Mark Hatcher

Is the business of government grinding to a halt as we face up to a spate of elections and the EU referendum and is legislation being pushed through without sufficient scrutiny? asks Mark Hatcher

With the imminent election on 5 May of the Mayor of London and members of the London Assembly, local government elections in England, elections to the National Assembly for Wales and voting for Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales, the political classes are gorging on a feast of campaigning and political activity. 

Whether the Inners or Outers win the day, the long-standing internecine fighting over Europe will not go away, writes Mark Hatcher

In less than three months’ time the British people will decide whether to remain in or out of the European Union. 

Mark Hatcher looks at the latest court closure announcement and Labour’s access to justice commission

Spare a thought for civil servants who are toiling away even harder to make up for headcount reductions in Government departments. 

Mark Hatcher reflects on Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘rule-breaking’ reshuffle, its impact on democracy and significance for the Bar

One of the most respected constitutional lawyers of the 20th century, Sir Ivor Jennings observed in his magisterial Cabinet Government: ‘If there be no Opposition, there is no democracy. “Her Majesty’s Opposition” is no idle phrase. Her Majesty needs an Opposition as well as a Government.’

Mark Hatcher examines the issues facing those in Westminster at the start of the new year

Few MPs returning to Westminster after the Christmas recess will have been able to predict how the last year would have ended: a majority Conservative Government, an Opposition that is in disarray in the parliamentary party with a frontbench openly at odds with its leader, the decimation of the Liberal Democrats in the Commons, 54 seats occupied by Scottish Nationalists, the collapse of Labour in Scotland with just one seat north of the border at Westminster and one held by the Conservatives and four million votes for UKIP at last May’s election.

Mark Hatcher reports on the launch by the Opposition of its Review of Legal Aid and on the debate surrounding the progress of a UK Bill of Rights

‘If we want a rights-based society with equal access to justice, we have to pay for it,’ said Jeremy Corbyn at the Labour Party’s Legal Aid Summit last month.

Mark Hatcher reflects on the forthcoming Spending Review and its impact on the administration of justice

On 8 July in his Budget Statement the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, set out the Government’s plans for running a budget surplus for the first time in almost twenty years in 2019–20.

After an eventful week in Parliament, Mark Hatcher looks at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership triumph, the end of New Labour and the legal landscape of all the parties

Who would have thought that two of the less well known members of the Commons’ Justice Committee in the last Parliament could or would transform politics at Westminster? 

The rule of law is seen by Michael Gove as “the most precious asset” of any civilised society. Mark Hatcher reports on the new Lord Chancellor’s first weeks in office

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s Budget Statement was the last big set piece parliamentary event at Westminster before the start of the Summer Recess. 

Mark Hatcher examines the Magna Carta celebrations, The Queen’s Speech and the new Government’s legislative programme

The political significance of Magna Carta was not lost on the Prime Minister when he addressed representatives of Church, Law and State at Runnymede on the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the charter.