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…
Four peers have died this month and new appointments announced. In recent weeks, the deaths have been announced of peers who have served the crown (Lord Moore of Wolvercote, former Private Secretary to the Queen), Parliament (Lord Dean of Harptree, who had served as a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons), the law (Lord Slynn…
When does a Blogger, talking about himself, turn into an Inquisitor asking lots of questions? That is what I want to become. The Lords Information Committee, of which I am the proud chairman, is starting an inquiry this week in which we want to find out your thoughts about Parliament in general and the House…
The Information Office of the House of Lords produces some excellent material. Given the demands made on it to respond to queries, finding the time to be proactive and publish some invaluable publications is quite a challenge. It produces obvious value for money. This is reflected in the answer I have just received about the number…
Peers can vote in local and European Parliament elections, but cannot vote in elections to the House of Commons. Some members of the House object to this and believe they should be entitled to vote. The issue came up again at Question Time yesterday. The minister, Lord Bach, was asked what the rationale was for…
