The Constitution Unit at University College London has today published a report arguing that there should be a moratorium on the creation of peerages. It contends: ‘The House of Lords’ effective functioning has already been compromised by the recent rapid rise in membership, in ways which are damaging its effectiveness. Any further increase in size…
I am spending the week commuting between the annual conference of the Political Studies Association (PSA), which this year is being held in London, and the Lords. This morning I was at the conference speaking, at rather short notice, on the English Question and the coalition. The purpose of this post, though, is to focus…
Recent blogs about which equipment we should be using in the House of Lords to access the internet struck me as being a housekeeping matter. As legislators shouldn’t we be more concerned about whether the internet is working for the benefit of us all? Much of the debate in Parliament has been about net neutrality. …
At last! I feel as though I have been a lone voice calling for the international community to accept the principle of removing the most brutal dictators from power – or regime change as it is now called. Now it seems to be increasingly accepted as the statement from Obama, Sarkozy and Cameron indicate. As…
In the last few days I have suddenly been receiving emails and posts on my Facebook asking about muslims, immigration and the English Defence League. Why are people in my peaceful home town of Weymouth suddenly getting all worked up about these issues? Weymouth is not a town with very much ethnic diversity. The latest…
Congratulations to Ulysses and Dave H who were the winners of the last quiz. I have been somewhat delayed in posting the latest quiz (for the reasons see here), but here it is. As usual, the first two readers to supply the correct answers will be the winners. 1. Name three current members of the…
I completely disagree with Lord Lucas! I declare an interest as someone doing some work for Apple but I nevertheless bought my own iPad and love using it wherever I go – including the chamber. As a small light device it is much easier than the Parliamentary laptop or bundles of papers. I download PDFs…
We have been allowed to use iPads in the chamber of the House of Lords, so I have bought one. After a couple of weeks of use it is clear to me that we should not consider issuing them to members. Not that the iPad is a bad device. I am enjoying using mine. But…
Some years ago I was chair of the committee in overall charge of Oxford University’s admissions policy and I spent a great deal of my time in outreach activity. In fact, Oxford has spent many £millions over the years on attracting students from all sorts of backgrounds to apply to Oxford. The result is, according…
