In commenting on the attendance and voting behaviour of the Lords Spiritual, I sometimes half-jokingly say that if two Bishops are present and there is a vote, one will usually go into Content lobby and the other into the Not Content lobby. Last night provided some evidence for my observation. Lord Alli introduced an amendment to…
Last Wednesday in Grand Committee we had a debate on a report from the Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee. The report was on post-implementation reviews of secondary legislation. It may sound a dry and complex topic, but it is extremely important. A large volume of law each year takes the form of secondary, rather than…
For this week’s quiz, have a look at The Work of the House of Lords 2007-08. The front cover has four pictures, three of them showing a front bencher speaking. This week’s questions are: 1. In the picture on the left, who is the minister at the dispatch box? 2. In the third picture, who…
As mentioned in an earlier post, I was successful in the ballot for a Thursday debate and my motion – to call attention to the case for enhancing the means available to the House of Lords to scrutinise legislation and public policy – occupied the the first of today’s two debates. The debate was notable for the…
Justice Secretary Jack Straw appeared before the Constitution Committee yesterday for his annual meeting with the committee. One of the issues he was pressed on was the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill. As I pointed out, the Bill was getting bigger and bigger as the time to deal with it got less and less. The…
