Some months ago a friend asked if I would provide a prize for auction at a school where she is a governor. In a fit of generosity I agreed – and then forgot about it! Until yesterday when I received an email saying ” I won your kind contribution to the Greenside Primary School auction and…
Many people I suspect see the House of Lords as a largely static body. Nothing could be further from the truth. We lose about twenty members a year. The three most recent losses are Lord Bledisloe, a distinguished lawyer, Lord Blaker, a former minister, and Lord Kingsland, the Shadow Lord Chancellor. We also acquire new members,…
The saga of the Parliamentary Standards Bill continues. On my way to a meeting this morning, a former Labour Cabinet minister saw me to say what an awful Bill it was. This afternoon, a senior cross-bench peer summed up his view of the Bill and the way it was being dealt with. He was succinct: “What…
For nearly seven hours yesterday, we worked hard on the Parliamentary Standards Bill in the Lords Chamber. The Government gave way on several of our amendments, either accepting them in full or proposing new amendments of their own. The Bill is now hardly recognisable from the mess it was in when it arrived from the…
After all the dreadful stories in the past months about Parliament, I’m very pleased to bring you a piece of good news today! As many of you will know, our Information Committee has been carrying out an inquiry into how the House of Lords and Parliament as a whole can engage with the public and…
We have one Parliament but the Palace of Westminster houses two distinct institutions. The House of Commons has its own infrastucture (library, refreshment department, clerks) and so too does the House of Lords. When it was decided that there should be one parliamentary ICT department, an Act of Parliament was necessary to bring it into…
Lord Kingsland, the Shadow Lord Chancellor, died suddenly at his home yesterday. He was 67. He had been active in the House last week, speaking on the Parliamentary Standards Bill and the Coroners and Justice Bill. He was scheduled to be on the front bench today for the latter Bill and again tomorrow for the former. …
Given the interest generated by the quiz questions, I felt it would be appropriate to introduce some reward for those who get in first with the correct answers. As a result, as I mentioned in response to answers in last week’s quiz, I am instituting a prize. Anyone who wins the quiz on three occasions will be…
Today was a red letter one! About 250 children, or young adults might be more appropriate, poured into the House of Lords Chamber to debate the burning issues of their world. These included the media treatment of the young, the ubiquity of the celebrity culture and whether current education was fit for purpose, an unscheduled…
