I spoke yesterday on the report of the House Committee about the definition of a primary home for members of the House of Lords. I really do not like the principle underlying the question of expenses for second homes. I would have preferred if there was a simple allowance set at a higher rate for…
I’m a great believer in the Sure Start programme. It offers real support to parents and gives children a better start in life. Sure Start is a government flagship programme to support families on low incomes through children’s centres in (as of October 2009) 3,151 locations. The target is at least 3,500 children’s centres by…
In conversation with local dairy farmers, I hear significant anxieties about the sustainability of the industry. It is clear that the emergency funds distributed from the Dairy Fund do not provide a long-term solution. There need to be some measures put in place which deal with the fundamental problem which is, simply put, that the…
The Easter recess dates have been announced and we now seem to be working to the following timetable. The House rises for the Easter recess on Tuesday 30 March. It returns on Tuesday 6 April, when it is assumed the election will be announced, with ‘wash-up’ taking place from then until Thursday 8 April. Parliament…
When I arrived in this House, after some 14 years service in the Commons, I was very impressed by the extent to which both Peers’ questions to Ministers, and the Ministerial replies, were actually concerned to exchange useful information. MPs don’t tend to operate on that basis. Government backbenchers there want to give…
I got up very early this morning in order to read through another 80 statutory instruments for the Merits Committee. Nothing much that was noteworthy, but it is bad news that this enormous volume of new subsidiary legislation is being pushed through in the dying days of this Parliament. Corners are being cut in terms…
This week I thought I woud pose three questions that I think are relatively straightforward. They don’t require an exhaustive knowledge of peers but should appeal to those with a reasonable knowledge of recent political history. As usual, the first two readers to supply correct answers will be the winners. 1. Name at least two former…
On Wednesday evening the parliamentary timetable and my own dovetailed for once. Those of us opposed to the Personal Care at Home Bill trounced the Government on 4 votes at report stage. Carefully choreographed by 5 of us, Lords Lipsey and Warner in the lead, with Earl Howe for the Tories, Baroness Barker for the…
The issue of Anglican bishops in the House of Lords should not be tackled separately from that of further Parliamentary reform. It is also linked with the issue of whether or not the church of England should be established by law. Humanists should note that an any given day there will usually be more of…
