The Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 Reforms to the House of Lords Essay

The Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 Reforms to the House of Lords - Essay Example The act was as result of a reaction to the rivalry between the incumbent government and the House of Lords with regards to the 1909 People’s Budget. The chancellor of the exchequer of the time named David Lloyd George, had proposed the incorporation of a land tax (Dorey and Kelso 119-124). The new tax would have adverse effects on owners of large pieces of lands, majority of who were persons in the conservative opposition. In this regards, the conservatives believed in another alternative source which was to be tariffs on imports as this has much prospects to the British local industries as well. They had leverage in their large majority numbers which they used to vote down the budget. This was even perpetuated further by the veto power they possessed on Public Bills. This challenged the Liberals so much that they prioritized reducing the power of the Lords come the next general elections. After the elections, the Liberals still formed the minority government hence the Lords s ubsequently accepted the People Budget only after the land tax proposal had been dropped (Dorey and Kelso 126). The dispute over the budget however prompted the government to introduce new resolutions which were geared towards limiting the power of the Lords. ... The provisions of the Act abolished any veto powers of the House of Lords to any public bill introduced in the House of Commons. Exception was however granted to Bills which contain any provision to extend the maximum duration of parliament beyond the normal five years or any Bill confirming provisional order (Gordon 14-19). Again, the Bill did not alter any provision to the Bills introduced in the House of Common, as well as Private Bills and delegated legislations (Gordon 19). The Labour government amended the 1911 Act to further reduce the power of the House of Lords. This was prompted by the fears that the radical programme of nationalism which they advocated for, would be delayed by the House of the Lords barring its completion within the life of the parliament (Thompson 191). In 1947, a Bill aimed at reducing the time by which the Lords were bound to delay Bills form three sessions over two years to two sessions over a year, was introduced. After an attempt by the Lords to bloc k the bill, it was reintroduced in 1948 and 1911 as well (Thompson 193). The Bill was finally passed in 1949 with the application the provisions of the 1911 Act. The passing of the 1949 Act into law prompted various controversies. A number of legal personalities raised some doubts as to whether the use of the 1911 Act to pass the1949 Act, which in turn amended the 1911 Act itself was valid (Zander 94). They claimed that, the continued ability of the Lords to veto a bill to prolong the parliament life would not be entrenched if the 1911 Act could be used to amend itself first as this could end up removing this restriction (Hood 42). Also, they argued that the 1949 Act could be considered as a secondary legislation