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Collective Ministerial Responsibility - CMR - Coggle Diagram
Collective Ministerial Responsibility - CMR
CMR relates to the way in which
government ministers should behave and operate as a collective whole
It has three components
Confidentiality
-
Discussions between ministers
(notably in Cabinet)
should remain confidential
-
Attorney General v Jonathan Cape 1976
- diaries of late Richard Crossman
Unanimity
- Once a
policy line has been reached
by ministers,
all ministers must stick to it and maintain a united front (‘unanimity’)
. If they
do not feel able to, as a matter of conscience, they should resign as a minister.
Examples of politicians doing this include: Robin Cook (over war in Iraq, 2003); Boris Johnson and David Davies (over Theresa May’s “Chequers agreement” in 2018). Michael Heseltine resigned in Thatcher government over the Westland Affair in 1986
Confidence
- The
purpose of the united front
is so that
Parliament has confidence in the government
. If it
loses that
, and Parliament passes a
‘vote of no confidence’
,
the government should resign
. The last time this happened was 1979 (James Callaghan).
Cabinet Minister
The Cabinet
⦁ is the
body of senior ministers
at the heart of the
central executive
⦁
chaired by the PM
and
meets weekly
⦁ comprised of
senior ministers
-
Secretaries of State
each one
heading up a government department
,
Lord Chancellor, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Leader of the House of Commons.
⦁ exists as a matter of convention
⦁
ultimate decision-making body of government
Cabinet committees
To relieve the pressure on decision-making,
a number of cabinet committees exist to deal with specific areas of government administration, such as national security
.
The number, terms of reference
and
subject matter of these committees is within the Prime Minister's control.
Cabinet committee decisions have the same status as decisions of the full Cabinet.
You may have heard of the '
COBRA' committee
in the context of
national emergencies
.
COBR
stands for Cabinet Office Briefing Room and it
provides the mechanism for agreeing government response to major emergencies such as a terrorist attack or pandemic.
COBRA
- Cabinet Office Briefing Room are Cabinet meetings
⦁ Is a
senior member
of the government responsible for a particular portfolio of policy areas.
⦁He /she is the
political head of their department
and
takes direct responsibility for it's operations.
⦁However,
ultimate authority rests with the PM
& Cabinet ministers can be fired and hired on the
PM's authority alone
Cabinet Ministers are also
Privy Counsellors
All government ministers is bound collectively
by the decisions of the Cabinet
Minister of State
- are second ranking ministers and not therefore members of the Cabinet