Independent report

Committee Publishes Transcript of Seminar on Referendums

On 22 November 2016, CSPL held a joint seminar with University College London’s Constitution Unit on the impact of referendums in the UK.

• From: Committee on Standards in Public Life
• Published: 12 December 2016

Documents

Session One: What Are the Problems?

MS Word Document, 210 KB

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Session Two: How Are Referendums in the UK Conducted?

MS Word Document, 121 KB

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Session Three: Can We Draw Lessons from Elsewhere?

MS Word Document, 85 KB

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Session Four: What Ideas Are Worth Pursuing?

MS Word Document, 119 KB

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Details

There have been four referendums in the last five years: Welsh devolution (2011); the Westminster electoral system (2011); Scottish independence (2014); and EU membership (2016), which have tested the legislative framework for referendums put in place in 2000.

The Committee joined with the Constitution Unit to draw lessons and consider whether current ideas around the role of referendums in UK politics and current practices for conducting referendums are optimal.

This seminar asked:

What are the problems? How are referendums in the UK conducted? Can we draw lessons from elsewhere? What ideas are worth pursuing in the future?

The Committee invited individuals from a range of disciplines and positions to a broad discussion of these issues.

Video highlights of the seminar are available here:

Session One- What are the problems?

Session Two - How are referendums in the UK conducted?

Session Three - Can we draw lessons from elsewhere?

Session Four- What ideas are worth pursuing in the future?

Read the blog by Alex Quirk from The Constitution Unit.

Published 12 December 2016