Christiane Eisenbere (Ed.)
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A 2002/5402 Parliamentary Cultures British and German Perspectives
Parlamentskulturen Britische und deutsche Perspektiven
Centre for British Studies / GBZ Großbritannien-Zentrum HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITÄT ZU BERLIN
Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier CONTENTS
EDITOR'S PREFACE 10
WELCOME 13
Adam Ladbury, British Council 13
Professor Jürgen Schlaeger, Centre for British Studies, Humboldt University 14
Sir Paul Lever, British Ambassador in Germany 15
KEYNOTE SPEECHES 17
The Constitutional Revolution in Britain since May 1997 The Lord Chancellor The Rt Hon the Lord Irvine of Lairg 17
The Bundestag in the Reichstag: Reflections on Parliamentary Work in Berlin in the 21st Century Rudolf Seiters MdB, Vice-President of the German Bundestag 27
Discussion 41
SESSION I PARLIAMENTS IN BRITAIN AND GERMANY: THE CULTURES OF PARLIAMENTS AND THE CHALLENGES OF MODERNISATION 52
The Modernisation of Parliament: Themes and Challenges Clive Soley MP, Chair Parliamentary Labour Party and Chair Modernisation of the House of Commons Select Committee 53
Discussion 63 The Modernisation of Parliament: Themes and Challenges Hans-Ulrich Klose MdB, Chairman of the Committee of Foreign Affairs of the German Bundestag 72
Discussion 83
SESSION II WHAT ARE PARLIAMENTS FOR TODAY? 90
Parliaments in the Modern World: What are they for? Professor Anthony King, University of Essex 90
The German Bundestag: What is it for? Professor Peter Lösche, University of Göttingen 97
Panel Discussion: Modernising frorn Within - Challenging from Without Professor Gert-Joachim Glaeßner, Humboldt University (Chair) Professor Anthony King, University of Essex Hans-Ulrich Klose MdB, German Bundestag Professor Peter Lösche, University of Göttingen CliveSoleyMP 105
SESSION III WHAT ARE MPs FOR? 118
From the Government to the Backbenches: Reflections of a former Conservative Minister Tim Boswell MP 118
What a Backbencher can do Ben Bradshaw MP 123
Panel Discussion: Do we really need Members of Parliament? Hans-Ulrich Klose MdB (chair) Carsten Schneider MdB, German Bundestag Nils Diederich, Free University Berlin Tim Boswell MP Ben Bradshaw MP 129 SESSION IV THE POWER OF THE MEDIA 153
Round Table Discussion Chair: The Rt Hon The Baroness Williams of Crosby House of Lords 155
The Lobby (Political Reporters) and Politics in Britain: Who controls Whom? Adam Boulton, Political Editor, Sky TV, London 156
Radio Interviews and the Citizen Ed Stourton, Correspondent, BBC, London 162
Reporting Politics on ARD Hauptstadtstudio Robin Lautenbach, ARD Hauptstadtstudio 166
New Media, New Democracy Tristana Moore, Channel Four, ITN 171
Political Reporting in the German Press Jürgen Hogrefe, Der Spiegel 173
SESSION V PARLIAMENTS IN EUROPE: THE CULTURE OF CHANGE 178
Federalism after German Reunification Christine Lieberknecht MdL, President of the Landtag ofThuringia 179
Discussion 188
The Scottish Parliament: in Scotland, in Britain and in Europe Jim Wallace QC, Member of the Scottish Parliament, Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice 195
Discussion , 201
Poland and Europe: Potential Impact of Accession Urszula Pallasz, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Republicof Poland 208
Discussion 213 SESSION VI THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 217
Panel Discussion Dr Anthony Glees, Brunei University (Chair) Timothy Kirkhope MEP, Brüssels Peter Kittelmann MdA, Berlin Dr Roger Scully, University of Wales at Aberystwith 217
SUMMING-UP BY THE CONVENERS Professor Gert-Joachim Glaeßner, Humboldt University Dr. Anthony Glees, Brunei University 244
CLOSING REMARKS Adam Ladbury, British Council 247
CONTRIBUTORS 249 SESSION VI THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 217
Panel Discussion Dr Anthony Glees, Brunei University (Chair) Timothy Kirkhope MEP, Brüssels Peter Kittelmann MdA, Berlin Dr Roger Scully, University of Wales at Aberystwith 217
SUMMING-UP BY THE CONVENERS Professor Gert-Joachim Glaeßner, Humboldt University Dr. Anthony Glees, Brunei University 244
CLOSING REMARKS Adam Ladbury, British Council 247
CONTRIBUTORS 249