The New Labour Constitution: Twenty Years On

Description

The New Labour government first elected in 1997 had a defining influence on the development of the modern UK constitution. This book combines legal and political perspectives to provide a unique assessment of the way in which this major programme of constitutional reform has changed the nature of the UK constitution. The chapters, written by leading experts in UK public law and politics, analyse the impact and legacy of the New Labour reform programme some twenty years on from the 1997 general election, and reveal the ways in which the UK constitution is now, to a significant extent, the ‘New Labour constitution’. The book takes a broad approach to exploring the legacy of the New Labour years for the UK constitution. The contributors evaluate a range of specific substantive reforms (including on human rights, devolution, freedom of information, and the judicial system), changes to the process and method of constitutional reform under New Labour, the impact on key institutions (such as the judiciary and Parliament), and a number of wider constitutional themes (including national security, administrative justice, and the relationship between the Labour Party and constitutionalism). The book also reflects on the future challenges for the constitution constructed by New Labour, and the prospects for further constitutional reform. In bringing together this range of perspectives to reflect on the implications of the New Labour era of reform, this book offers a critical examination of a foundational period in the development of the contemporary UK constitution. Volume 10 in the series Hart Studies in Constitutional Law Acknowledgements Table of Contents List of Contributors Table of Legislation The New Labour Constitution: Twenty Years On Introduction 1. Labour’s Constitutional Changes 1997–2010:
Time for More I. Introduction II. Key Features of Labour's Constitutional Changes III. The Consequences of Labour's Reforms IV. The Vulnerability of the Constitution V. Future Constitutional Reform VI. Conclusion 2. Britain's New Labour Constitution: Causes and Consequences I. Causes II. Consequences III. Brief Reflections 3. The Human Rights Act 1998: Two Decades Swimming Upstream I. Introduction II. The Unloved New Labour Flagship: Internal Struggle and Political Filicide III. Foreignness: The Import and Ownership Narrative IV. Judicial Empowerment V. Conclusions 4. The Unintended Consequences of Legislative Constitutionalism: The Common Law Constitution and Judicial Comparativism I. Introduction II. Legislative Constitutionalism III. Judicial Comparativism IV. Beyond Strasbourg? V. Common Law Constitutionalism VI. Enduring Judicial Power and Changing Culture VII. Conclusion 5. Judicial Policy and New Labour's Constitutional Project I. Introduction II. New Labour's Constitutional Project III. New Labour and Judicial Policy IV. A New Approach to Judicial Policy V. Judicial Policy and the New Labour Constitutional Project VI. Conclusion 6. Devolution: A New Fundamental Principle of the UK Constitution I. Introduction II. Twenty Years Prior: Legacies for New Labour III. Delivering on Devolution: New Labour's Legacy IV. Entrenching Devolution: An Enduring Legacy? V. Another 20 Years: A Legacy under Attack? VI. Conclusion 7. The 'Evolution' of Devolution: Assessing Labour's Legacy in England I. Introduction II. The Labour Party and Devolution in England: Tracing the Roots III. The Labour Party in Government: Devolution and the 'English Exception' IV. Labour's (Di)visions: Regionalisation and the Demise of Political Devolution in England V. Assessing Labour's Devolution Legacy within and beyond the Party VI. Conclusion 8. 'Three Harmless Words': New Labour and Freedom of Information I. A Short History of Freedom of Information II. The Paradoxes of FOI Laws III. Open Government in Britain IV. New Labour V. New Labour's Doubts? VI. Freedom of Information, 1997–2000: Radicalism, Reaction and Struggle VII. The Radical Phase: Your Right to Know, 1997–98 VIII. Reaction and Reversal: The Draft Bill, 1998–99 IX. FOI in Parliament, 1999–2000 X. Why Did FOI Survive? XI. FOI, 20 Years On XII. Conclusion 9. What Was New Labour's Vision for Parliament? And Did It Succeed? I. Introduction II. A Strong Parliamentary Attitude? III. (Dis)interest in Parliamentary Reform? IV. New Labour's Commitments V. Efficiency Reforms: Prime Minister's Question Time and Legislative Timetabling VI. Reforms that Stalled: The House of Lords VII. Delayed Drop Reforms: Select Committees and Parliamentary Votes on Military Action VIII. Conclusion: Was the New Labour Vision a Success? 10. New Labour's Judicial Power Project I. Introduction II. The Narrative of Constitutional Continuity III. The Narrative of Constitutional Transformation IV. Twenty Years After V. Conclusion 11. New Labour's Secret National Security Constitution I. Introduction II. 'Secret Law' III. Background IV. RIPA in Retrospect V. The Secret National Security Constitution beyond RIPA VI. Lessons of New Labour's Secret National Security Constitution VII. Conclusion 12. Individual Terrorist Suspects as the New Folk Devil: New Labour, Rights Tokenism and Security Compulsions I. New Labour on Counterterrorism Pre- and Post-2001: Moral Panic and the Folk Devils II. Immobilising the Folk Devil III. The Entrenchment of Folk Devils and Over-securitisation IV. Conclusion 13. Revisiting the Administrative Justice Legacy of New Labour I. Introduction II. Administrative Justice III. The Standard Account of the New Labour Years IV. Developing the Standard Account V. Conclusion 14. Referendums and New Labour's Constitutional Reforms I. Introduction II. Referendums before New Labour III. Referendums under New Labour IV. An Inchoate Constitutional Convention? V. Conclusion 15. Neoliberalism, Labour Law and New Labour's Turn to Constitutionalism I. Introduction II. The Two Souls of Labour Constitutionalism III. An Anti-juridical Constitutionalism? IV. Constitutionalising Labour V. Constitutional Settlements VI. A Neoliberal Constitutionalism? VII. Reconstituting Neoliberalism? VIII. Conclusion 16. The Legacy of the New Labour Constitution and the Future of Labour Constitutionalism I. Process and the New Labour Reform Programme II. The Substance of the New Labour Constitution III. The Legacy of the New Labour Constitution IV. The Future of Labour Constitutionalism V. Conclusion Index