I organise a biennial international workshop of parliamentary scholars and parliamentarians. The latest – the tenth – was held at the weekend at Wroxton College in Oxfordshire. The panels covered a range of topics, including legislative adaptability, the relationship between parliaments and citizens, parliamentary scrutiny, and citizens’ expectations. A couple of the panels focused on…
I am not a great sports watcher so I wasn’t planning on watching the Olympic ceremony but I decided to watch the beginning – and then I just couldn’t turn the TV off! I think Danny Boyle and his team plus all the volunteers were superb. Humour – Mr Bean and the wonderful James Bond…
Not the government it would appear. Non take-up of means-tested benefits is a perennial problem in the social security system. Annual statistics, published by the Department for Work and Pensions, track trends in the estimated amounts unclaimed of the six main means-tested benefits and the numbers not claiming. The latest figures show an estimated £7.52bn…
Whilst the flying of the wrong flag at North Korea’s first Olympic women’s football match in Glasgow had all the comic elements of the BBC’s excellent drama Twenty Twelve, and was just an honest mistake, the saga of the Taiwanese flag in London’s Regent Street is altogether more serious and depressing. Taiwan’s flag went up…
In a previous post, I was asked if I could provide a link to a particular Bill, in this case the Justice and Security Bill. Anyone wishing to access a Bill being considered by Parliament can do so by visiting the Parliament website and clicking on the link ‘Bills and legislation’. You can then click on…
A couple of weeks ago I saw the most remarkable film at an All Party Group for young disabled people in Portcullis House. It was called “A Life Worth Living” made by Dr.Jon Hastie, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and needs 24 hour care. He and his carer travelled the length and breadth of Britain…
Although the Commons rose last week for the summer recess, the House of Lords is sitting until Wednesday. The work the House is doing this week is well adumbrated by the BBC’s Mark D’Arcy in his blog. Today, the House is in committee on the Justice and Security Bill. The deliberations are notable for the peers who…
This week’s quiz focuses on women and the House of Lords. As regular readers will know, women were first admitted to the House of Lords in 1958 under the Life Peerages Act passed in that year. Women now comprise 22 per cent of the membership (the same proportion as in the Commons, where women were first…
