Monthly Archives: December 2011
Preaching to the converted?
Amazon have e-mailed me to recommend, based on my previous purchases, that I acquire a copy of Parliaments and Governments in Western Europe. It is difficult to deny that it is a book that is very much central to my … Continue reading
Christmas viewing
My 1911 Centenary Lecture on Enoch Powell was included in the BBC Parliament Channel’s summer loop for the period that Parliament was in recess. I see that my History of Parliament Lecture on the Parliament Act 1911 is included in … Continue reading
Roll call of honour
My WordPress dashboard provides me a tally of those who have made the most comments in response to posts. As we move towards the end of the year, it seems appropriate to acknowledge those who have made the most contributions. So … Continue reading
How not to make friends and influence people…
The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, made a well-trailed speech on Monday in which he offered egregious comments on the House of Lords. The speech, not surprisingly, has gone down like a lead balloon in the Lords, including among many … Continue reading
A delegation from Vietnam
The past week has followed its usual pattern, in so far as I have a normal working week. On Monday, there was the meeting of the Joint Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill. We took evidence from … Continue reading
The nature of opposition
In my talk at the seminar at the French National Assembly last week, I spoke on the nature of parliamentary opposition. I addressed the nature of opposition and the differing configurations it may take within a legislature: the Opposition, a combination … Continue reading
The European dimension
One of my forthcoming publications is a chapter on Britain and the EU. I was invited to write the chapter under the title of ‘Opt Out: Britain’s Unsplendid Isolation.’ I employed the analogy of marriage to explain the relationship: the … Continue reading
Pseudo-tweets of the week…
It has been a fairly busy week, hence the reason for the light posting. Monday. As covered in my previous post, as soon as I finished teaching, it was a case of rushing to get the train to Westminster in … Continue reading
A lonely Bill…
Yesterday, as is my usual practice, as soon as I finished teaching I travelled to Westminster in time for the Joint Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill. The Bill has not exactly attracted enthusiastic support. Few witnesses … Continue reading
