Yesterday a Private Members Bill was introduced in the House of Lords by Lord Archer of Sandwell QC, former Labour Solicitor-General. The bill was drafted by a human rights organisation REDRESS (www.redress.org) which has worked for 20 years to eradicate torture and force governments to carry out their obligations as a signatory to the UN…
In a previous post, I argued the value of undertaking comparative analysis. Yesterday I chaired a seminar at the Lords addressed by Keizo Takemi, who has served as a Government Minister in Japan and was a member of the country’s elected second chamber, the House of Councillors, from 1995 to 2007. Though he argued that election increases legitimacy,…
I had a quick look at the statistics for the blog early this morning. By that stage, as is usual, it had only attracted a small number of visitors. By chance, I looked again at lunchtime and the line on the graph had suddenly shot up, way beyond the normal daily traffic. I kept checking –…
When there was trouble in Tibet China stopped the worlds media from seeing what was happening. They paid a high price and eventually ended up in some form of talks with the Dalai Lama – although I am not wildly optimistic about the outcome. Then the earthquake strikes and China opens up to the world…
How many hereditary peers sit in Parliament? If you think the answer is 92 – the number prescribed by the House of Lords Act 1999 – you would be wrong. There are indeed 92 hereditary peers who sit in the Lords by virtue of the 1999 Act. However, there are other hereditary peers who also sit. …
I spent most of today chairing an interview panel for posts at the History of Parliament. I am a Trustee of the History. It is one of the largest and most comprehensive research projects in British history, presently employing 25 research staff. It began formally in 1951 and has published eight sets of volumes covering…
Many years have passed since Roy Plomley first introduced Desert Island Discs on the BBC. The sound of breaking waves, with seagulls in the background, has always remained in my memory. Imagine my surprise when Ann & I were invited by Ravi Mehotra CBE on his Indian Ocean cruise as a guest lecturer. It was…
Lord Tyler’s post touches upon a question variously raised in class discussions on the Lords: why do members need to have expertise in a particular field when you can call experts to give evidence? There are several fairly straightforward reasons. They apply with particular force to committee work but are relevant also to debate in the chamber.…
The independent crossbench peers number about 200 and include about 30 hereditary peers. As some will remember the reforms of 1999 threw out the vast majority of hereditary peers (about 700) but a last minute deal allowed 92 to remain in the House of Lords until the second phase of reform (more about this another…
