Lord McNally, the Justice Minister, yesterday repeated the statement – made in the Commons by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg – on constitutional reform. Rather like Nick Clegg, he attracted some critical questions. This is hardly surprising given the scope of what is proposed. There will be one Bill covering the equalisation of constituency boundaries,…
Both Houses rise for the summer recess on 21 July. We are going to be very busy over the next couple of weeks. Take next week: on Monday, we have the Policing and Crime Bill (its third day in committee); on Tuesday, the Coroners and Justice Bill (its fifth day in committee); on Wednesday, the Second Reading…
A number of politicians have rushed in to argue that constitutional reform – be it proportional representation or an elected second chamber – is the answer to the current crisis. The logic of their argument is far from clear. The crisis is one of confidence in our political class, not in our basic constitutional framework. …
I spoke last night at a meeting organised by the Hansard Society to discuss how to tackle political alienation in this country. There have been suggestions that, given declining trust in Parliament, it is necessary to have radical change of both Parliament and the constitution. The view I expressed was that constitutional and structural change…
There was an important statement made in both the Lords and Commons about constitutional reform on Tuesday 25th March which received far less coverage in the media than it should have done. The link here is to the statement in the Commons which is then repeated word for word in the Lords. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080325/debtext/80325-0003.htm#0803254000001 The statement…
