Last Tuesday, I gave evidence, along with Peter Riddell and Professor Robert Hazell, to the Public Administration Committee in the Commons on whether or not there were too many ministers. We were agreed that there are too many, with the number now appointed, along with Parliamentary Private Secretaries, creating too great a payroll vote in the…
We had a five-hour debate yesterday on the Second Reading of the Parliamentary Standards Bill. It rather resembled the Second Reading debate in the Commons in that the Bill was friendless on the back-benches. Indeed, only the minister spoke in support. I made the case for insisting on the normal intervals between the stages of the Bill. …
