Debate a bill Level 2

Transcription

1 Debate a bill Level 2 Making laws In this activity your students will have a go at scrutinising a bill for themselves before moving on to the final vote in the House of Commons or House of Lords. The activities in this lesson plan are the same as at level one, with the addition of tasks four to six. These introduce a role playing activity which allows students to explore how different members of the public may be affected by the bill. An alternative extension activity, looking at amendments to the bill in the House of Lords, is available in the level three lesson plan. Task one Choose one of the laws in the activity: Raise the school leaving age to 18 Ban listening to MP3 players in public Build more houses Build another airport runway Divide the class into two groups. One will represent the government and the other will represent the opposition. Members of the government want to introduce the law chosen by the class. They need to list five reasons why it will improve life in Britain. Members of the opposition have to scrutinise the government, to check that the law is a good idea. They should list five possible problems with the law based on the evidence they have collected from the general public.

2 Write down the advantages and disadvantages of the law in the table below: Title of the law: Advantages Disadvantages Task two Members of the government should pick their three strongest arguments in favour of the new bill. They should try to include evidence to support their arguments, based on the feedback they received from members of the public in tasks one to three. Members of the opposition should think of three questions they can ask the government to reveal any weaknesses in the bill. They can base these on disadvantages they identified in the previous task. Evidence for the advantages of the bill Questions about the bill 1 2 3

3 Task three Members of the government should choose a spokesperson. Members of the opposition should choose a different person to ask each of the three questions. Then bring the two groups back together. Spokesperson for the government will read out the title of the bill. Spokespeople for the opposition will then ask their questions in turn, and each question should be followed by a response from the government spokesperson. Task four Now that your students have debated the bill, it s time to set up a committee to examine the bill in detail and find out what effect it will have on members of the public. A Public Bill Committee is often set up for this purpose after a bill has had its second reading in the House of Commons. As a class, choose one of the bills and then brainstorm the people who might be affected by it. For example, if you choose to build another airport runway, the people who might be affected include: Construction workers, who might find there are more jobs available Local people, who might be affected by increased traffic in the area and more crowded transport People working for an airline Campaigners on green issues If you choose to raise the school leaving age to 18, the people who might be affected are: School students Employers who want to recruit school-leavers School teachers

4 Task five Divide the class into the number of groups that you have identified in the activity above. So, for the airport runway example given above, the class would be divided into four. Each group should make a list of the effects that the bill might have on them. Role: 1 Effects of the bill Are you in favour or opposed to it? Each group should decide whether or not they are in favour of the bill and should nominate a spokesperson to make their case.

5 Task six Bring the groups back together. The spokespeople from each group will now take it in turns to take the hot seat at the front of the classroom. The rest of the class will ask them questions about how the bill could affect them. Questions could be about whether the bill will have an impact on: Their job or their chances of finding work Their local environment Their leisure activities Transport facilities in their area This allows Parliament to gather evidence about the views of the UK public. How many of the people affected by the bill were in favour of it and how many opposed it? Role For / Against / Unsure Notes

6 Task seven Now select the same bill in the interactive whiteboard and follow the activity to hone your scrutiny skills. When you have asked all three questions in the activity, check your scrutiny rating on the whiteboard. Task eight Time to vote! 1. Bring the class back together. At this point they can leave behind their roles as members of the government or of the opposition or of interest groups, so they are free to vote according to their own opinion. 2. Re-read the bill. 3. Ask all the students in favour of the bill to say aye and all the students opposed to it to say no. This is how MPs vote. (If your students were role playing a vote in the House of Lords then those in favour would say content and those against would say not content. However, Public Bill Committees do not occur in the House of Lords, so for this activity we have assumed that the vote is taking place in the House of Commons.) 4. If it isn t clear which side has won then it s time for a division. Students in favour of the bill should all gather at one side of the room and students against it should go to the other side. Then they can be counted. 5. Finally, return to the interactive whiteboard and select vote. Input the correct number of aye and no votes, and the whiteboard will tell you how many MPs this would equate to in the House of Commons. Did your bill pass?