Category Archives: Parliament

Anything connected with business in the Houses of Commons or Lords (eg, PMQs).

EDMWatch #3 No more page 3, sense on the nursery and transparency in English football

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 19th June 2013 - 10:56 am

We take a regular look at the Early Day Motions tabled by MPs. These are basically House of Commons petition and are used to raise awareness of an issue. One of the biggest elements of an MP’s postbag or inbox is a pile of requests from supporters of a particular organisation or charity to sign a particular EDM. As a rule, ministers don’t sign EDMs.

At the time of writing, 108 new motions had appeared since EDMWatch #2, bringing the total to 263.

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Greg Mulholland’s EDM 57 on a fair deal for your local pub has gone …

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“Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) rose. Hon. Members: Oh, no.” Yes, folks: this is our Parliament.

By Stephen Tall | Thu 13th June 2013 - 4:45 pm

There are few more popular Lib Dem MPs — among the ranks of party members — than Cambridge MP Julian Huppert.

It’s not hard to see why. He stands up for civil liberties, and as a scientist (indeed, the only MP with a science PhD in the House of Commons) he is keen on evidence and a rational approach to policy-making. On both grounds, he is unpopular with those Labour and Tory MPs who regard such behaviour as a tiresome intrusion on their evidence-free, and often authoritarian, prejudices.

How do we know he’s unpopular? Because some of their number have taken …

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Tagged dominic hannigan, julian huppert, kaya burgess and tim farron | 16 Comments

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore MP | Wed 12th June 2013 - 8:53 am

Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore MP, writes a regular column for newspapers in his Borders Constituency. Here is the latest edition.

The Queen

Last week, the Queen celebrated 60 years on the throne since her coronation in 1953. She has been a dedicated servant of the nation throughout these years and I am sure everyone in the Borders will want to join me in congratulating her on reaching this milestone. It was a real pleasure to meet representatives from my constituency in Dover House who had travelled to London for the thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey.

Referendum

As the debate surrounding …

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Also posted in Op-eds and Scotland | Tagged Michael Moore and Westminster Notes | Leave a comment

Same sex marriage bill: how peers voted by party

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th June 2013 - 9:25 pm

We reported last night the historic decision of the House of Lords to approve the second reading of the Same Sex Marriage Bill by a hefty majority. 73 Lib Dem peers voted against Lord Dear’s wrecking amendment.

And if you were wondering about the breakdown across the parties — how many of each voted for or against? — then Will Howells (formerly of this parish) has posted this handy graph to Twitter:

Figures are from Public Whip, with one or two errors as noted here by Will.

Tagged house of lords, lord dear, same sex marriage bill and will howells | 3 Comments

Labour and Tory MPs have a new twist on an old game. Block democratic reform. Then criticise lack of democratic reform

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th June 2013 - 10:25 am

Labour and Tory MPs have a new favourite hobby. It’s one they’ve been practising for decades, but they’ve really refined their art in the last three years.

Basically it works like this…

A political scandal happens. Abuse of expenses by MPs or cash-for-questions/honours/favours, that sort of thing. Everyone demands reform. This must never happen again, they say. Cross-party talks are immediately convened. Then re-convened a few months later once the pressure’s off a bit. And finally they’re abandoned once they’re sure people have got bored with it all and …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged kevin brennan, lobbying, lords reform, nick clegg and party funding | 10 Comments

Baroness Liz Barker writes … My Lords speech on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill

By Baroness Liz Barker | Mon 3rd June 2013 - 9:05 pm

My Lords, I declare an interest. Many years ago I had the great good fortune to meet someone. She and I have loved one another ever since - apart, that is, from the occasional spectacular argument, usually about driving or DIY. As the slogan on T-shirts in the 1980s said: it happens in the best of families.

Whilst marriage is robust and enduring, what is meant by marriage has developed and changed significantly. Marriage was redefined in 1986, otherwise there would not now be any civil marriages in this country. Marriage laws were redefined in 1949, otherwise under-16-year-olds would still …

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Tagged equal marriage and house of lords | 5 Comments

EDMWatch #2: Beer, moths, space and human rights

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 3rd June 2013 - 4:45 pm

We take a regular look at the Early Day Motions tabled by MPs. These are basically House of Commons petitions and are used to raise awareness of an issue. One of the biggest elements of an MP’s postbag or inbox is a pile of requests from supporters of a particular organisation or charity to sign a particular EDM. As a rule, ministers don’t sign EDMs. A look at EDMs can be a useful insight into what’s on MPs’ minds.

