In a previous post, I mentioned the humour exihibited by Lord Hart of Chilton during his speech seconding the motion on the address at the start of the session. When he was made a peer, he was a special adviser to the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, and continued in that role for his successor, Lord…
The EU summit on Russia and Georgia will be a very important one. I’m sure Russia feels resentment about the way the EU and NATO are encroaching on what they see as their sphere of influence. It is also possible to understand Russian resentment about their loss of power and influence since the collapse of…
Swiss Parliament When I was in Switzerland, I had the opportunity to visit the national Parliament and see their second chamber. Having a bicameral legislature is one of the few features of the constitutional system that Switzerland has in common with the UK. Otherwise, we are at different ends of the constitutional spectrum. Switzerland, as I…
How come all you people out there like Ladytizzy and Matthew and Senex are so forgiving. There was I carelessly promising to continue blogging while away – and didn’t; only to come back and find the stalwarts such as Lords Norton, Tyler and Soley and Lady Murphy being entirely faithful. Anyway I said I would find…
I was delighted to see the result of a survey, carried out by the Local Government Association and the Association of Electoral Administrators, showing that 98 per cent of electoral registration officers favour putting an end to the practice of selling the electoral register to commercial bodies. I have always opposed making the electoral register…
The answer to this question is ‘anywhere with some decent weather! Not unlike the rest of the population. I had a short holiday in Italy and I hope to take another two weeks soon. It has been a messy break partly because of family and personal complications. I had to return early for the funeral of an…
I have spent the past few days in Switzerland advising members of the Iraqi Constitutional Review Committee on the establishment of a second chamber. Agreement has been reached on creating a second chamber. The committee has responsibility for recommending the form it take. My role has essentially been twofold. One has been to explain the…
Back from holidays even if not back to the Lords. And seeing Lord and Lady Tyler’s happy smiling faces on holiday on the blog reminded me how nice holidays are. We had a marvellous three whole weeks in Italy near Lucca (my favourite Italian village barn in the picture) and I followed Italian politics as…
The Parliamentary Recess already seems to be ebbing away. We’re in the second half of August, autumnal weather is with us and it’s only four weeks until the party conferences. MPs, if they got away at all, are beginning to return from their holidays, which many – like everyone else – take while their children…
