Last week the otherwise excellent Leader of the House, Lord (Jonathan) Hill, dismissed my complaint that he was claiming both democratic legitimacy, and effective assessment of, the merit of topics for debate because they were subject to a “ballot”. This was his justification for resisting the election of a Backbench Debates Committee: the current “ballot”…
So Iain Duncan Smith would like better off pensioners to return their winter fuel allowances. I should declare an interest as a recipient of the fuel allowance. While, like many others, I have donated it to charity, the idea that I should repay it to the government is laughable – and it would seem that…
Tomorrow I start my Live Below the Line challenge for 2013. LBTL is an innovative campaign, organised by the Global Poverty Project, which seeks to highlight the scandal of over 1 billion people living in extreme poverty – below $1.25 or £1 a day – and raise money for several charities. After two successful efforts…
Resignations, possible replacements of ministers and increasing violence have hit already fragile Iraqi politics in the last few days. Officials say 110 people were killed in the latest violence. These are indeed difficult days. The Kurdistan Regional Government and the central government are at odds over issues including a swathe of disputed territory in north…
Several articles and comments have appeared recently about how much time MPs are spending away from Westminster and the importance of ensuring a full Parliamentary timetable to deal properly with government legislation. It has also been claimed that the current government, because of disagreements within the coalition, is finding it difficult to agree new legislation…
Following the recall of both Houses on Wednesday for tributes to Baroness Thatcher, I thought it appropriate that the quiz should focus on the era of the Thatcher Government. The number of peers speaking in Wednesday’s sitting reflected the experience many had during the period of the Thatcher premiership. This explains both the length of the…
Both Houses have been recalled tomorrow (Wednesday) for the tributes to Baroness Thatcher. The occasion in the Lords will be especially interesting given that most, though not quite all, of those who served in the Thatcher Cabinets sit in the House, as do Lord Powell of Bayswater (her Private Secretary) and Lord Armstrong (Cabinet Secretary), among…
When Chris Huhne was found guilty of attempting to get his wife to accept points for speeding, many people must have said: “there but the grace of God.” If many naturally law-abiding Brits are breaking the law, we have to ask if the “four-strikes-and-you-are-out” law is just? This is not a Jeremy Clarkson rant. On…
Since the very welcome announcement by the Chancellor that there is to be a little tax relief on childcare for working mothers, the Daily Telegraph seems to be running a campaign against them. Day after day, stories and letters about discrmination against stay-at-home mums, as they call them, and nothing presenting the other side. Giving a…
