Why are international sanctions appropriate when Russia illegally annexes the Crimea, but not when Israel illegally occupies and colonises the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and blockades Gaza? Why have more than twenty years passed since the Oslo Agreement, without a just solution for Palestinians and for the millions of refugees outside Palestine?
During the recent passage of the Transparency Bill, Labour, Cross Bench and some government Peers sought to amend the first part which deals with a Statutory Register of Lobbyists. Ex Ministers and former civil servants stressed that its coverage – only requiring meetings with Ministers or Permanent Secretaries to be declared – was nonsense, as…
Yesterday (Friday), the House gave an unopposed Second Reading to the House of Lords Reform (No. 2) Bill. You can read the debate here. The Bill has already been taken through the House of Commons by Dan Byles and was introduced in the Lords by Lord Steel. The Bill is a shortened version of the…
Attached is a copy of my draft Duchy of Cornwall Bill and draft Explanatory notes. The purpose of this Bill is to clarify the status of the Duchy in respect of the application of legislation and that it is in the private sector. The Bill therefore proposed changes to existing legislation covering the tax status…
I am writing this guest blog because the House of Lords European Union Select Committee which I chair, has today published a report on The Role of National Parliaments in the EU. I am a non-affiliated member of the House, and as is usual for committees in the House of Lords, the European Union Committee…
There are estimated to be more than 5 million British nationals living abroad, with about 3 million of these being entitled to be on the electoral register in the UK. At the end of 2011, fewer than 30,000 were registered. The extent of non-registration came up in debate in the last session of Parliament and last…
The House yesterday debated the report from the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege. I was one of those who spoke in the debate. (You can read the speech here.) The report was a measured and helpful report, arguing against having a statutory codification of privilege and instead putting the case for flexibility. It made a number…
