The booklet The Work of the House of Lords 2007-08 can be read here. On page 15 there are photographs of a number of peers. This week’s quiz question: who are the three peers down the right-side of the page?
Lord Norton
Quiz question – who are they?
Lord Norton
Debating the constitution
The debate on Lord Tyler’s motion to call attention to legislative proposals for constitutional renewal – mentioned in his earlier post – can be read here. In my speech, I argued that the current crisis of confidence was in the political class and not in our basic constitutional structures. The focus should therefore be on rules –…
Lord Renton of Mount Harry
People and Parliament: an update
As Chairman of the Lords Information Committee, I want to tell you how we have got on in our Inquiry on “How can we improve the relations between Parliament and the Public?”. Obviously, this is now a sixty-four dollar question. Since we started in March we’ve received many many comments from people. We’re now having…
Lord Taylor of Warwick
Plea for Peace
My hope for the new President of America was that he would take America out of an ever worsening relationship with the Middle East. For me, part of the appeal of Barak Obama was that he promised to do so. It is evident from his speech in Cairo last week, however, that he has set…
Lord Tyler
Brown's wishful thinking?
Gordon Brown seems to think he has not 300 days but 300 years to govern. His attitude now is reminiscent of his predecessor who clung to office claiming he was “getting on with the job”. “The job’s not done,” Blair used to say, as though his own premiership – with a bit more time –…
Lord Norton
Assisted dying
The Coroners and Justice Bill is now going through the House. It is, in effect, two substantial Bills in one. There are various controversial aspects, though some of these have already been met by Government concessions. However, there is one amendment that has been tabled by former Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, that is…
Lord Norton
Quiz questions
This week’s quiz questions. 1. There are now three members of the Cabinet on the Government Front Bench in the House of Lords. How many former Cabinet ministers sit on the Opposition Front Bench? Who are they? 2. Which peers have served in Cabinet as departmental ministers (that is, excluding the Leader of the House and Lord Chancellor)…
Baroness D'Souza
Vetting Nominations to the House of Lords
The House of Lords Appointments Commission (www.lordsappointments.gov.uk) not only selects, according to increasingly strict criteria, those who are recommended for life peerages but, crucially, has the duty to vet all party political nominees for propriety. (Remember the cash-for-peerages affair some two years ago?) The checks for these potential peers includes the following sentence: to ensure…
Lord Norton
Reshuffle and the House of Lords
Some readers have already begun to comment, in the thread to the preceding post, on the ministerial reshuffle as it affects the House of Lords. There will now be three peers in the Cabinet, two of them departmental ministers. The most senior is Lord Mandelson, who now heads a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which…