The second week of the parliamentary session saw a flurry of motions, going up from 71 to 155.

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The most …

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Also posted in Op-eds | 1 Comment

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore MP | Fri 24th May 2013 - 8:56 am

Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore MP, writes a regular column for newspapers in his Borders Constituency. Here is the latest edition.

Apprenticeship Week

Last week was Apprenticeship Week in Scotland, which is a week to recognise and celebrate the commitment of employers and the talent of apprentices from all over the country. The Week also helps raise the profile of apprenticeships and encourage young people and local businesses to get involved. They are a vital way for young people to gain the skills they need to break into the job market and it has been good to see …

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How Liberal Democrat MPs voted on same sex marriage amendments

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 21st May 2013 - 11:43 am

The only vote which had been published before I went to my bed last night was that on freedom of conscience for registrars. I’ve now had a look at some of the others in Hansard.

In addition to the 11 who voted in favour of registrars being able to exempt themselves from conducting same sex marriages, there were two abstentions, from Vince Cable and Mark Williams. We had 36 voting in favour and Sir Bob Russell was telling.

The next vote was on whether marriage between a man and a woman should be made a protected characteristic of a religion …

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Also posted in News | Tagged same sex marriage bill | 12 Comments

Smith, Crockart, Bruce and Williams win in Great Parliamentary Raffle

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 17th May 2013 - 11:38 am

Well, I learned something I didn’t know about parliamentary procedure yesterday. I had always assumed that the Private Members’ Bill Ballot was an actual ballot, where MPs voted for themselves or their colleagues. How naive was I? The secret is now out, and available on You Tube. It’s actually a big raffle as you can see here:

440 MPs’ names went into the box and just 20 were drawn out. Among them were 4 Liberal Democrats. We had Sir Robert Smith in 9th place, Mike Crockart in 11th, Mark Williams in 13th and Sir Malcolm Bruce in 14th. I …

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Also posted in News | Tagged mark williams, mike crockart, private members bills, sir malcolm bruce and sir robert smith | 7 Comments

The most important thing going on in Parliament this week…

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 16th May 2013 - 9:20 am

Forget the EU referendum faffery and PMQs. When people wake up in the morning, their first thoughts are unlikely to be anything to do with the internal wranglings within the Conservative Party or any sort of parliamentary panto. They will be to do with their health or thir job or any other problems they or their family face.

However, at 11:30 or thereabouts today, MPs will talk about something that most people will find real and relevant. There’s a backbench debate on mental health. I doubt it will be as powerful and intense as the debate we had at Scottish Conference …

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Also posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged ewan hoyle, katherine welby, mental health and sophie bridger | 5 Comments

“Feisty” Clegg in Groundhog PMQs

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 15th May 2013 - 3:17 pm

So, the Commons had the weekly panto half hour to ask Nick Clegg lots of awkward questions. MPs limited themselves, though, to asking several questions many times over. Nick looked as if he was thoroughly enjoying the encounter and took every opportunity to promote Liberal Democrat coalition wins like fairer taxes and the single tier pension. Strangely, though, he didn’t once mention the words stronger economy or fairer society. Not once.

Harriet Harman’s strategy was strange. She wasted 3 questions on the fact that Cameron wasn’t there and that he’d only answered questions on one week in the last eight. Well, …

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Also posted in News | Tagged nick clegg and PMQs | 29 Comments

How Nick Clegg should deal with Tory Eurosceptics at PMQs today

By Stephen Tall | Wed 15th May 2013 - 11:30 am

Caron’s already given you the 70 minute warning that Nick Clegg is standing in for David Cameron at PMQs today at 12 noon. The Mail’s Matt Chorley has a suggestion for his best approach to the head-banging wing of the Tory party:

The best way for Nick Clegg to deal with Tory Eurosceptics at PMQs today is to answer all their questions in Dutch

— Matt Chorley (@MattChorley) May 15, 2013

The Lib Dem press office took him at his word:

.@mattchorley Doe niet zo gek, zeg: we houden het sportief vandaag!

— Lib Dem Press Office

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Also posted in PMQs | Tagged matt chorley and nick clegg | 9 Comments

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore MP | Wed 15th May 2013 - 8:55 am

Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore MP, writes a regular column for newspapers in his Borders Constituency. Here is the latest edition.

