Internal Market Bill and how Parliament works

A FIGHT WITH THE EU ... LORDS ... TORY BACKBENCHERS ... AND THE DEVOLVED NATIONS

The Herald (a Scottish broadsheet) pulled no punches in its report

Likewise their cartoonist depicted how Johnson had seemed under siege from outraged Tory backbenchers

From January, the UK government wants to continue to have a joint market across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - the "internal market".

Instead of the rules and regulations around things like food and air quality and animal welfare being set in Brussels, now they have to be set closer to home - and there is a row over who should have the final say.

Many powers are set to be directly controlled by the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish administrations, in fields including food labelling, energy efficiency and support for farmers.

However, the UK government has said the devolved administrations will still have to accept goods and services from all other parts of the UK - even if they have set different standards locally. (source: BBC, Dec 2020)

The Internal Market Act 2020 is one of the most controversial bills to ever successfully pass through the UK parliament.

It was widely characterised as breaking international law bu contradicting and breaking parts of the Brexit deal, an international treaty. 

There was much media speculation about a backbench rebellion, and frontbench resignations ... but in the event Johnson and his whips got their way: 328 of 363 Tory MPs voted with the government, as did the DUP, with just 2 Tories voting against.

The saga exposed flaws in the UK parliamentary system...

ELECTIVE DICTATORSHIP? GOVERNMENT BACKBENCHERS THE DE FACTO OPPOSITION?

Labour leader Keir Starmer was criticised for failing to whip up significant public pressure on the government. In the event, any hopes of a government lay with the prospect of a backbench rebellion, which simply didn't transpire. Of 35 Tory MPs who refused to vote with the government, only 2 actually voted against. The whip system triumphed: most Tory MPs who held principled opposition to the bill failed to vote against, fearing for their seats (Johnson had shown he could be ruthless after succeeding May, forcing out all Tory MPs who voted against his Brexit bill) and/or for their hopes of becoming a government minister whenever Johnson eventually held a cabinet reshuffle.

ELECTIVE DICTATORSHIP? WHAT ABOUT THE DEVOLVED NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS?

While the Northern Irish response was predictably split on nationalist/unionist lines, the Welsh and Scottish governments were clear in their opposition - but the UK government refused to consult or seek authority from either. The Welsh government took the case to the High Court of Justice, but lost. The Scottish Parliament voted on whether to authorise the bill's contents ... and voted against, formally denying the UK government permission to carry this out, but this had no impact on the bill passing into UK law.

As the BBC article quoted above indicates, this is a story about how powers once based in Brussels are redistributed back within the UK:

The Scottish government says a Westminster "power grab" is under way, because any responsibility which is not specifically reserved should automatically come to Holyrood.

But the UK government says what is happening in January represents "the biggest transfer of powers in the history of devolution".

ELECTIVE DICTATORSHIP? WHAT ABOUT THE HOUSE OF LORDS? plus...Biden pressure

The Lords repeatedly refused to back the bill, voting against and attaching amendments. The Commons used their power to ignore the Lords vote.

Above: a Daily Mail report 9th Nov 2020 (this saga went on for months!) also highlights the direct pressure from the incoming US president, who bluntly and undiplomatically warned that any breach of international law - especially that around the GFA - would ensure the UK would fail in efforts to win a trade deal with the USA. The EU would also threaten legal action (see Daily Mail video)

ELECTIVE DICTATORSHIP? WHAT ABOUT THE FREE PRESS?

TV news reportage did give space to a series of prominent critics, including multiple past Tory Attorney Generals (they have responsibility for ensuring government actions are compliant with laws), but the press largely reflected the right-/left-wing split. That means that the government largely escaped criticism from the Times and Telegraph (broadsheets) or the Mail, Express, Sun or Star (tabloids), facing criticism mainly from the low-circulation Guardian and Mirror only.

Indeed, the UK nationals ignored the huge story of the crucial vote on 29th September 2020, focusing instead on another potential government rebellion over covid restrictions (see Paperboy) - only the Scottish press led on the story.

READ MORE...

Executive backs down from confrontation with Lords (Dec 16, 2020, Guardian)

The Wiki.

BBC overview.

There are lots of news clips on this (YouTube), such as...

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