Rumours began to circulate last week that the Government was going to introduce a guillotine on House of Lords business for the first time in its history. I still don’t know how serious or real the threat was but it is now virtually certain that they will force through a constitutional Bill (the Parliamentary Voting…
In the House of Commons, it is possible to raise a point of order with the Speaker. One cannot do that in the Lords. We are a self-regulating chamber, so formally the authority figure for appeal and enforcement comprises the the House itself. Any member can rise to call attention to a transgression of the rules, but one…
Greetings from America where the shooting last week is giving rise to heart heartsearching – as it should. The cause most discussed is the growing abusive and violent rhetoric currently used in political debate here. Regular visitors can not help but notice the growing violence in the way opponents refer to each other. The next…
Frustration with politicians often has its roots in anger about an issue where politicians talk tough but don’t really deliver. Bank bonuses are a classic example. There is very real anger about this and understandably so. There is also a very real problem. Financial services and banking are critically important to the UK economy but…
I was sad to read that Lord Strabolgi died on Christmas Eve. He had the distinction of being one of the longest serving members of the House – he entered in 1953 – and a Labour hereditary peer. He was an active member until the very end. We variously chatted over lunch in the Bishop’s Bar. …
I have just been to a large and happy wedding, with guests who came from all over the world to witness the union of two young people and their families. I have blogged and written about this before, but once again I am reminded that cohabitation and marriage are not the same, and should not…
During recesses, peers engage in a range of activities. Some will be pursuing their professional careers. Some go off to undertake various voluntary and charitable activities. Lord McColl of Dulwich, for example, a leading surgeon, usually spends his summers on a Mercy Ship off the coast of Africa performing surgery. This Christmas, Lord Forsyth has…
There is a paradox at the heart of the ‘Big Society’ message namely that it can be identified as desirable by legislators, but it cannot be legislated for. For if we legislate for the Big Society then it is no longer society which expands but the state. People comply with rules because they are law-abiding,…
I was interested in Baroness Murphy’s observation that the blogosphere is “populated by the sad, the obsessed, the eccentric, the fanatic and the ignorant”. I suppose I may qualify under two or three – even four? – of the headings! I try to keep my fanatical observations to my own blog. However, I was not sure what…
