Kieran Lawrence looks at autonomous weapons and the effect they could have on modern warfare
Continuing a series on world leaders, Miles Deverson takes a look at Angela Merkel
Ben Bland examines the fallout from the Iowa caucuses and looks forward to the New Hampshire primaries.
In the first of a series on world leaders, Miles Deverson takes a look at Nicholas Sarkozy
When you were at school the back row was often associated with the troublemakers. It’s not very different in Westminster; the MPs perched on the back row high above the frontbenches are a constant source of worry to those at the front.
They serve many purposes, they make up the numbers - when a bill is passed there’s 650 MPs that have to vote and not all of them can be in the cabinet. They also provide a talent pool from which to draw future frontbenchers, where they learn the parliamentary ropes and make their first speeches.
It’s also where old MPs end up, Gordon Brown is now a backbencher for the Labour party, and both John Major and Margaret Thatcher went to the backbenches after their time as PM. MPs who’ve had a front bench career and “retired” to the backbenches work as ordinary constituency & party MPs.
A backbencher is often on one of the vast number of committees that meet in parliament, but they’re not ministers, they don’t have any aspect of policy that is their own responsibility. They are expected to support their party’s position; however they are frequently mentioned with the word “rebellion”.
On Europe recently the problem was mainly of a disagreement between the front and back benches of the parties on both sides of the house, the fronts concerned most with the issues facing the Euro, those at the back of the house concerned with the fact Britain in their view is being dragged into a federal state of Europe. With the boundary changes of course some MPs are going to be nervous, front bench MPs are the ones most likely to be given a safe seat, if you’re a backbencher with a voting record likely to put off selection committees an anti-Europe/pro-democracy vote on the great rebellion issue would be a big help.
Backbench MPs, especially those without any ambitions beyond being an MP, can rebel without much fear. If an MP breaks what’s known as a “three line whip” (which means turn up and vote the right way or else) it means their promotion’s gone for a long time, and at worst they can be kicked out of the party.
However they are also powerful due to their numbers. Indeed in the Conservative party they have their own grouping, known as the 1922 committee which can, and has, overthrown leaders. Backbenchers may not be important in ministerial terms, but when they team up their parties have to be afraid.
Backbenchers are motivated by different things. Some are determined to climb the ladder and so are obedient, others however, motivated by constituency loyalty more than anything else end up being the major source of rebels. Sometimes it is obvious that they have to rebel, if a decision results in the loss of thousands of jobs in their constituency it’d be political suicide to vote for it, and whips usually make allowances for it. On other issues however they may rebel out of humanitarian or other personal reasons.
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