I was so right ( see my last blog) to meet the BMA representatives today to talk through their concerns about the Health and Social Care Bill. In fact the anxieties which some of their members had expressed about the new fitness to practice procedures seem to have been addressed by their discussions with the…
Lord (Paul) Tyler and I had a brief interview with the BBC on the value of this new blogging departure for the House of Lords. The point I think worth making is that there is an ever present danger that this House becomes a world looking inwards and we want it to be one looking…
Like other blogging peers I’ve been amazed and delighted by the response of you blog-watchers. It’s certainly an incentive to carry on. A very busy couple of days for me. Yesterday was my Council meeting at St George’s University of London. I’ve been Chair of Council, the governing body of this college of the University…
To continue along the same vein as my last ‘Charities’ post, another common use of peers’ time is the activities of the various All-Party Parlimentary Groups (APPGs). These range from the very serious (Genocide Prevention) to the social (Beer – ‘to promote the wholesomeness and enjoyment of beer and the unique role of the pub…
I’m amazed that so many interesting comments have arrived so quickly. And I understand there have been thousands of ‘hits’ on the LordsoftheBlog website. Since the whole purpose of the exercise is to try and make Parliament more accessible to the people we serve, this is clearly already a potential success. As one of the other…
I am the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Organisations Select Committee and yesterday we took evidence from Mr Sy, the Director of Partnerships and External Relations at UNAIDS in Geneva. The Committee is hearing evidence about communicable diseases and the way intergovernmental organisations are dealing with them. It is an important area of policy because globalisation…
The House of Lords authorities have agreed to recruit an experienced facilities Director to oversee all the more practical aspects of running the House. Up until now this task has been carried out by Black Rod otherwise known as Gentleman Usher, Secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain and Serjeant at Arms. This post goes back…
No one party has a majority in the Lords. There are three groupings of similar size – Labour with 216 peers, the Conservatives with 202 and the Cross-benchers with 196 – plus 78 Liberal Democrats, the Lords Spiritual (26) and the law lords (12). As a result, the party in government has to engage with…
Another school visit this afternoon. I spoke to Year 12 students studying Politics at Wanstead High School (pictured) in North-East London. One of the questions I was asked was ‘Do you enjoy working in the Lords and would you stand for election if it was to be elected?’ The answer was yes and no. Peers…
