- My desk in the Lords
In my earlier post (‘If only…’) I mentioned that we had to work in limited space. There is not the capacity in the Lords for each peer to have an office. The most one can hope for is desk space.
I thought I would illustrate the point with a picture of my desk. This shows my working space. The picture is misleading only in that the desk is relatively tidy: you should see it, and the surrounding floor space, when business gets really busy.
This is just one desk out of ten in the room. As I pointed out in my earlier post, I mention this for information, not for complaint. There are advantages to sharing a room with colleagues, the view from the window is superb, and I am within the Palace and thus within reach of some very good facilities. Not all my colleagues are so fortunate.
My university office is at least six times the size of what I have in the Lords!
I’ve been told photography inside Parliament is against the law without a permit, my Lord! I don’t want to be grassing you up to the Lord Speaker now!
Only kidding. Wow, it certainly is modest. I have more space in my office!
Adrian Kidney: photography is allowed without a permit in a member’s office. Elsewhere, a permit is required. Mind you, it doesn’t stop certain MPs (well, one in particular) taking pictures during the course of meetings!
Lord Norton: I wonder whether you may be referring to a certain Austin Haddock?
Having witnessed your desk at Hull University, i feel it is only fair that you take a photo to compare the two. During my first visit to your office, I remember having to stand on my toes to see you behind all those books. I do, of course, jest!
Paul: You may think that, I could not possibly comment.
I was thinking of posting a photograph of my university office for the purpose of comparison. You may not recognise it, though. We have just had a major refurbishment, which has meant moving out for ten weeks and we are just moving back in – which means re-shelving several thousand books. There will, though, still be quite a number on my (new) desk.