I am worried by the financial settlement for Greece. Although I think it is grossly unfair for Greeks to present the German Chancellor as Hitler there is an uncomfortable similarity between the position that we put Germany in after the First World War and what we are doing to the Greeks now. A nation and…
The Facebook prospectus told us how the company is using and profiting from our personal data. I have just learned that here in America the address book on your smartphone is routinely collected by app developers when you download their app. According to a well researched article in Thursday’s New York Times (16 February 2012)…
I try to balance questions about the Lords (the chamber or its members) with more general questions about Parliament. I revert this week to a previous topic, that of Parliament and war. During the Second World War, both Houses continued to meet (despite a large number of members being away on active service), the parties…
Today the Lords supported an amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill that will add £100m to welfare expenditure. Its meaning is that only households with more than 1 spare bedroom will lose out on benefits. The debate offered graphic examples of the hardship that might be suffered by families if this amendment were defeated and,…
On Friday, the House was sitting and we had the Report stage of the Steel Bill. Some peers were opposed to some of its provisions (the Opposition did not want to put the Appointments Commission on a statutory basis and some hereditary peers opposed abolishing the by-election provision), so in order to make progress – there were…
Two further Questions to HMG, and Answers from Lord Howell of Guildford, re Mr Khader Adnan Mohammad Musa who is on hunger strike in Israel
There is nothing new under the sun, it is said. Yet, at regular intervals we get told that the current ideas for reform of the House of Lords are all too sudden, ill-digested and in need of copious further debate. Trying to sort out my bookshelves at home, I came upon an interesting set of…
I asked HMG, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 25thJanuary (WA 239), why discussions with the government of the United States concerning the release of Mr Shaker Aamer from Guantanamo Bay have taken over four years; when they expect him to be released; and whether they expect compensation issues to arise. Rt…
I hope I may be allowed some nostalgia, prompted by the 60th anniversary of the death of King George VI on 6th February, and the forthcoming celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen, which will be marked, amongst many other events, by the presentation of Addresses to her at Westminster by both Houses of…
