A couple of weekend quiz questions.
1. How many members of the House of Lords have held the position of Chief of the Defence Staff? Who are they?
2. Sir Anthony Clarke, the Master of the Rolls, will be introduced into the House of Lords next week. Why will he make history later this year?
10 6? Lords Walker of Aldringham, Guthrie of Craigiebank, Boyce, Inge, Craig of Radley & Brammal
2) He will become one of the new Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Seven former Chiefs of the Defence Staff: Lord Bramall, Lord Craig of Radley, Lord Vincent of Coleshill, Lord Inge, Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, Lord Boyce and
Lord Walker of Aldringham
Sir Anthony Clarke will make history as the first judge to be appointed directly to the Supreme Court.
1) Seven – Lord Bramall, Lord Craig of Radley, Lord Vincent of Coleshill, Lord Inge, Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, Lord Boyce, Lord Walker of Aldringham
2) He will be one of the first Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
1. Seven:
Lord Bramall
Lord Craig of Radley
Lord Vincent of Coleshill
Lord Inge
Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank
Lord Boyce
Lord Walker of Aldringham
2.
He will be the first Judge of the Supreme Court who has not served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary before.
Congratulations to Rob, who got in first with the correct answer to both questions. Commiserations to Croft, who overlooked Lord Vincent, and to Robin Lewis and Ulysses who were just pipped at the post by Rob. It was clearly a close-run race.
Perhaps next week I will ask which Lincolnshire town Sir Anthony Clarke hails from…
My question, Lord Norton, given that Martin Bell says ‘corruption is endemic’ who are all these super-honest MPs and Lords who are supposed to represent the vast majority of ‘honest hard working Parliamentarians’ ??
Where were they when Elizabeth Filkin was pushed out of her job as the sleaze watchdog ? What were they doing when Andrew Walker was worrying about his future career prospects when he queried the payment of expenses while running the Fees Office ??
I agree a sense of perspective is important. This isn’t ‘tangentopoli’ – yet. The amount of money wasted is a tenth of a percent of the money wasted on failed IT projects and Government waste generally. But the culture of abuse of taxpayers’ funds and the lack of probity of elected and unelected Parliamentarians does make me think that the lack of control mechanisms on expenses and allowances is a good predictor of the shambolic nature of the public finances and the skyrocketing National Debt.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8053005.stm
When even Lord Falconer [no shrinking violet he] is talking about there being ‘toxic assets in the system’, I’m reminded of another phrase from the financial crisis – “Asleep at the switch”
So Sir Anthony Clarke is being granted a life peerage, as is customary for Masters of the Rolls, but will not be a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary? That means although he will be the first Justice to go directly to the Supreme Court, he will still be a peer and so addressed “Lord”.
Bedd Gelert: You lump MPs and peers together but discuss matters relating only to the Commons. Peers may be challenged in respect of anticipating events in the Lords, but can hardly be held responsible for what happens in the Commons.
Jonathan: Yes, he is a Lord who will become a Justice of the Supreme Court without being appointed as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. I am still unaware of how the members of the Supreme Court will be addressed.