Vince Cable’s visit to the Borders

Over the past weekend, Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, visited the Borders to speak at our local Lib Dem annual dinner and meet with businessmen and women from across the area.

On Saturday, we spent the morning at John Seed’s farm near Duns looking at the work he is doing, with his family, to diversify the farm and transform the way it generates and uses energy. It is hugely impressive to see the scale of what they have achieved through biomass and other initiatives. (Photo shows John Seed, Vince, his wife Rachel Smith, Mike Moore and Steve Jones)

Next, Vince and I met with a small group of Borders businessmen and women to discuss the challenges and opportunities that diversified farm businesses are currently facing. From issues such as bank lending to red tape, each member of the group raised their particular concerns and it was certainly a productive discussion. It was good to have the chance to show off some of our finest farms businesses and I will continue to work with Vince beyond this visit to get the best deal for Borders businesses.

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Also posted in Op-eds and Scotland | Tagged Michael Moore, vince cable and Westminster Notes | 2 Comments

Lord (Tom) McNally writes: The year ahead for Liberal Democrat Lords

By Lord Tom McNally | Tue 14th May 2013 - 7:00 pm

LAST week I had the delight, honour and privilege to open the second day of the debate on the Queen’s Speech in the Lords –at four days long, practically the debating equivalent of test cricket.

As I told the House, I have never hidden the reality that, in the present economic climate, the Coalition Government has had to make hard decisions and tough choices to achieve an economic recovery underpinned by fairness. But I believe that in our first three years we have made the tough decisions necessary.

A new parliamentary year is beginning, however, and a new raft of legislation is …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged house of lords, liberal democrats and tom mcnally | 2 Comments

EDMwatch #1: animals, VAT on tabloids, Diabetes and Sir Alex Ferguson

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 14th May 2013 - 11:53 am

I thought it might be a good idea to introduce a new feature for the start of the shiny new parliamentary session – a regular look at the Early Day Motions tabled by MPs. These are basically House of Commons petition and are used to raise awareness of an issue. One of the biggest elements of an MP’s postbag or inbox is a pile of requests from supporters of a particular organisation or charity to sign a particular EDM. As a rule, ministers don’t sign EDMs.

You would think, wouldn’t you, that MPs could just sign them with a click of …

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Also posted in News | Tagged adrian sanders, EDMwatch, george galloway, john hemming, john leech, malcolm bruce and Parliament | 8 Comments

Next week in the Lords: 13-16 June… God bless Her Majesty!

By Mark Valladares | Sun 12th May 2013 - 11:21 am

After the pomp of the Queen’s Speech, comes the dissection of its content. Of course, that’s not all that gets done, so let’s dive into the week ahead…

Monday sees the debate on elements of the Speech relating to business, economy, local government and transport, whilst crossbench peer, Baroness Young of Hornsey has a particularly salient oral question, seeking a view on how UK clothing sector retailers might ensure that people working throughout their supply chains enjoy safe and secure working conditions in light of the Rana Plaza disaster.

On …

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Also posted in News | Tagged hugh dykes, kate parminter, queen's speech, sal brinton and tony greaves | 2 Comments

Tom McNally writes… transforming rehabilitation

By Lord Tom McNally | Fri 10th May 2013 - 4:23 pm

For decades Britain has been locking people up for short periods of time only to see them reoffend as soon as they are released from prison. This party has long recognised that the criminal justice system just wasn’t working in preventing reoffending.

Nearly half – 47.5% – of those leaving prison are reconvicted within a year. For prisoners sentenced to less than 12 months it is almost 60%. The cost of reoffending by ex-offenders to our economy each year is between £9.5bn and £13bn. This is not good enough. Victims of crime deserve better than this. Society as a whole …

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Also posted in News | Tagged penal reform and rehabilitation | 6 Comments

LibLink: Mark Pack – Parliamentary predictions on the Queen’s Speech

By NewsHound | Sun 5th May 2013 - 11:35 am

Over at The House Magazine, Mark Pack (formerly of this parish) previews the upcoming Queen’s Speech — and applauds the fact that it may be rather thinner than we’ve grown used to:

Far too often ministers have confused volume of legislation sent through Parliament with being a good minister. It is an oh-so-tempting trap to fall into, as shown by some of the daft criticisms of the last Queen’s Speech – seeking to equate the Government’s seriousness about economic policies with the number of Bills on the subject.

