Standing in the rain waiting for a bus to to take me to complete my Christams shopping I used the text message advertised on the bus stops which enables you to know when the bus is coming. True – I got a few odd looks from the rural bus queue in Oxfordshire as I typed in…
In the Commons yesterday, during Topical Questions to the Deputy PM, Peter Bone returned to a question he has pursued before. Who is in charge if the PM dies? I have previously written on the problem of who succeeds if a Prime Minister dies in office. The last one to do so was Palmerston, but…
I had a useful meeting with the Ambassador of Myanmar last week. He and his deputy were interested in the rule of law project I have established in Abu Dhabi and Palestine. This regime is now keen to change and have entered into meaningful discussions with Aung San Suu Kyi. So I am looking at…
It would be hard to imagine a more brutal and dangerous regime then that in North Korea. Raving optimists will hope that this family dynasty will suddenly convert to democracy and the rule of law. I don’t think so. I desperately hope I can be proved wrong but I doubt it. And yet if China…
Mary Portas, shopping guru, has delivered to the Prime Minister a review of the state of our high streets and town centres. I was able to get a copy from the Printed Paper Office of the Lords. I noticed this weekend that there are considerably fewer people out shopping on my own local high street…
The House of Lords has its origin in the King’s court, which comprised the leading churchmen and landowners. In the 13th Century, some knights from the shires and later burgesses from towns were summoned and the court developed into a parliament. Later, the churchmen along with earls and barons sat separately from those drawn from…
One of the elephant traps which is potentially enlarged by modern opportunities for instantaneous comment is that all too many people in public life engage their laptops, Blackberries, or iPhones before they have fully engaged their brains. I am struck by the number of people who commented within hours of the breakdown of last week’s…
Here is a link to my written questions and answers received. My comment with regard to my Questions re Israel/Palestine, the West Bank, and Gaza, particularly of the following dates: October 3rd and 31st , November 9th, 22nd, 29th and 30th , and 6th December, is that the British Government make correct protests , but unfortunately they…
We had a brief discussion during the Health and Social Care Bill committee last night about whether the new healthcare economic regulator, Monitor, will meet in public. It will apparently. I have always supported having meetings in public and chosen to have them in public whenever there was a choice. But I have realised over…
