Lord Sassoon, the Treasury Minister, repeated the statement on the Comprehensive Spending Review on Wednesday afternoon. There was considerable competition to question him. Though the time was extended to allow more questions than usual, not all those who were keen to ask questions were able to do so. Pictured above are three peers who did put…
I am slightly nervous of using my first LordsoftheBlog post to be slightly controversial. I was given good advice when I moved up the corridor from the Commons to the Lords: “Remember they are very different, the Lords is much friendlier & it pays to be more consensual.” I have been mindful of trying to…
In the present financial difficulties ways and means must be found to keep essential local institutions functioning. This will require innovation and creativity. I am giving below two examples from my neighbourhood in Somerset Letter to the Somerset Standard : With reference to the proposed closing of Frome Magistrates Court , if this happens, Mendip District, with…
Wednesday was dominated by the Comprehensive Spending Review, but later in the day there was a significant event in the Lords in relation to the European Union. The Lisbon Treaty accords a role to national parliaments in the European law-making process – something they did not previously have – enabling them to refer proposed legislation back…
On Monday I led a debate in the Lords about the reform of financial provision on divorce. I called for change, as I have done for 30 years, of a law which is widely regarded as unfair, uncertain and expensive. Couples ought to know with some certainty what are the principles that will govern the…
As a non-member of the Constitution Committee, I have only just had time to look at the transcript of the Deputy Prime Minister’s evidence, which Lord Norton refers to. This has just been published, if you want to read it for yourself. There was one issue in particular, which I thought should give heart…
As most of us had read or heard the CSR statement read out in the House of Commons, there was some debate as to whether it was necessary to repeat it in the House of Lords. We decided it was and it was read out again – all 65 minutes of it. This left little…
I sat rather despondently in for the statement on defence today. Whatever ones views about this it is not by any definition a ‘strategic’ review. It is essentially about a programme of cuts. If the government is right in their economic judgement then it could be an acceptable policy. If they are not right then…
I was having a discussion with friends recently and mentioned that the UK was sixth in the world league table for manufacturing. Some expressed surprise at this. Like many people they think that Britain had ceased to be a manufacturing country. I sometimes think this is a southern middle class myth and yet there is…