Thankfully, however, at least the Liberal Democrat part of the Government is sticking to

…

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Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore MP | Wed 1st May 2013 - 10:28 am

Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore MP, writes a regular column for newspapers in his Borders Constituency. Here is the latest edition.

Better Together

Last week the UK Government published its second Scotland Analysis paper, this time analysing the currency options for an independent Scotland. It set out four main currency choices: firstly, negotiating a formal sterling currency union with the continuing UK; secondly, adopting the pound without the formal consent of the continuing UK; thirdly, joining the euro area; or fourthly introducing an independent Scottish currency.

The paper sets out that all of these options would not be as …

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Julian Huppert says, “Get Britain Cycling”!

By Julian Huppert MP | Fri 26th April 2013 - 11:49 am

On Wednesday, after a four month inquiry, the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group – of which I’m co-chair – published our plan to “Get Britain Cycling”.

Cycling is fast, safe, healthy, cheap, environmentally sound, and fun. Yet in 2011 less than 2% of journeys made in the UK were by bike.

For a nation in which 30% of our children are overweight or obese, and our roads are increasingly congested, this is a serious problem.

Our report sets out how, with strong leadership from the top, we can increase the proportion of journeys made by bike to 10% by 2025, and …

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Also posted in News | Tagged cycling and julian huppert | 3 Comments

Next week in the Lords… 22-25 April (and there shall be ping pong enough for all)

By Mark Valladares | Fri 19th April 2013 - 1:51 pm

Yes, I know, I’ve been rubbish at keeping up with this in recent weeks, but it’s a busy week ahead in the Lords, as they return from their early Spring recess for a hectic week of tying up loose ends before the end of the Parliamentary session when they… go off for the recess before the Queen’s Speech…

So, without further ado…

Monday sees the introduction of the Bishop of Truro, just in time for consideration of Commons amendments on the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and

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Also posted in News | Tagged defamation bill, hugh dykes, john lee, julian huppert and tim clement-jones | 2 Comments

Paddy Ashdown pays tribute to Margaret Thatcher (and shows Nick how it’s done)

By Stephen Tall | Wed 10th April 2013 - 8:00 pm

MPs in the Commons and peers in the Lords have been queuing up this afternoon to record their tributes to Margaret Thatcher, including both Nick Clegg and Paddy Ashdown.

To read both their tributes, please scroll down the page.

Nick’s come in for some stick on Twitter, mostly from right-wing MPs/journalists, for instance Mark Reckless and Sarah Wollaston; even the usually fair-minded Isabel Hardman of The Spectator called it “sour”. I’ve both read and watched Nick’s remarks and don’t buy that criticism at all.

But two things do strike me. First, it’s a very perfunctory speech. The only two personal comments he makes are a nod to his Sheffield constituency (“where the mere mention of her name even now elicits strong reactions”) and a rather glib aside about her infamous “there’s no such thing as society” quote (I say glib because there’s a lot more to the quote than that: disagree with it by all means, but recognise there was a context to it).

Secondly, and more disappointingly, it tells us nothing about Nick and his views on Margaret Thatcher. Yes, of course the tribute is about her, not him; but surely everyone who grew up in the 1980s has a view on what she got right and what she got wrong? What’s Nick’s? Instead, he squirms round it equivocally: she “elicits” strong views… “whether people liked or disliked her”… “remember her with all the nuance, unresolved complexity and paradox that she possessed.” There is a studied, deliberate vagueness here. I want to know what Nick thought then; and what he really thinks now. I think the closest we probably get to that is his observation that “much of her politics was subtle and pragmatic”: that’s the aspect I suspect Nick admires.

That’s why those Clegg-critics who sniped at Nick’s tribute surprise me: there’s far too little of him in his speech, not too much.

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Tagged featured, margaret thatcher, nick clegg and paddy ashdown | 87 Comments

Secret Courts now a reality after Lords amendments fall – how did Liberal Democrats vote?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 27th March 2013 - 8:07 am

As the sky fell in on open justice, according to Labour whip Angela Smith, Conservative peers were watching the Bond movie Skyfall. The irony actually hurts.

Can it be true? Peer in debate says Tory Peers watching Sky Fall in Cmmttee Room 2? Just to make sure they stay & vote w/out hearing debate?

