This week’s quiz questions. 1. There are now three members of the Cabinet on the Government Front Bench in the House of Lords. How many former Cabinet ministers sit on the Opposition Front Bench? Who are they? 2. Which peers have served in Cabinet as departmental ministers (that is, excluding the Leader of the House and Lord Chancellor)…
Some readers have already begun to comment, in the thread to the preceding post, on the ministerial reshuffle as it affects the House of Lords. There will now be three peers in the Cabinet, two of them departmental ministers. The most senior is Lord Mandelson, who now heads a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which…
Tabling questions to the Government can serve one of several purposes. One is is to ensure that an issue is drawn to the attention of a minister. The matter may be important but not one that has fully engaged the attention of ministers. The purpose is thus served before the minister has even come to the dispatch box.…
The other evening, one of my friends was offering me his unsolicited comments on Britain’s Got Talent. He was impressed by some of the contestants, but clearly was not a great fan of one of the judges. “He’s so up himself”, he said, “and there’s no self-deprecating humour to offset it.” He added, without pausing…
A number of politicians have rushed in to argue that constitutional reform – be it proportional representation or an elected second chamber – is the answer to the current crisis. The logic of their argument is far from clear. The crisis is one of confidence in our political class, not in our basic constitutional framework. …
