Changing Pressure-group Politics: The Case of the TUC 1994–2000

Since, the election of a Labour government in 1997 there has been a renewed interest in the changing relationship between the TUC and the government. This article uses the TUC General Council Reports to establish the number of contacts that took place, who initiated the contact, at what level of government the contact occurred and what kind of contact took place for the years 1994 to 2000. The data indicates that the number of contacts between the TUC and government has increased significantly since Labour came to power. As such, it provides the first detailed quantitative evidence about the nature of the relationship between the TUC and the Labour Party in power. However, I also argue that, although the data I present is useful for addressing the question of the extent and type of contacts between the government and the TUC since 1997, its limitations also need to be acknowledged. In contrast to earlier claims by Neil Mitchell, my view is that such data can tell us little, if anything, about the changing power of the unions.     

Recent legal developments

Abstract

THE CASE of R (Pretty) v. Director of Public Prosecutions, gave the House of Lords the opportunity to comment on the issues surrounding the application of the European Convention on Human Rights to the crime of assisted suicide in the case of the terminally ill. A conservative approach was taken in relation to both this issue and indeed in relation to the possibilities of judicial control of the Law Officers of the Crown.     

A Need for Training: Preparing Juvenile and Family Court Judges on Military‐Related Issues

This brief report presents a study undertaken to better understand the training needs of judicial officers related to military issues. A snowball sample of judicial officers and court‐affiliated stakeholders were asked to identify the most critical training topics regarding military issues in juvenile and family court, as well as rate the importance of 13 potential training topics. The highest rated training topics for judicial officers (N = 129) were the (1) Welfare of spouses and children, (2) Protocols to consider when selecting kinship care for children of deployed parents, (3) Mental and physical health consequences of military service and deployment, (4) Reporting standards regarding Intimate Partner Violence or Family Violence, as well as implications for civil case investigation, and (5) Education support for children of deployed parents. Findings suggest a desire in the field for specific training on a multitude of issues related to serving/veteran men and women, spouses, and dependents. Recommendations for such trainings are discussed.