— Angela Smith (@LadyBasildon) March 26, 2013

Lady Smith might have been better keeping an eye on her own benches. Between the first Division of the Day, on the Growth and Infrastructure Bill, and the crucial vote on whether secret courts should be invoked only as a …

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Also posted in News | Tagged featured, house of lords and secret courts | 52 Comments

Government pauses on web regulation to ponder question, “What is a small-scale blog?”

By Stephen Tall | Tue 26th March 2013 - 9:10 am

A follow-up to my weekend post, Bloggers unite to oppose “botched late-night drafting” that proposes new press/web regulation, highlighting the concerns of many — including the Hacked Off campaign group — that politicians’ hasty law-making had resulted in legislative over-reach.

In the House of Lords last night, the Government accepted an amendment that will exclude from the Royal Charter-backed independent self-regulation plans ‘A person who publishes a small-scale blog’.

How ‘a small-scale blog’ is defined will be consulted on by the culture, media and sport department. Patrick Wintour in The Guardian reports this as “a miniconsultation with the newspaper industry on how best to construct a workable definition of the bloggers”, which would be an, erm, interesting way of going about it.

Here’s what Lib Dem justice minister Lord (Tom) McNally told peers:

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Tagged leveson inquiry, lord mcnally and press regulation | 11 Comments

‘Shares for Rights’ defeated in the Lords

By Tracy Connell | Fri 22nd March 2013 - 2:51 pm

There is an unwritten rule that there can be no deaths in the Palace of Westminster. Well, we had one in the House of Lords on Wednesday, as the controversial ‘Employee Shareholder’ clause in the Growth and Infrastructure Bill was removed.

This pet project of George Osborne would have set up a new employment status where employees would be required to give up certain workers rights in exchange for shares in the company. Labour and crossbench Peers, plus a small number of prominent Liberal Democrat and rebel Conservative peers supported the amendment.

Crossbencher Lord Pannick, outlined four main problems with the new …

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Also posted in News | Tagged growth and infrastructure bill and sal brinton | 6 Comments

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore MP | Wed 20th March 2013 - 9:51 am

Every week, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore MP, writes a column for newspapers in his Borders Constituency. Here is the latest edition.

Green Deal

Despite the fact that we are now well into March, it seems that there is no let up in the cold snowy weather and I know that at this time energy bills remain a major concern to my constituents. To help people reduce these bills and cut down their energy use, the Government has taken action and introduced a scheme called the Green Deal. This enables people to improve the energy efficiency of their …

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Also posted in Op-eds and Scotland | Tagged brazil, green deal, Michael Moore, press regulation, trade and Westminster Notes | Leave a comment

Nick Clegg’s statement to the Commons on press regulation

By The Voice | Tue 19th March 2013 - 7:57 am

Last night we published Nick Clegg’s email to supporters setting out his views on press regulation. Here’s the text of his full statement in the Commons yesterday:

Mr Speaker, when Lord Justice Leveson published his recommendations, the Liberal Democrats supported them. I agreed with his basic model of a new, independent self-regulatory body for the press…
With a new recognition body authorised to check, periodically, that the system is working properly.

Given the importance of the relationships between politicians, the public and the press… I said at the outset

…

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Tagged leveson inquiry and nick clegg | 1 Comment

Secret Courts Bill… don’t get your hopes up

By Mark Valladares | Fri 15th March 2013 - 2:51 pm

So, it has come to this. Apparently, the only hope left of stopping the Secret Courts element of the Justice and Security Bill is to persuade the Parliamentary Party in the Lords to either vote down Part II of the Bill, the bit with the Secret Courts elements in it, or to vote down the entire Bill. Easy, really. Or, perhaps, not. You see, this presumes that the Lords gets to vote on Part II or the entire …

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Also posted in News | Tagged house of lords, justice and security bill and secret courts | 9 Comments

Mike Thornton MP’s maiden speech

By Helen Duffett | Tue 12th March 2013 - 9:49 am

The newest Liberal Democrat MP spoke for the first time in Parliament yesterday in a debate on the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill, paying tribute to the work of his predecessors David Chidgey and Chris Huhne. As is traditional, he praised his constituency and described its history as a bustling industrial and railway town.

Mike Thornton began by thanking all those who campaigned with him during last month’s by-election, and the voters of Eastleigh for putting their faith in him.

Mike’s full speech, as recorded in Hansard:

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing me to make my maiden speech during this important

…

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Tagged chris huhne, david chidgey, eastleigh, financial services bill and mike thornton | Leave a comment