Relations with Continental Europe

Lord Hylton

After many comments and much discussion, I have come to the conclusion that remaining in a customs union gives the best hope for peace in Ireland, for the unity of the United Kingdom, and for prosperity in Great Britain.    

Valuing the work of the House…

Lord Norton

The House of Lords is criticised by some commentators on grounds of cost.  The criticisms are often levelled without any benchmark against which to assess value.  In a post on my own blog, I have drawn attention to the problems of ascribing a monetary value to the work of the House, not least in terms…

Peace in Kurdistan campaign

Lord Hylton

This statement  to mark the 19th anniversary of the abduction of Abdullah Ocalan comes from “Peace in Kurdistan”, which seeks a peaceful resolution of the current conflicts in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.

Teaching English to Refugees

Lord Hylton

Some of this is done by volunteers. More could be done, for example, by mobilising students to teach English. Our central government is, however, the main provider of this essential service. It is essential because it enables refugees and their families to work or study, to communicate with their neighbours, and to move towards full…

Home education meeting January 30th 2018

Lord Soley

About 30 people attended the meeting last night. Most were home educators and all were either opposed or worried about my Bill and that is why they were invited.   Generally the meeting went well. There was a strong exchange of views and I picked up some useful comments about the problems they saw with…

Movement to Close Guantanamo Detention Prison, c/o Reprieve

Lord Hylton

The following is quoted from a statement  (12.01.2018)by Clive Stafford Smith, Founder of Reprieve: “I believe that our movement will inevitably be on the right side of history.  As with the death penalty, we will look back on the time of Guantanamo with disgust and shame.  But many of us will be proud that we played a part,…

Peers leaving the House

Lord Norton

One of the principal provisions of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 – a Private Member’s Bill steered through Parliament by Dan Byles MP and Lord Steel of Aikwood – was to enable peers to retire. Since its enactment, a good number have made use of the provision.  Several leading figures have retired in recent…

Taking back control

Baroness Deech

Yes,the referendum was in part about taking back control. That means restoring to Parliament the sovereignty that it yielded, and continued to yield over the years to the other members of the EU.  All that EU legislation that was never scrutinised by our Parliament but became our law! But we will not recover our sovereignty…

Home Education

Lord Soley

The debate on my Private members Bill (Duty of Local Authorities) Bill https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2017-11-24/debates/141D7347-083E-4EAF-9927-AD5283998B76/HomeEducation(DutyOfLocalAuthorities)Bill(HL) was completed successfully and the Bill will now go into committee probably in late February. I announced in the debate that I will make some changes to the Bill and that I would be listening to various groups and individuals to make…