Peers are still getting used to their new seating positions in the House. One colleague sat next to me yesterday bemoaned the fact that he had still not got used to sitting where he was. For most members, it is a major physical as well as political change. Only the Bishops (and those cross-benchers who actually use the cross-benches) haven’t moved.
For those peers now sitting on the Government benches (to the left of the picture) there is one unexpected change. I was forewarned by a former Government deputy chief whip. ‘You’ll get the sun in your eyes’. He was right. In the afternoon, the sun shines through the stained glass windows above the Opposition benches. If it is a really sunny day, then the glare can be such that it is difficult to see who is on the Opposition benches. Putting one’s hand to cover the eyes – or wearing a baseball cap! – do not seem appropriate, so we have to squint and hope we make out who is sat opposite. We never had this problem in Opposition.
Its the other way round for MPs though.
I have often noticed the opposition benches in the Commons being blinded by the summer sunlight while the government benches sit in pleasant shade and wondered how (if at all) it affected their ability to see the other side.
It seems that unlike the Lords, being an MP sitting on the government side has its perks.
(I’m surprised no one has thought to put sun-blinds over the windows by now)
IanVisits: Indeed. As you indicate, the positions in the two chambers are reversed.
Though sun-blinds are used in committee rooms, they have not been used in the chamber. I am not sure if this is for techincal or aesthetic reasons.
What are the regulations on headgear in the house? Might a stylish fedora or trilby do the trick? Or a pair of sunglasses?
McDuff: Only ladies can wear hats, though nowadays none do. It used to be the case that men could wear top hats, but that ceased to be the case many years ago. Interesting you should mention a fedora. When Gladstone offered a peerage to the poet Alfred Tennyson, the PM was worried he may attend wearing his traditional fedora. In the event, he need not have worried. By the time Tennyson accepted the peerage he was so old that he virtually never attended. I could find only one occasion that he actually voted.
Given that our British sunshine is so infrequent these days is it realy such an anoyance. (I have heard it said that we are the only country to get four seasons in one day)
Lord Buzard: You are correct in that it tends to be a temporary annoyance!
Surely the trick is to have a quiet word with those in charge of scheduling and try to arrange that debates in which you have an interest do not occur during the afternoon.
My Lords and Ladies;
“So let the sun shine in,
Face it with a grin…”
and have both eyelids lowered; firmly closed.
1. A certain Janet Goodrich’s book “Natural Vision Improvement” could be turned to, for many illustrated and captivatingly-interesting eye-exercises and pastimes.
Against sun-glare the immediate-action that every-one including the infant and the centenarian must take, and take it before the sun-glare actually hits the eyes, is to sharply look away and quickly lower both upper eyelids.
New worlds of exercise and pastime will follow later, from behind such ‘closed-eyes’.
One very helpful action recommended by Janet Goodrich is to wear a pair of ‘pinhole glasses’; mainly for generally better eye acuity, but I have found them restful and pleasant to wear even in Queensland’s dazzling sunshine.
(Google uk gives several suppliers, starting at about £5 a pair).
I find ‘Refreshing Eye Drops’ from the chemist to be a great help for my eyes , both before and after a lot of light and tension, such as at the computer or in bright sun shine.
2, Your own self-discovered or deliberately developed eye-movement, exercise or refreshment will become of major help; such as very slowly and fixed-speed using your fingertips to massage around your eyes, temples and ears, then back to more gently deal with your eyelids and eyelashes.
Filtered sunlight will be helping to add interest to the actual ‘seeing’ and ‘looking’ functions of the internal-parts of your eyes; but these should remain secondary to the primary external musculature tasks of controlledly swiveling and ‘squeezing-relaxing’ the eyeballs’ surrounding musculature.
The slower your movement the more equally-analogue, perceptible and controllable your eyes, mind and body will become.
Should anyone enquire what you think you’re doing, the textbook answer is “Safely sunning my eyes, thank you very much”.
For a yet broader whole-body-mind context, containing such eye-exercises as the above, and a circumspect range for the whole body and mind, see “Holistic Living” by Dr Patrick Pietroni (the first British Holistic Medical Association president).
Apart from the above, (and much more) it is said that to lower one’s head to one’s knees not only helps a healthy surge of blood to refresh your eyes and brain.
It also may put spying pairs-of-eyes ((e.g. on the opposite benches [ coming at you like Messyshmit pie-lots, out-of-the-sun’ ] into a panic (“Oh God, he was there only a moment ago; how could he have got away so quickly ? I was watching his every move. God, forgive me, I hope he’s alright”).
The problem then would be “Can I have my eyes open when I sit up again, so’s I can enjoy the looks on their faces ?”.
Well, one last microskill may be useful, flashing one or both of the eyes.
The opposite of blinking: from eyelids lowered position, quickly open-and-close first one eye, then the other, then both together. Flashing needs to be practised much faster than blinking, because it is not so ‘instinctive’.
One needs to be careful who sees one flashing ones eyes, ‘though …….
I have to go now;
need to get some practice in,
of the above and more,
want to be facing up to tomorrow’s glaring Sun
(I hope).
Lord N it’s hardly the bleachers over there is it? I used to sit where you do now and I was always grateful to see a few rays streaming in through the coloured stained glass. And now I’m in your old seat I’m getting chilly with no hope of respite.
Best enjoy it (or bring sunglassses?)
Baroness M: Bad news. If you think it’s chilly now, wait until December.
Sunglasses !
That’d attract more viewers to BBC Parliament TV –
“look, there’s more than one noble there with eye-injuries suddenly” —
“or in disguise” — ?
Intrigue !
Why not make a shilling hiring out black slouch hats for nobles to wear, too ?
For the added privilege of viewing and gainin soul-comfort from all that beautiful and no doubt awe-inspiring colour-stained glasa, nobles might look at initiating an internal “Enjoyment Tax” pehaps adding “and a ha’penny for now having a warmer seat – – (than the noble personage opposite) – – ?
Where are those durned smileys and laughs!?
Lord N isn’t joking about the chill in the Chamber in winter. The air conditioning/ heating comes up through the vents in the floor of the benches and the air rises so that the back benchers are much warmer than the ones nearer the ground. There can be a fearsome chill around the feet. Lady Amos when Leader used to keep a stock of wonderful shawls to ward off the chill. My answer is to forego skirts and wear trousers and thick tights in winter. The antiquated systems in the house are understandable given the age of the boiler system and the reliance on underfloor heating via grates (like a Roman hypocaust or Vicotorian conservatory).
Lovely to have colourful shawls; but what about the dear leader’s feet, my lady ?
My answer would be to wear thick brushed-cotton long-legged pyjama-trousers, with thick woollen socks pulled up over their ‘cuffs’, thickish trousers, with thin tightly-woven and long and hard-wearing socks pulled up over them, and slip-off-able shoes or sandals, over the top of the hard-wearing socks.
And yes! do carry at least two shawls, one for wrapping one’s toes and ankles in.
One might also have thought that the incoming cold air, whilst naturally at floor level, could be passed over pipes taking away the used hot air ?