Some people are for turning the House of Lords from an appointed to an elected House of Lords, and some are against. The arguments bat to and fro; but one has so far received virtually no attention: the cost of the government’s proposals for election. In the first five years reform could end up costing…
104 speakers listed and a generous time allocation of 9 minutes, I had been looking forward to the first day of the two day debate on the White Paper on House of Lords Reform. There were no new arguments but some of the old ones were elegantly put and some were wonderfully passionate. Read it…
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in the House of Commons on Tuesday: “Mr James Clappison (Hertsmere) (Con): Does the Deputy Prime Minister think that the proposed new House of Lords will cost more or less than the existing one? The Deputy Prime Minister: We want to reduce the number of people in the reformed House…
The Govermment’s White Paper and House of Lords Reform Draft Bill got a poor reception in both Houses. The media have been underwhelmed by the Government’s proposals and decided that they did not really merit being treated as headline news. This is hardly surprising given that the White Paper really added little to what had…
Yesterday a colleague asked a black cab to take her to the House of Lords and he refused – saying “not after what I’ve just heard on the radio.” Mystified she asked the next cabbie, who reluctantly agreed to take her to Parliament, what it was all about. He too had heard the broadcast which…
