In the UK Constitution, Parliament provides the primary public forum in which the government is held to account on behalf of the electorate. The idea that the government and its ministers are, collectively and individually, responsible to Parliament for their policies, actions and inactions is perhaps the core principle on which accountability within the framework of the political constitution is based. This chapter opens by briefly contrasting the mechanisms of political and legal accountability within the constitution, before going on to examine the doctrine of ministerial responsibility to Parliament, considering its requirements, operation and effectiveness.
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