Comments on: Influence and an absence of ping pong

By: franksummers3ba

franksummers3ba — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:44:14 +0000

LN,
Thanks for the kind words.

By: lordnorton

lordnorton — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:35:36 +0000

franksummers3ba: Many thanks. Much enjoyed and appreciated.

By: lordnorton

lordnorton — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:35:07 +0000

Adrian Kidney: I organise seminars for my students in Westminster. We have weekly meetings, addressed for example by the Librarian, Serjeant at Arms, Black Rod, the Clerk Assistant and so on, so that the students can get a good appreciation of how the Palace of Westminster is managed. I also variously speak to visiting groups of students, academics and parliamentarians from other legislatures. I can see the value of what you suggest. It would be interesting to have further comments on what you have in mind. Are you envisaging a meeting organised by the authorities or is there any existing body or framework that you had in mind?

By: franksummers3ba

franksummers3ba — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:27:16 +0000

Because others have personaly singled out Lord Norton and made self described deviations from the topic I have decided to join this post. I have been around since January and predict that I will be around less in the future. Therefore, I am leaving a tribute to the Lord who has been my principal host whether to post or read privately. It is an Acrostic Name Verse a genre which I have written mostly to my girlfriends, ex-wife and those I thought might become romantic interests. Occasionaly I use them in a public way as here to someone in an entirely distinct category.
“Lord Philip Norton, Baron of Louth”
*
Lords of the Blog lit my on-line list./
One could observe the outreach of others./
Respect reaches Lord Soley’s early gist/
Drawing us to Noble sisters and brothers./
*
Politics and Parliament in pointed prose/
Hull’s highly honored two Houses partner/
I saw in interesting way ideas pose./
Louth’s Lord led lectures in ether./
I in interest ideas investigated./
Philip Norton led as we debated./
*
Now, I have known some people in my life./
Out among the lands in peace and strife./
Review, his Lordship in Pennsylvania read./
That gives him ties to these United States./
Ohio, where I studied, nears Penn’s bed./
Nonetheless, we bridged some old debates./
*
Baron of Louth at Hull devotedly teaches./
America’s revolution and more divides us./
Rightly he preserves Wilberforce’s focus/
“On Buxton” might he make speeches./
Now I live near former CSA beaches./

Of the Queen’s Apology to Acadians also/
Frank has yet said little in this flow./
*
Lord Norton I give this piece of text./
Our word communion a blessing’s been./
Under this great sky what comes next?/
That’s harder than to tell the seen./
Here you’ve earned my interest keen./

By: Adrian Kidney

Adrian Kidney — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:10:43 +0000

Lord Norton,

Again, also off-topic, but do you ever hold meetings with staff of either House?

A lot of House staff (in my end, the Commons) have been working for many years in the House but do not have much of an idea how Parliament works. Equally, staff morale has taken serious hits in the past year with the expenses scandals. Particularly in the Facilities Departments of both Houses, which interact with Members quite a lot.

I have a feeling some of this could be improved upon by one or two MPs/Lords say, dropping in on a staff event/conference and talking about their experience of House services and what they seek from them. Additionally they’d love to learn more about Parliament.

I appreciate you may not be involved in the House of Lords management, and certainly not in the Commons, but perhaps it could be passed along?

By: lordnorton

lordnorton — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:37:59 +0000

Hannah Smith: Thanks for your comments. My visit to St George’s was actually my second visit to the school. I came early last year, so I was very happy to return and will be pleased to come again in the future. I’m glad you found the talk useful. I had opened by explaining why politics (the resolution of issues of policy that are going to affect a particular community) affects everyone – people may say they are not interested in politics, but to say that it doesn’t affect them is untrue. I then went on to explain the relevance of Parliament as the body that has to give assent to measures of public policy that are binding. Parliament discusses and assents to measures that have a profound affect on people’s lives and behaviour. They include measures on which people outside Parliament have strong views, though views may be divided. I took a few issues on which to sound out the views of those in the audience, including the issues you mention. I found the outcomes of the various votes extremely interesting. As you will have seen, some issue produced a very clear majority on one side, whereas on others it was less clear-cut.

By: Croft

Croft — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:18:26 +0000

Thanks for that very full answer. As is often the case the truth is not very neat and is messy to categorise which is disappointing as clear figures are so useful!

By: Hannah Smith

Hannah Smith — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:53:10 +0000

I know this is probably ‘off-topic’, as it were, but I’m a Year 12 student in the Sleaford Joint 6th Form (mostly St. Georges, though I do take Biology at Carres, which, I must admit, is very interesting!) and you came in to talk to us about the House of Lords today! (13th Nov.)

Now, I must congratulate you on the informative presentation you gave us all, and I even found the time to look you up on Wikipedia, which led me to this blog! (Yes, I know I shouldn’t strictly speaking use Wikipedia, due to its more than occasional inaccuracies, but for my purpose just now, it suited fine.)

Yes, I very much enjoyed it, and I hope you’d perhaps find the time to come back again (if you’d be so kind, my Lord) for I found it extremely useful (even though I wish to pursue a career in Biology, I do have an interest in politics) and I’m sure some of the others were as enthralled by it as I was!

I was sorry not to catch the beginning of the presentation, as the train was rather late! I arrived when you were asking the audience what they thought about certain issues (e.g. Banning cigarette vending machines, Banning cigarette displays in small shops, Assisted dying, etc.) and now it’s been bugging me all day – I was wondering if I missed anything important? Anything that could be interesting?

(Although, if the rest was anything to go by, I imagine the first part was just as captivating as the latter parts!)

By: lordnorton

lordnorton — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:52:44 +0000

Croft: My choice of language was deliberate. The number of amendments secured in the House each session does include a good number of Government amendments, but the fact they are moved by ministers does not necessarily demonstrate their origins. As I mentioned, there is a tendency (one I have noted more in recent years) for ministers to resist amendments in committee and then to hold meetings with peers who moved the amendments to see if agreement can be reached; sometimes it is a case of reaching a compromise or simply discussing the most appropriate drafting. Sometimes it produces not amendments but Government commitments. Also, there are occasions when reports from committees, especially but not only the Delegated Powers Committee, affect what amendments Government brings forward; it is extremely rare for Government not to accept the recommendations of the Delegated Powers Committee. The reports of the Constitution Committee also had a notable impact in respect of the Parliamentary Standards Bill. Some amendments are the result of correspondence between committees and ministers. Hence the methodological problem of getting an accurate figure for the number of amendments that can be attributed to private members (or committees). The impact is far higher than is suggested by looking at the amendments moved successfully by ministers.

By: lordnorton

lordnorton — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:43:56 +0000

Carl Holbrough: Thanks for your comments. As my first inclination was to do a post entitled ‘In defence of the Lords’, I would not challenge your view of how it sounds. I don’t know about being a revered lord, though I do occasionally receive letters that open with ‘Dear Lord’. (Much preferable to the letters that begin ‘Dear peer/MP’.) Glad you enjoy the blog and that you feel it is fulfilling its purpose: that is, to encourage a dialogue. We are pleased with how many hits the blog receives and very impressed by the comments. (I have learned a lot from them.) Fear not: if we ever tire of your contributions, we will try to let you know in characteristically House of Lords fashion: that is, doing it so politely that it is a few minutes before you realise… More seriously, we appreciate very much the contributions that are made.