I shall be in Brussels tomorrow visiting the European Parliament. Most of my visits are normally in a parliamentary capacity, though this visit is primarily for academic purposes. Brussels is handy for Eurostar, though the split site for the EP (Brussels and Strasbourg), with MEPs decanting to Strasbourg for a week each month, remains a scandal, wasting both time and money. The EP is perfectly capable of meeting in plenary session in Brussels, as it is doing this week.
The ‘beyond’ refers to when I get back. Among posts I am planning early next week are:
What’s in a name?
Public versus private (life, that is, not ownership)
Dining in the Lords
The last two are prompted by comments in response to earlier posts. Any other topics that readers think may be appropriate for later posts?
It would be interesting to read about the process of putting a speech together: how long it takes to research and write, where you get your material from, how you deal with any feedback etc.
Wow! Thanks for asking!
First would be an update on what is happening on the reform of the HoL. Is there a divide between the Houses on the current and proposed arrangements? Was the Salisbury convention mortally wounded after the negotiations on the 1999 Act?
What are the views of the non-blogging Peers regarding this site? Can we expect more to join? What benchmarks are you looking for in this six month trial? Memo to Site Admin: the Blogroll needs a hard pruning and the clock is wrong.
What (legal) mechanisms exist to force a government to quit?
Does The Queen have a regular consultation with a representative of the HoL, similar to the weekly audience with the PM?
Views on the journey of the Olympic flame, and beyond.
Desert Island Discs time – what one piece of music, book, and luxury, would you take?
Thanks, Tiz
I think readers would be interested to know how you became a Lord. Who approached you, what discussions took place, how your full title is decided, and any other interesting background.
In fairness to MEPs they are keen to be based solely in Brussels, but it’s a matter for the governments of the EU Member States.
BTW, you can sign a petition on this at http://www.oneseat.eu/
It’s great to see that you’ve taken up blogging – it seems you’re been making quite an impression too!
I would be interested to hear about the role of Ministers in the Lords.
Since relatively few are ever members of the Cabinet, do they really have much influence within government?
Is it better for a peer to speak with a Minister in the Commons to voice their concerns about a particular issue?
abolition of parliament?
Failing that perhaps discussing the Lords justifications for throwing out 90 day detention (as the constiutional safeguard) or perhaps discuss post legislative scrutiny in the Lords?
Stuart: indeed, MEPs are very keen for the EP to be based solely in Brussels. They are as frustrated as everyone else that they have to go through the environmentally unfriendly and expensive process of decamping to Strasbourg for a week (in practice, four days) once a month.
Thanks to How Ridiculous, ladytizzy and Matt for their suggestions. They are extremely interesting questions. That´s another way of saying that I will be happy to tackle them. Ladytizzy´s may keep me busy for some time!
Please feel free to continue suggesting topics. This experiment lasts for six months, so there´s plenty of time to respond to reader´s suggestions.
Lord Norton, as an academic how would you define ‘Common Sense’ and do you think academia can do anything to improve its quality and quantity.
I ask the question because as a commodity it is essential to our daily lives. My perception is, that common sense generally is in short supply worldwide.
I’m very political and could go on and on about the things that I want to see implemented but I think that would bore everyone.
My question to you (based on ladytizzy’s questions) is:
How do you see the relationship and role of the House of Lords developing? How would you like them to develop?
‘This experiment lasts for six months..’ ? Oh, Lord Norton, I think we can already agree that this has been a rip-roaring success – so I fully anticipate this will be on ongoing feature of our constitutional life!
Of course, after the obligatory six-month ‘end of pilot’ pis..er, ‘celebrate our success’ party.. and ‘evaluation exercise’.
Mind you, I think we need a few extra ‘blogging Lords’ over the summer months, as a diversion from the hideous ‘Big Brother’ programme on the telly. Maybe you could even have a ‘Diary Room’ feature where you get to spill the beans on what you really think of the fellow ‘Blogging Lords’.. Then again, maybe not…
Thanks for the further suggestions. If this blog does indeed become permanent, then I won´t have any excuse for not responding to all the questions posed. In response to Bedd Gelert´s suggestion to spill the beans on fellow bloggers, I´m not sure I am the best person to undertake the task. As I mentioned on my mini-profile, I tend to see the best in people – and the Lords is a remarkably friendly place. It contains an array of fascinating individuals – I am in awe of what some them have achieved (not least on behalf of others) – and the ethos of the House is extremely co-operative and supportive.
Is there anything the Lords can do about the STFC funding crisis, given how badly the government/Commons seem to be dealing with it?
I will be dealing with most of the substantive questions in separate posts. Let me deal here with one or two that can be dealt with succinctly.
ladytizzy asks: if I were on Desert Island Discs, what book, luxury item etc would I take? Simple. The luxury item would be a dinghy. However, since I gather that is not allowed, I would like to take a book entitled ‘Teach Yourself Swimming’.
Senex asks: how do I define common sense? Common sense is what someone else says that sounds plausible, is something you agree with and which you wish you had thought of. A lack of common sense is displayed by someone who says something that they think sounds plausible but you don’t. OK, it’s not an academic answer; more a common sense one.
ladytizzy asks what other peers think of this blog and what benchmarks are being employed for the six-month trial? I can only respond on the basis of comments made to me by a few colleagues in passing. The response seeme to be very positive; the site is clearly visited regularly by a number of peers and officials. (In the words of one enthusiastic Baroness: ‘I love it’.) Indeed, given the number of colleagues who have told me they have been reading it, I did begin to wonder if the posts were read by anyone outside the Palace of Westminster! The question as to benchmarks is a very good one. I will wait to see what the Hansard Society utilises for the end-of-term assessment. I presume three criteria will be the total number of visits (and daily averages), the number of comments on posts, and the extent of interaction between bloggers and those who comment. I don’t have comparative data, so am not sure at what level to quantify these to judge the experiment a success.
ladytizzy asks some very pertinent questions about how we’ll measure the success of Lords of the blog during the six month pilot period. The Hansard Society will be throughly evaluating the pilot and this, as Lord Norton suggests, includes an analysis of both quantative and qualitative data.
– We’ve already worked through the purpose and strategies for the blog. This was done prior to the pilot in face-to-face meetings with stakeholders and via written project briefs;
– Following the pilot, we’ll canvas the key people involved in the project for their views, this will of course include the blog authors but also the House of Lords administration and other key stakeholders.
– The online behaviour of users will be captured via site analytics, which will reflect hit rates, unique visitors, return visits, duration of visits, key search terms, popular pages and tracking functionality;
– The profiles of people visiting the sites and their attitudes will be gathered through online surveys. These will gauge levels of efficacy pre- and post- pilot and will ask about on- and offline levels of engagement and will seek demographic information. To date we’ve had 103 responses to the pre- and 15 to the post- surveys. If you haven’t already done so, follow the link on the blog homepage to complete these!
In terms of statistics to date, you might be interested that the blog had 4,000 visitors on the day it launched and we’ve just passed 25,000 page views – well beyond our initial expectations!
Andy Williamson
eDemocracy Programme Director
Hansard Society
Thanks for the above answers, and I sincerely hope this means there is a future for this site beyond the six-month experiment.
Would you pencil in a monthly/quarterly update on the figures, please?
Thanks, Tiz
If this site is a pilot is Lord Norton the Wing Commander?
Senex: Well I am often accused of having my head in the clouds!