Astute followers of The Guardian may have noticed that I have a response piece in the paper today, as a retort to Zoe Williams’ article of 13th October about the role of 38 Degrees – the campaign organisation – in debate on the Health and Social Care Bill. I have already received one or two…
What an upside down political world we live in! This evening (Monday), Mark Harper MP, the Conservative Minister who is the detailed designer of the Coalition Government’s proposals for Lords reform, will explain their rationale to a special public meeting of our Joint Committee of MPs and Peers. As one of the brightest and best…
“I’d rather take advice from my valet than from the Conservative Party Conference“, said Conservative Prime Minister Arthur Balfour at the beginning of the last century. Most Conservative Peers seem to agree. I counted a trio of former Tory Chief Whips, and at least a dozen former Cabinet Members, in the Chamber today, and there…
We all should be grateful to Dr Andrew Blick, a Senior Research Fellow at Democratic Audit, and to Lord (Peter) Hennessy for a report they have co-authored. Called The Hidden Wiring Emerges the pamphlet provides the best and most comprehensive analysis yet of the Coalition’s draft Cabinet Manual, published in December 2010. The report raises…
One of our regular readers, @CommentatorIntl, has asked, “Why are there still Bishops in the Lords?” Good Question. The short answer is that successive Prime Ministers and Governments have been too scared of all the other reactionary elements to want to take on the Church of England as well. However, the history of the presence…
