There are three noteworthy features of the appointment of Peter Mandelson, Stephen Carter and Paul Myners to ministerial rank and the elevation of all three to the peerage. First, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform means that the Lords acquires a…
I spoke last week to students at Franklin College, Grimsby, and to Hansard Society scholars in London on the British Constitution. The topic, as it tends to, generated a range of questions. Yesterday, I spoke on the role of the House of Lords to Y12 and Y13 students at Brackenhale School in Bracknell, Berkshire. What…
The House resumes next Monday with the first day in committee of the Planning Bill. This is an important measure that will allow a quicker resolution of major planning issues. There is opposition to the Bill but it is worth remembering that the Terminal Five planning process took over five years and cost the taxpayer…
This is not so much about Westminster wit as about Westminster characters. In a post earlier this year, I asked if readers could name the three hereditary peers who sit in the House of Commons. Given the quality of our readership, the answer was provided very quickly by several people. I thought I would therefore…
Iain Dale occasionally does a link from his blog to one of the posts on this site. Whenever he does, our traffic increases quite markedly. He did a link to my post on office space in the Lords. However, he said that I bemoaned my lack of office space. As the first person to comment on his…
