The Government Chief Whip, Lord Bassam, told us last week that we had to have shorter questions and answers. The result was dramatic. On Tuesday – before his admonition – some 25 Peers got in on Question Time. On Wednesday, immediately after he had told us to be briefer, the number rose to 31 … and I was one of the lucky ones. I also managed to sound especially authoritative, since I had to be so quick that I did not have time to express any qualifications on my claim, and I was holding a vast official-looking report. This was for a separate and following meeting, but it may have persuaded the Minister that I knew what I was talking about,
Two questions remain. Why did the Government Chief Whip warn us about our long-winded Questions and Answers? He is, after all, the most partisan of all the Peers. Why not the Lord Speaker? Isn’t it a bit absurd that she sits looking as silent and stuffed as the Woolsack she sits on throughout Questions?
And how long will this brevity last? Yesterday, 30 Peers participated. How long before we drift down to 25 or so?
Brevity is not necessarily always an asset, I believe. It would be very unfortunate if the Lords started to exchange insubstantial sound bites, as MPs tend to in the Commons. On Wednesday my Lib Dem colleague (Lord) Paddy Ashdown posed a very well researched Question on the situation in Bosnia – on which he is the acknowledged expert – and had to compress it drastically.
No doubt the more garrulous amongst the questioner Peers (and Ministers too) will soon revert to type, and the more conscientious will continue to attempt brevity.
Dear Lord Tyler,
I don’t know if brevity is the soul of wit; but I do know that response is the soul of debate.
On Lord Bassam, do you mean he is the most partisan member of the Lords because of his position as Government Chief Whip or because of his personal behaviour in the Chamber?
Howridiculous.
Why on earth the Lords do not give more power to the Lord’s Speaker I do not know. One only needs to watch the chaos at question time to see at certain times self regulation needs to be dropped and the Lord’s Speaker should call people at Question Time.
Dear Lord Tyler,
Are there any plans afoot to solidify and manage all this parlimentry meddling with the house of lords? It seems to me that barely 6 months goes by before yet another “good idea” for speeding up or “improving” the system is half thought through and put into action.
Yours sincerely,
James Clarke
Dear Lord Tyler
I write to you from Australia, to inform you that your entry has made me smile.
For the record,I doubt not the authority which undoubtedly accompanied your question.
However, I do indeed wonder about the reliability of the answer.
It’s been a rough week for the Government, a declaration that brevity is in order could perhaps been a more helpful statement when contemplating other matters of business.
Yours
Lily