Can The British System Of Government Be Considered A Cabinet Government

To what extent can the British system of government be considered a cabinet government?

Cabinet government is a system of government where cabinet is the main policy maker, it is the center of government, it is able to oversee and largely control government activities and it forms the base of collective ministerial responsibility. In recent years though, it has lost, to some extent its policy making function as large departments have become more independent and it now deals with emergencies in special meetings that the outcomes are secret. Half a century ago the British system could be considered as cabinet government as it represented the collective identity of the government, all important domestic and many foreign policy decisions
This is strictly opposed be socialists on the left like Tony Ben. There are though certain limits to which these powers can be used such as limitations, personality, variet of Prime Ministers and the power of patronage. For example it would be much easier to exercise power as an influential politician such as Blair and Thatcher than someone who was not as gifted when adressing the public like Gordon Brown. The Prime Minister has access to these Formal powers which are, the power of patronage which allows him/her to appoint and dismiss ministers, the power to conduct foreign policy and negotiating treaties and excercising control over the cabinet. There are also though, some informal powers which include making government policy, acting as a government spokesman and leading the nation in times of emergency. The Prime Minister can set the agenda, when it comes to national security the Prime Minister takes the final decision, he or she selects memebers of cabinet committees and decide what they will focus on. Thatcher particularly wanted all these committees to be adressing her first and informing her about their recommendations. The Prime Minister is also in charge of the Civil Service and actually adresses them and informs them on the way to do their job. A case of this was with the change of the law with Tam Dalyell and Clive Ponting involved in the
One advantage of the cabinet system is that it effectively comes up with plans for legislations, and the limited number of members in the cabinet allows for decisions to be made realtively swiftly. Members of the cabinet often have different views, which means a variety of approaches tend to be considered. The existance of a shadow cabinet, which is made up of members of the oppostion party, means the actions of the current cabinet are constantly under scrutiny. For this reason the cabinet is careful to be functional at all times and avoid displays of conflict or inefficiency. Furthermore, there are cabinet committees that have started to be of full use in the 1960s. They have increasingly taken over from the full cabinet in terms of policy and decision making. It contains around 5 cabinet ministers who meet regilarly to discuss a specific area of government policy. Some of these commmittees are permanent dealing with matters such as the economy, defence and foreign affairs but there also some temporary ones. There is aswell individual ministerial responsibility which is the convention that a minister should resign if their department makes a serious political or personal error. In practice, this usually means that a minister is responsible to Parliament and must face questioning and crtiticism.If a Cabinet minister feels that he/she cannot defend a policy, he/she has the option to resign from