Monthly Archives: January 2016
A surprising name…
I have previously drawn attention to the various names by which I have been addressed in correspondence, some more inventive than others. One morning recently, I received letters addressed to His Excellency Lord Norton of Louth (fine by me!), L … Continue reading
The Lords and crisis management
The House of Lords is not immune from media criticism. Some of it is justified. Much of it is not, but the House constitutes an easy target for the cynicism that tends to pervade coverage of politics. It also suffers … Continue reading
Decline of parliamentary snail mail
At the beginning of each year, I table a parliamentary question asking how many items of correspondence were received in the Palace of Westminster in the previous year (and, of these, what proportion was received in the House of Lords). There … Continue reading
Debating the Strathclyde Review
Last Wednesday, the House debated the Strathclyde Review – the report produced by Lord Strathclyde in the light of the failure of the House to approve the Tax Credits Regulations last October. Lord Strathclyde outlined three options for restricting or … Continue reading
Good start to the year…
The year has got off to a good start. Two articles of mine are published this month as well as a book chapter. This morning, I received the January issue of Parliamentary Affairs, which carries my article on ‘The Fixed-term Parliaments … Continue reading
And the winner is…
Selecting a winner from all the entries in the latest competition was far from easy. I narrowed it down to six. It was a close run thing, given that several met the ‘laugh out loud’ test, not least because they were … Continue reading
Losing senior peers
The House of Lords has come in for criticism in recent months, in some cases deserved, but often as the product of a prevailing cynicism – and the House is an easy target, given how few people know about it. … Continue reading
The Norton View 