Monthly Archives: July 2019
Bringing scholars and parliamentarians together
In 1994, I organized a Workshop of Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians, designed to draw together academics and members of parliaments so that research findings likely to be of practical interest to parliamentarians could be presented and discussed. It was co-sponsored … Continue reading
Magna Carta to Brexit…
The academic term may have ended, but I am still the throes of marking as well as speaking on a range of topics – not least Magna Carta, peers’ voting rights, and Brexit, though not necessarily in that order – … Continue reading
Should peers be allowed to vote for MPs?
On Friday, the House of Lords will debate a Private Member’s Bill that has the single purpose of removing the ban on members of the Lords voting in elections for Members of the House of Commons. In 1699 the House … Continue reading
Becoming an Honorary Senior Fellow
Yesterday, I was at Regent’s University London to be installed as an Honorary Senior Fellow, the university’s equivalent of bestowing an honorary degree. (I already have an honorary degree, from Lincoln University, so it is nice to have a separate … Continue reading
Post-18 education and apprenticeships
We recently had two debates in the Lords – just two days apart – that enabled me to speak on post-18 education and degree apprenticeships, the latter the subject of the most recent report from the Higher Education Commission. I … Continue reading
Maggie and Boris: polar opposites
I have no idea how Margaret Thatcher would have voted in the current Conservative leadership contest, had she been alive. Given that she is not with us, no one knows for sure, though I doubt if that will stop some … Continue reading
The need for more pre-legislative scrutiny
Before the end of the last century, parliamentary scrutiny of bills was generally found wanting. It was the area in which Parliament was arguably in greatest need of reform. As the 1993 report of the Hansard Society Commission on the … Continue reading
Post-legislative scrutiny in the House of Lords
At the end of last year, I gave a paper at a conference on committees in comparative perspective, held in Brussels. My paper addressed post-legislative scrutiny in the House of Lords. It was a productive gathering and as a result … Continue reading
The Norton View 