The focus of the activity in both Houses is the chamber. If the Houses are not sitting, or even if they are but the chambers are not full, there appears to be an assumption that members are not doing much. When the House is sitting, a great deal of work is taking place away from the chamber. …
Some rather misleading figures have been bandied about in terms of the costs of the House of Lords, both in terms of the overall costs of the House and what allowances individual members may claim. I may do a separate post commenting on costs, but in the interim I thought I would post a statement…
I have just returned from a visit to Helmand province in Afghanistan. There were about 15 members of both Lords and Commons and it was a very interesting and useful visit. The schedule was a demanding one. I was ready for a 4am departure on Monday morning but ice on the aircraft delayed us until…
Both Houses rose on Thursday and will not sit again until Monday week (23 February). The break was introduced as a ‘constituency week’ for MPs, though it is now generally referred to as half-term. The Taxpayers’ Alliance have argued against having the recess, on the grounds that Parliament should be sitting in order to call…
The media have covered extensively the extent to which civil servants accept hositality from outside bodies. When BBC News 24 covered the story, they showed constantly pictures of the Palace of Westminster. This annoyed me intensely as it had nothing to do with the story. Civil servants work in Government Departments. It was not a…
For this week’s quiz questions, I thought I would pose one that I think is moderately easy and one that I suspect is not (though no doubt I will soon be proved wrong!). Question 1 We are three peers: Peer 1. I began my career as a tutor, lecturer and then a broadcaster before becoming…
At a meeting earlier this week a fellow peer said that most people still don’t have a clue as to what we do. So here is a summary version of my week. MONDAY: Office to answer mail, e-mails, brief PA, meet on individual basis with several fellow crossbenchers to discuss forthcoming business, possible debate topics,…
There have been two unusual features of the House this morning. After Question Time, there was a Private Notice Question – in effect, an emergency question – on the Government’s decision to ban the Dutch MP Geert Wilders from entering the UK. The minister, Admiral Lord West, faced a series of critical questions, but did…
This is the snow scene that greeted me and my camera last week. It has come to symbolise for me the state of many minds in Westminster. This week I asked the Government what they were going to do about reform of the Lords, since their White Paper was published some seven months ago. In…
