Second Chamber?

Tim Barnett muses on whether the select committees are starting to fill the role a second chamber would normally play – detailed scrutiny and improvement of legisaltion.

I found his comment “The party Parliamentary caucuses are too small for a Select Committee chair – even if tempted and backed by their Committee – to realistically take a sustained brave stand against a Minister or Cabinet also in her or his caucus” quite interesting. It reflects my understanding also that if push comes to shove the Minister will always get the select committee to go along, as long as they have a majority on it. But a smart Minister will leave a Select Committee alone as long as they don’t fundamentally change the purpose of the bill.