Tag Archives: House of Lords
Do they know I am talking about the Lords?
At the beginning of 2011, I gave the Stevenson Lecture on citizenship at Glasgow University. I spoke on ‘Reform of the House of Lords’. As I reported at the time, I was told an audience of about 50 or so was … Continue reading
The cost of the House of Lords
An answer to a written question appearing in today’s Lords Hansard gives the figures (for 2011-12) for the cost per member of the House of Commons, House of Lords, and the European Parliament. Expenditure (£m) per member was: House of Commons … Continue reading
Travelling closer to home
It has been a busy week, which is why blogging has been light. This evening, the House is siting late – it is now gone 11.00 p.m. and we have had five votes during the course of the evening (the … Continue reading
The work goes on
I am variously in Westminster to fulfil different engagements. Last week, I was giving evidence to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee in the Commons – see my earlier post - and today I am speaking to pupils from a Lincolnshire school … Continue reading
A voice for civil society
Last night, I delivered the 2012 Magna Carta Lecture at Lincoln Cathedral. The title of the lecture was ‘Still a role for the Barons?’ I addressed the functions now fulfilled by the House of Lords. In the course of looking at the … Continue reading
Parliament and human rights
There has been a two-day conference at Westminster, organised by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, on ‘Redressing the Democratic Deficit in Human Rights’. Today was the second day and I was part of the concluding panel addressing ‘How could … 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
Reforming committees
I have just done a post on Lords of the Blog about reforming committees in the Lords. When I chaired the Commission to Strengthen Parliament, which reported in 2000, we recommended that each Bill in the Lords should normally be … Continue reading
House of Lords is now being recalled…
There has now been a change of plan and the House of Lords is being recalled. The announcement was made this morning. The House will sit tomorrow (Thursday) at noon for statements on the disorder of recent days as well as on … Continue reading
Oh dear…
Some people have difficulty recognising that Parliament and the House of Commons are not synonymous terms. Unfortunately, this extends at times to the media. The Evening Standard last night reported ‘Parliament is due to rise tomorrow… but Mr Cameron said … Continue reading
