The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, last night gave evidence to the Joint Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill. Following him, we heard evidence from representatives of THEOS, a Christian think tank, and the British Humanist Association. Earlier, the House of Lords Library published a useful Library research note on religious representation…
I have previously commented on the sheer growth in recent years in the number of all-party parliamentary groups in Parliament. There is a group for virtually every topic you can think of, political and non-political. An all-party group can serve a valuable purpose, bringing together members from all parties with a particular interest in a…
I was at a symposium this morning on the Parliament Act 1911. I spoke on the historical background to the Act. One of the points that I made, repeating what I said in my History of Parliament lecture, is that there was very little public interest in the issue of the second chamber as such during…
The calls for a review of drugs law are becoming more numerous and from a wide political spectrum, as this post on conservativehome by Bruce Anderson demonstrates. The more the momentum develops, the more difficult it becomes for government to continue adopting a Nelsonian stance on the issue. I have also previously commented on calls…
The House of Lords has not always met in its current chamber. Parliament went up in flames in 1834. A new building was designed, the work of Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin, and that is the Palace we see today. In the interim, the Commons met in the chamber of the House of Lords, the walls being strong…
