In our sixth UK Weekly Digest, we take a closer look at the most popular debates and events in the UK Parliament. To that end, we will zoom in on the actual debates in the Parliament within the House of Lords and the House of Commons. At the same time, we will zoom out to see the broader context by discussing the most significant affairs. Read on to find out the most important trends in British politics in the past week.
What is the most recent activity in the UK Parliament?
In the past week, the Policy-Insider.AI platform registered 2,195 policy documents published by the House of Commons. Additionally, the platform identified 1,208 documents from the House of Lords. The House of Commons was the most active on Tuesday, producing 787 policy documents. The House of Lords’ activity peaked on Wednesday with 434 policy documents. Both Houses did not debate on Friday due to Non-sitting Friday.
There were many exciting events in the UK Parliament this week, such as the Parliament Week (see below). Nevertheless, policymakers stayed on track and debated a range of crucial issues. Interestingly, both Houses seem to be concerned predominantly with a single policy area in the past week. Notably, the House of Commons focused the most on finance (46,51% of policy documents). In the meantime, the House of Lords worked on the policy concerning home affairs (51,41% of policy documents).
Debates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords
House of Commons: Budget Resolutions Debate
The Members of Parliament continued the Budget debate this week. At the final debate, the House of Commons voted on the agreed budget resolutions, which will allow the Members of Parliament to legislate for tax changes within the scope of the Finance Bill. The Budget Debates caused great division among the Members of Parliament. In light of the Covid19 pandemic and the implications of Brexit, the United Kingdom finds itself in a strained economic position. The new Finance Bill is meant to significantly contribute to UK’s economic recovery and encourage a wave of economic optimism. Find out more about the MPs’ divisions regarding the 2021 Budget and Spending Review in the last week’s UK Weekly Digest.
House of Lords: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill
On Monday, November 1st and Wednesday, November 3rd, Members of the House of Lords discussed the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The bill covers a vast range of issues, making it one of the most critical pieces of legislation discussed this week. The bill outlines procedures for courts and tribunals. It also outlines the treatment of offenders. Moreover, it redefines the responsibilities of police and emergency workers. In particular, the bill aims to prevent and reduce serious violence. It makes provisions to “the powers of the police and other authorities for the purposes of preventing, detecting, investigating or prosecuting crime or investigating”.
On Monday, some of the discussed amendments concerned post-charge detention of children, arrest without warrants, and the power to photograph certain persons at a police station. On Wednesday, the Members of the House of Lords discussed amendments on subjects ranging from poaching and pet theft to low-value shoplifting and commissioning of police weapons as welll as technology.
Events in the UK Parliament
Two main events dominated the Parliament this week. The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow and the UK Parliament Week.
COP26
One of the most prominent events in the UK in the past two weeks was the Glasgow Climate Change Conference. The Climate Conference will last until November 12th. During COP26, British politicians were more active on Twitter than in the preceding weeks, especially regarding sustainability. The number of Twitter posts by UK policymakers mentioning COP26 exceeded 2,600. Politicians tweeted about popular speeches, important issues that require further attention or openly criticized the policies in other states. In the past week, Boris Johnson’s attitude during the conference caused controversy. Find out why the Prime Minister’s attitude was discussed on social media and see other examples of COP26 tweets below.
UK Parliament Week
British politicians tweeted almost 100 times about the UK Parliament Week, which took place from 1st until 7th November. The event was meant to celebrate the power of civil society organizations and spark political interest among younger generations. A broad range of events occurred, such as chats with Members of Parliament and Members of the House of Lords. The conversations encouraged British youth to make an impact on important issues. British policymakers eagerly tweeted about their Q&A sessions and debates involving young constituents. Find out below what some of the Parliamentarians mentioned in their tweets.
Find out more about the most recent trends in UK politics by using our Twitter trends tracker or read last week’s UK Digest. Additionally, check out our blog post on the European policy trends ahead of COP26.
This article was originally published in English. Translations have been generated automatically and may be incorrect.
