Working in the Palace of Westminster is a privilege, but it does have some problems, not least given the age of the building. I have previously mentioned the cramped conditions in the Lords: space has not expanded sufficiently to keep abreast of the growth in the active membership. There are also other problems, some transient…
The Parliamentary Standards Bill was put together in haste in an attempt to address public anger over parliamentarians’ use of expenses. It seeks to set up an independent agency to administer MPs’ pay and allowances, and establishes a commissioner to conduct investigations. The problem with the Bill is that it does not get to the…
It has been another of those weeks. Yesterday was especially hectic, similar to Wednesday of last week (Constitution Committee, Association of Conservative Peers, Sub-Committee E of the EU Committee, Grand Committee on the Political Parties and Elections Bill, and a seminar with my students) but with the addition of giving evidence to the Information Committee…
The Committee stage of the Political Parties and Elections Bill began yesterday and continued today. As I already had a fairly full diary for both days, it has been a case of rushing in and out of committee and from meeting to meeting. Yesterday’s schedule was basically: in early to complete a memorandum to the Information…
The Northern Ireland Bill, designed to assist the devolution process in the province, completed its remaining stages in the Lords yesterday. There were two noteworthy features. The first was that the Government was keen to see it passed as quickly as possible, hence its expedited passage. The Govermment argued that it was necessary to get…
