The Lords has been in the news again over the issue of expenses. The sooner we get the problem sorted the better. As I said on the BBC’s Record Review last week, each House needs a system that is both simple and transparent. The rules and the transactions need to be clear to everybody: transparency is the best…
Last Friday, the House debated a Private Member’s Bill introduced by UKIP peer, Lord Willoughby de Broke. His Constitutional Reform Bill was certainly not lacking in radical provisions (withdrawal from the EU, repeal of the Human Rights Act and the like). I spoke and used the opportunity to link the Bill to the government’s approach…
The Constitution Committee had its final evidence-taking session yesterday on its inquiry into referendums. The witness was Michael Wills, the minister of state in the Department of Justice, who has responsibility for constitutional issues. He came out with some interesting observations. When asked about the role the government should take once a referendum campaign was under…
For anybody who has not seen the news, the House of Lords Appointments Commission yesterday announced they were recommending the appointment of four new life peers who will sit on the cross-benches. They include Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Britain’s most successful Paralympian.
This week’s quiz is on the Lords Spiritual. When I give a talk on the Lords, one of the questions most frequently asked is about the role of the Archbishops and Bishops in the Lords. (The other most frequently asked question is: ‘How do you become a Lord?’) As usual, the first two readers to…
