To mark her Diamond Jubilee, the Queen yesterday addressed members of both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall. Her speech was short, well judged and well received. There was something of a dig at the sheer volume of legislation that is enacted: “The happy relationship I have enjoyed with Parliament has extended well beyond the…
There are various well-known quotes about Parliament and about each House, though some of the quotations are not what they seem. Many people think the phrase ‘the mother of Parliaments’ refers to Parliament itself. Bright coined the phrase but he described England as the mother of Parliaments. This week, the quiz is on quotations. As…
The House of Lords has recently lost some distinguished members. I was especially sad to hear of the death, last Friday, of Lord St John of Fawsley – Norman St John-Stevas. His greatest contribution to Parliament was, as Leader of the House of Commons in 1979, introducing the motions to establish Departmental Select Committees. He…
I try to balance questions about the Lords (the chamber or its members) with more general questions about Parliament. I revert this week to a previous topic, that of Parliament and war. During the Second World War, both Houses continued to meet (despite a large number of members being away on active service), the parties…
On Friday, the House was sitting and we had the Report stage of the Steel Bill. Some peers were opposed to some of its provisions (the Opposition did not want to put the Appointments Commission on a statutory basis and some hereditary peers opposed abolishing the by-election provision), so in order to make progress – there were…
