My desk in the Lords In my earlier post (‘If only…’) I mentioned that we had to work in limited space. There is not the capacity in the Lords for each peer to have an office. The most one can hope for is desk space. I thought I would illustrate the point with a picture…
Barbara Castle was a formidable and feisty politician, both when she served in the Commons and also when she joined the Lords. (She was elevated to the peerage in 1990 when she was 80.) She was not afraid to speak her mind and that included when taking on her own Government. She also came out with…
I switched on BBC1 this evening, too late for Panorama, and no sooner had I switched on than I saw a shot of Westminster. This was in a programme called New Tricks and it showed what purported to be a meeting with a Labour peer at the House of Lords. The programme-makers clearly have no knowledge…
Some of those attending the Workshop I have previously done a post on the Eighth Workshop of Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians, held at Wroxton College at the end of July. As with previous workshops, it brought together MPs and researchers from a wide range of countries. Several members and officials attended from the Indonesian second…
I have spent the past few days in Switzerland advising members of the Iraqi Constitutional Review Committee on the establishment of a second chamber. Agreement has been reached on creating a second chamber. The committee has responsibility for recommending the form it take. My role has essentially been twofold. One has been to explain the…
