutional Theory, University of Edinburgh
11.30am
- Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, former Director, Think Twice (1997 Scottish devolution referendum "no" campaign)
- Daran Hill, former National Co-ordinator, Yes for Wales (1997 Welsh devolution referendum "yes" campaign)
The Constitution Committee inquiry will focus on referendums and the potential constitutional impact of their greater use in the UK. They will also consider whether proposed changes to the UK’s constitution should be subject to referendums.
Among the issues surrounding referendums being analysed are:
- arguments for and against the use of referendums as a democratic and constitutional tool
- what place the referendum has or might have in the UK’s system of Parliamentary democracy the UK’s experience of the referendum
- the effectiveness of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, and the statutory role of the Electoral Commission
- international case studies of the use of the referendum
- prospects for the future