All Peers have just been alerted by the Clerk of the Parliaments that there will be a “Hereditary Peers’ By-election on 16 July: “The death of Lord Reay on 10 May 2013 has created a vacancy among the excepted hereditary peers who sit in the House of Lords.” Because he was a Deputy Speaker “under…
It would take a large tome rather than a blog to do justice to this subject. I am just going to touch on a tiny part of it. Firstly, of course in the UK, we are much luckier than swathes of the world. My daughter and I see a small part of the global challenge from…
As debate in the House of Lords this week was dominated by the two-day debate on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, I thought this quiz might usefully focus on the debate and those who participated. It was something of a marathon debate, with just over ninety speakers and a remarkable turnout on a free…
The House completed a two-day debate on the Second Reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill yesterday. Cross-bench peer Lord Dear moved an amendment to reject the Bill. There was a packed House and an exceptionally high turnout. The amendment was defeated by 390 votes to 148. The turnout was even higher than these figures…
It is 100 years today since Emily Davison ran in front of the King’s horse at the derby protesting over suffrage. She studied at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford, of which I am an honorary fellow. Another graduate is Aung San Suu Kyi, who fought for Burmese democracy and visited the Lords earlier this year. Both…
On 17th April, I and some colleagues in the other parties were due to host a cross-party seminar on a Draft Bill to reform party funding regulations. Then Baroness Thatcher died, and her funeral was scheduled to begin in Westminster Hall – right next to where the seminar was planned to take place – that…
This letter (published in the Tablet) contains the main thrust of my views on the EU, and the ten points reflect various things that were said during the foreign affairs debate of 15th May. “Congratulations on your leaderof 11th May. We certainly should not turn our backs on our neighbours. Let’s remember that we went to war…
Back in wintry February, I hosted an event for a charity I support – Orchid Project – to mark the International Day against female genital cutting (FGC, also known as female circumcision). At the event, Senegalese hip-hop artist and activist Sister Fa stood alongside two Government Ministers and spoke about her belief that FGC can…
This short speech of mine appears to have anticipated the longer one by President Obama, in which he called for a winding down of the war on terror.
