Research from our project features in a new report on Parliament and Brexit, published by the UK in a Changing Europe, University College London’s Constitution Unit and the University of Leicester.
The report explores key questions about how Parliament adjusts to a post-Brexit context. It finds that throughout the Brexit process, parliament, in spite of ferocious attacks on its legitimacy and processes from prime ministers, ministers, MPs, the media and the public, did its job.
With a minority government that lost the support of the House of Commons, parliament used its scrutiny procedures creatively to hold the government to account for its Brexit policies. However, it is doubtful whether Parliament will be able to exercise this level of scrutiny over the government during the future relationship negotiations.
The report notes that parliament has a unique place in the country’s political system: parliamentary sovereignty lies at the core of its constitution and both Commons and Lords remain central to the functioning of the country’s democracy.
Professor Adam Cygan’s contribution assesses questions related to to regulatory alignment and divergence in the future UK-EU relationship. Dr Philip Lynch and Dr Richard Whitaker look respectively at how the Conservative and Labour parties have dealt with the Brexit process. A PDF of the report is free to download.