The independent crossbench peers number about 200 and include about 30 hereditary peers. As some will remember the reforms of 1999 threw out the vast majority of hereditary peers (about 700) but a last minute deal allowed 92 to remain in the House of Lords until the second phase of reform (more about this another…
A full three days after the local council and London Mayoral elections the BBC Radio Newscasts still refer to Labour’s results as ‘disastrous’ and ‘the worst for 40 years’ and places them near to the top of the news headlines. What, I wonder, is the editorial policy behind these kind of comments? Does it add to our knowledge,…
Today we had a debate on how far the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been achieved. For those unfamiliar with MDGs, these are a series of actions spelt out by the UN to eradicate poverty in the most deprived countries of the world by 2015. So some 20 peers with wisdom and experience recorded their…
We’re about to pour back into the House of Lords after the Easter break. What are going to be the hot issues? Undoubtedly one is the failure to insert a specific free speech clause in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill on Wednesday. An amendment to rectify this has been tabled by Lord Waddington among…
It may be too early to talk about the return of democracy in Zimbabwe – but one thing is certain: people when acting together can and do overturn even the most entrenched dictatorship. There have been constant questions and debates in the Chamber about Zimbabwe most notably by Lord Blaker who has kept alive concern…
