Author Archives: Peter Facey

The Independent View: House of Lords Reform – The Way Forward

It’s fair to say that last night’s debate on the House of Lords Reform Bill will not go down in history as the Common’s finest moment.  There was more cant on display than the entire run of Play Away.  Many of the speeches appeared to be against a different bill entirely and you could be forgiven for thinking the bill bore no resemblance to the one which Labour had proposed in its own White Paper in 2008 (in fact, the proposals are remarkably similar).

For all that, however, it is fair to say the Lib Dems have not exactly covered …

Posted in The Independent View | Tagged | 8 Comments

The Independent View: Lib Dem peers kill local referendums

On the 10th of October the House of Lords killed off the prospect of voters getting the power to initiate referendums on local issues. Up until then the Localism Bill had contained a modest proposal to give local people in England the power to call non-binding referendums on local issues if 5% of their fellow voters supported them. The proposal was hedged in with safeguards and protections to ensure that it did not contravene national laws or go beyond the powers of the local authority.

But the hopes that this could see revival of local democracy with citizens being given the …

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged and | 27 Comments
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    >". If Chloe is referring to VAT on public school education then I disagree. Those who can afford £ 65,000 p.a. in fees at Eton can well afford to pay the V...
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    Poll rating amongst teachers ? But, they happily gobbled up the 10% pay rise Ms Phillipson arranged for them though, Chloe. As to being a nasty piece of work, ...
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    Her poll rating amongst teachers is awful, & to read the teachers blogs about the reforms she put in place is an eye-opener. Above all else, those calling ...
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    'The truth is that our freedoms are being subtly eroded in an era where emotion and sentiment are prized above reason and rationality'... KB...