The House achieved a notable success on Monday. As readers will recall, the Public Bodies Bill attracted criticism from all parts of the House. It is a ‘Henry VIII’ Bill, enabling ministers to change primary legislation – in this case, Acts establishing particular public bodies – by order (that is, secondary legislation). A particular focus…
I agree with Lord Knight’s assessment of the Public Bodies Bill. It is making slow progress through the House. This is in part because of time being taken by the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill and also because peers are keen to discuss the bodies included in the different schedules of the Bill. A number are…
The media last Thursday tended to concentrate on the publication of the Constitution Committee’s report on the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill rather than on the Lord Chief Justice’s appearance before the committee the previous day. However, on Friday, The Guardian carried a report on his Lordship’s evidence. It focused on his criticisms of Schedule 7 of the…
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, appeared before the Constitution Committee this morning. It was a very revealing session. Lord Judge, in a dinner for Her Majesty’s Judges at the Mansion House in July, said that “my deepest concern at the moment is directed to the increased use of what are described as Henry VIII…
