Much of the evidence we have taken in the Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill has tended to be useful and rather worthy. There has been some disagreement, as for example over whether Parliament’s powers in relation to a decision to commit troops to action should be vested in statute or a parliamentary…
I would just add a couple of comments to those of Baroness Murphy on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. There have been two things about the debate of the past week or so that have irritated me immensely. The first point I make wearing my parliamentary hat and the second wearing my academic hat. First, from…
I attended a Hansard Society meeting this evening to discuss e-petitions. The Procedure Committee in the Commons recently published a report recommending that petitions should be permitted to be submitted electronically. It proposed that the constituency MP of the petitioner be asked to serve as a facilitator, that the petitions be posted on the parliamentary website for…
The right to demonstrate is fundamental in a free society. People variously demonstrate in front of Parliament. However, the continued presence of one vocal demonstrator, Brian Haw, has caused particular controversy. His essentially permanent anti-war encampment on Parliament Square has aroused considerable opposition from parliamentarians and their staff. Some have objected because of the noise from…
In a previous post, I argued the value of undertaking comparative analysis. Yesterday I chaired a seminar at the Lords addressed by Keizo Takemi, who has served as a Government Minister in Japan and was a member of the country’s elected second chamber, the House of Councillors, from 1995 to 2007. Though he argued that election increases legitimacy,…
