On Thursday last week, the Government tabled a measure to bring forward changes to the electoral registers which provides the basis for conducting our elections and reviewing constituency boundaries. It probably hoped that nobody would notice that this change could remove nearly two million people from the voting registers by the end of this…
The debate on Lord Tyler’s motion to call attention to legislative proposals for constitutional renewal – mentioned in his earlier post – can be read here. In my speech, I argued that the current crisis of confidence was in the political class and not in our basic constitutional structures. The focus should therefore be on rules –…
The debate on enhancing Parliament’s ability to communicate with the public was held yesterday. What was remarkable was the number of peers who contributed, not least given that it was the last debate before we rose for Christmas. I gather it was the best supported debate prior to the Christmas recess since we began using…
For those wishing to see the programme broadcast on BBC Parliament to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Life Peerages Act, you can find it at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00fzc1j/Peers_Progress/ You will see some familiar faces from this blog, including Baroness d’Souza, Lord Tyler and myself. I hasten to add that none of us was in the Lords fifty…
When I first entered the House, it was not unusual for the House to sit late to get through particular pieces of legislation. On occasion I spoke on, or moved, amendments around midnight or even well after. Now the practice is to try to rise by 10.00 p.m. If legislation is being considered, the House will rise…
