Faith Shongwe is from Swaziland. She lives in a remote rural village and her life – and her family – have been fundamentally changed by the impact of HIV/Aids. But she is determined to build an independent income for herself and end the cycle of dependency that drives down her and her friends. She wants…
This week’s public debate about the role of faith in Britain today has thrown up some curious myths about the Church of England … and indeed about the presence of 26 of its Bishops in the House of Lords. I am a practising Anglican (trying to improve) but I have been firmly committed to disestablishment…
I have earlier drawn attention to the various publications about the work of the House of Lords. The House has also produced a number of videos which can be found on YouTube. You can access them here. They cover a good range in terms of the activity of the House, how it works, interviews, events, and…
Last year, the House of Lords voted for the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill by an overwhelming majority, taking commentators – and many peers – by surprise. The scale of support was greater than in the House of Commons. Every grouping in the House (Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, and cross-benches) produced a majority in support…
This post is about the importance of paper. I am a supporter of the campaign group Keep Me Posted, which wants to ensure that companies such as banks and utilities allow their customers to continue to receive paper statements, without paying extra for them, and that people are not forced to handle payments and keep…
‘Passengers from HS2 to the Continent are set to trudge along Euston Road for the next 50 years’ The Government, having rightly cancelled its own HS1-2 link in the HS2 Bill as being not fit for purpose, plans to get the Commons to prevent the HS2 select committee from discussing any future alternative link. Whilst…
During Oral Questions in the House of Lords on February 10th I asked how many nurse directors there were in the English NHS from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. The depressing reply was that there were only 5 – from 170 NHS organisations. This is about 2.5%, yet 20% of NHS nurses are of black…
I give below the text of what I intended to say on Baroness Butler-Sloss’s Amendment 56 to the Immigration Bill. In the event the amendment was carried by 282 votes to 184. “There is an existing system for coping with trafficked children, whether from overseas or coming from the UK. This tries to comply with…
Today marks the publication of a new report, Beyond the Barriers, on the failure of the employment and support allowance (ESA) system. So what’s new you might wearily respond given the almost daily criticisms of the system in the media? But this is a report with a difference. First it is entirely researched and written…
