Sticking with Lord Norton and Lord Tyler’s theme of Select Commons committees and their powers. Before I came into parliament I was summoned twice to appear before the Commons Health Ombudsman’s Committee. It was an experience I shall never forget. Both occasions followed investigations by the Ombudsman of serious failures of administration by the NHS.…
Baroness Meacher has tabled amendments at Report Stage of the Police and Social Responsibility Bill (for debate today Wednesday 13th July) to discuss the issue of ‘legal highs’. Mephedrone was one of the early ones, now there are clever chemists in China and indeed everywhere else creating new synthetic chemical stimulants every week. As one…
Yesterday we crossbenchers elected a new crossbench convenor to replace Baroness d’Souza, who has decided to retire from the role. She has done a magnificent job. It’s a full time commitment with few resources. It’s a difficult role because all the crossbenchers are strongly independent and rarely share a common view on bills. So it’s…
An article in the Guardian today by Lords Adonis and Tyler about the true nature of the House of Lords today is worth reading. I’m afraid their descriptions of current peers are well observed. That’s why we shouldn’t fear an elected second chamber. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/26/lords-reform-overdue
I’m taking a leaf out of Lord Norton’s book here and setting a quiz. Why should he have all the fun?. I was spurred onto this by noting that the Earl of Sandwich, whose photo appeared behind Lady Boothroyd in my last post, had an ancestor noted not only for his gastronomic genius but also…
