A committee of MPs has just reported on ways to “make the Commons matter more, increase its vitality and rebalance its relationship with the executive, and to give the public a greater voice in parliamentary proceedings”. It was set up by the House of Commons in the wake of the expenses revelations and was chaired…
Regular readers will know that I am sceptical of the ability of the two Houses of Parliament to deal effectively with legislation. However, exceptions prove the rule. Last Thursday, as part of the prorogation process, a Private Member’s Bill I have been piloting through the House of Lords received its Royal Assent. And I think…
The afternoon after the night before, and here is my report, as promised. So much for the claim that the House of Lords makes the Commons – and the Government majority there – think again. David Davis MP, former Conservative Shadow Home Secretary and leading campaigner against attacks on civil liberties, previously described Minister’s attempts to…
I’ve written here on LordsoftheBlog before about ‘ping-pong’. As we approach ‘prorogation’ – the term used to describe the bringing to an end of a parliamentary session, and the short hiatus until the next one – Bills are going back and forth between the two Houses once again. Most particularly, the Government has suffered defeats…
I have just returned from the Council of Europe “Forum for the Future of Democracy”, attending on behalf of the Lord Speaker. Curiously, nobody challenged my right to be there, as an unelected legislator. I listened a lot and spoke a little. The Council gathers together roughly twice as many countries as the EU, from…
