In the Queen’s speech there was an interesting contribution by Lord Owen. He warned of a growing crisis that will pose a major challenge to the UK. If the Euro does disintegrate then we will be badly affected but if it continues it will only do so as part of an ever closer union. In…
I spoke on House of Lords reform (again!) in the Queens speech and like a growing number of members indicated that the way forward should be to set up a constituional convention as recommended in the alternative report on the draft Bill. This would allow us to look at the need for reform of the…
Today, the “Debate on the Loyal Address” continues in both Houses. The Lords is having a second day concentrating on constitutional issues, and that will doubtless mean yet more indignation in our House about the government’s proposals for Lords Reform. I have been struck, listening to in particular (but by no means exclusively) to Labour…
There was the usual pageantry for the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday. Given that it was a two-year session, some new peers were attending the ceremony for the first time. The chamber was packed. (One year, there were empty benches at the back, the result apparently of a shortage of robes. ) The timetable doesn’t change, so everyone knows the…
Today I have had the honour of witnessing the lighting of the Olympic Torch for the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games beside the Temple of Herra, Olympia, Greece. On 22 April, 2011 I stood on exactly the same spot, not in a suit but in a t-shirt and carrying a twenty kilo rucksack as…
The Lords has had some members who have not enhanced the reputation of the House – occasionally quite the reverse, as we know from recent history – but the membership is marked far more by those who have achieved notable distinctions, not only before but also during their time in the House. This quiz focuses…
Blimey, I must have been a member of a different Joint Committee to that on which Lord Tyler served. A 26-member committee (in practice 25, as one member never attended) is too large a body for sustained scrutiny. It facilitates disparate questioning and may actually militate against a good attendance (once or twice we were inquorate…
After 30 meetings of the Joint Committee scrutinising the Government’s House of Lords Reform draft bill – and long sessions of assertion and deliberation – I confess I have been somewhat exhausted. However, I must record one extremely important – and positive – lesson. Every one of the Joint Committees on which I have served,…
This completes my current entry following the other three posts below. So where do we go from here. Saying ‘no’ to the present Bill is common sense but what is the alternative. Both Houses need reform but if we are not to re write our constitution then it needs to be gradualist. Tony Blair took…
