In response to a post by Baroness d’Souza, Bedd Gelert makes the valid point that it is difficult to know who members are. Hence, there is a problem in seeking to communicate with them. As he mentions, there is now http://www.theyworkforyou.com which provides information on the activity of individual parliamentarians. It is a valuable site,…
The number of peers signed up to speak in Tuesday’s Second Reading debate on the European Union (Amendment) Bill has fluctuated over recent days between 70 and 80 but now stands at 75. The Bill itself is a short eight-clause Bill, primarily (through Clause 2) incorporating the Treaty of Lisbon into the list of treaties contained in the European…
Someone commented on our odd hours; I think it was in response to Lord Norton’s blog about our especially early start at noon next Tuesday for the long Lisbon Treaty Debate, which I am looking forward to. We have had lots of ministerial and opposition briefing about it and while I started out as quite…
The real value of this site must be the responses we get: comments and questions from our fellow citizens are likely to be much more productive than a one-way stream of statements from this building. So please keep them coming. However, it will be difficult for us to reply to each and every one. As…
There was an important statement made in both the Lords and Commons about constitutional reform on Tuesday 25th March which received far less coverage in the media than it should have done. The link here is to the statement in the Commons which is then repeated word for word in the Lords. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080325/debtext/80325-0003.htm#0803254000001 The statement…
So Paul (Lord) Tyler and I did a duet again this time on College Green – that by now well-worn patch of grass outside Parliament that allows the cameras a magnificent background view of Victorian architecture and Big Ben in particular. We were there to talk about the value of blogging. My points are threefold…
Some forthcoming debates worthy of note: Next Tuesday (1 April), the House will be debating the second reading – the debate on principle – of the European Union (Amendment) Bill to give effect to the Lisbon Treaty. So far, there are 71 peers signed up to speak. Unusually, in order to accommodate that number of speakers, the House will…
I will be speaking in a debate in Grand Committee in the Lords later today. How do I know I will be speaking? Don’t I have to catch the eye of the Speaker or whoever is presiding, as in the Commons? The answer is no. Unlike the Commons, the Lords is a self-regulating chamber. The Lord…
Have just hosted the launch of parkingappeals.co.uk, Neil Herron’s (of Metric Martyrs etc) latest campaign. Millions of motorists may feel abused, hundreds of little organisations may spring up (like the London Motorists Action Group that I chair), but it takes a national effort to raise the funds needed to challenge the rampant council illegalities in…
