I was at Westminster today picking my way through the police lines and watching the mounted police advance towards Parliament Square. Tonight the student protesters broke some windows at the splendid building there that houses our new Supreme Court. That upset me more than any other damage they did. It symbolised the rule of law pitted…
There was a brief debate last night on an amendment to the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill on whether or not we should have compulsory voting. Lord Snape argued the case for. The general tenor was against. I conceded that there are arguments for making voting compulsory but I was with those who argued…
The Government suffered another defeat in the House on Monday on an amendment to the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. The amendment provides that the referendum on the Alternative Vote must be held before 31 October 2011. It was carried by 199 votes to 195. The voting was interesting: For the amendment: Labour 149, Crossbench…
This was an interesting question yesterday: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/101207-0001.htm#10120738000510 It arose from Sinn Fein’s reluctance to take their seats when required to take the oath in its present form. http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/oath-of-allegiance/ I have been aware of this issue for many years. Many Scottish nationalists don’t like it and neither do those who feel we should be a republic. This matter should not…
‘All politicians are liars’. Or are they? It’s a difficult pitch to defend in the present climate but in my long experience I think most politicians are no more or less truthful then the average person. What a politician says is very often recorded either by the media or by Hansard. So unless you are…
Throughout the time I have been Convenor of the Cross Benches I got used to the ill-disguised jibes directed at the Cross Benches – there are too many of us, it was said, we don’t get out to vote, we don’t contribute to the nitty gritty of legislation, we don’t attend enough. Some of this was/is…
Yesterday (Friday) the House met and debated reform of the House. Next Friday, the chamber will also be used to debate the same subject – but this time the debaters will not be peers but pupils from a number of state schools. There will be teams from four schools, each advancing the case for one of the…
Peter Hennessy is one of our foremost contemporary historians. He was introduced into the Lords on 25 November and he made his maiden speech yesterday during the Second Reading debate on the House of Lords Reform Bill (the Steel Bill). He made clear where he now stands on the issue of an elected House: “I…
A number of peers are active in the charitable sector. Some (including among the list of new peers recently announced) have been elevated for their work in the sector. This week’s quiz focuses on peers who are active in the field. As usual, the first two readers to supply the correct answers will be the…
