Lord Norton has referred to the Welfare Reform Bill defeats in the Lords, which I’ve been giving some considerable thought to. I voted with the Government against the amendment by Baroness Meacher to continue ESA for young disabled people who have resources of their own to support them and have not contributed to what is…
Ah, a half hour pause in front of the computer after doing 16 local radio interviews this morning about the launch today of our report from the Commission on Assisted Dying, on which I served. A very sympathetic response overall but we’ve also had the predictable responses from two ends of the debate from individuals…
I am not a believer but I love a good sing-along carol service by candlelight with all the traditional carols and hymns, a local schoolboy doing his solo out of tune and readings from the King James version of the Bible. This year we once again gathered in our tiny medieval village church and as…
We had a brief discussion during the Health and Social Care Bill committee last night about whether the new healthcare economic regulator, Monitor, will meet in public. It will apparently. I have always supported having meetings in public and chosen to have them in public whenever there was a choice. But I have realised over…
Like many British, I am deeply ambivalent about the long term ‘European Project.’ My difficulty is that I see the value, indeed the imperative, of Britain being part of a United Europe in perhaps 30, 40, 50 years. I believe a politically united Europe is the only way our distinct culture will survive and thrive…
