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Category Archives: Parliament

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

Why won’t the Government get rid of this pesky threat to free speech that nobody wants?

By Keith Porteous Wood | Fri 6th July 2012 - 10:51 am

On Wednesday evening, Lord Mawhinney tabled an amendment (no.155) in the House of Lords to remove the word “insulting” from Section 5 of the Public Order Act to flush out the Government’s attitude on this catchall provision with a very low prosecution threshold that tarnishes our reputation for freedom of expression.

Section 5 has served to nobble those engaged in mischievous, but harmless, pranks, street preachers, and those pouring scorn on religion, but, worse, also those speaking truth to power. Of even greater concern is the chilling effect: what, for fear of prosecution, has not been said but should have …

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Also posted in News and The Independent View | Tagged public order act and secularism | 11 Comments

Nick Harvey writes on yesterday’s Army re-structuring announcement

By Nick Harvey | Fri 6th July 2012 - 7:51 am

With Britain’s combat role in Afghanistan coming to an end, so ends the predictability of our Army’s main effort. Looking beyond 2014, we need to restructure our armed forces to face an increasingly uncertain world: ready to intervene to protect our national interest, with the agile and adaptable ability to project force and prevent conflict, as set out in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).

So yesterday’s Army 2020 announcement was about restructuring the British Army for the future. Contrary to many claims, it is not about personnel cuts.

Of course, we cannot avoid the fact that the economic situation …

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Also posted in News | Tagged armed forces, ministry of defence and nick harvey | 15 Comments

PMQs: My honourable friend makes an important point

By Paul Walter | Thu 5th July 2012 - 9:23 am

I think David Cameron broke his own record this week:

(To Nicolas Soames) My right honourable Friend makes an important point.

(To Julian Brazier) My honourable Friend makes two very important points.

(To Duncan Hames) My honourable Friend raises an important point.

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Also posted in PMQs | Tagged banking, duncan hames and stephen lloyd | 2 Comments

Coming up in the Lords: 2 – 5 July

By Mark Valladares | Fri 29th June 2012 - 2:55 pm

It never ceases to amaze me how much members of the House of Lords get done in the ten minutes that Tim Farron suggests they put in each day, and next week is no exception. So, moving swiftly along…

The Crime and Courts Bill continues through its Committee stage, and Days 5 and 6 take place on Monday and Wednesday next week. Regulation of bailiffs, consideration of financial circumstances when levying fines, and the immigration appeals regime will all be debated, with Eric Avebury having indicated his intention …

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2 Comments

Coming up in the Lords: 25-29 June

By Mark Valladares | Fri 22nd June 2012 - 7:53 am

It’s all gone a bit quiet at the more civilised end of the Palace of Westminster, after the mayhem that came at the end of the last Parliamentary session. That isn’t to say that it’s dull, but there is rather more debate and scrutiny than voting.

The Crime and Courts Bill has reached its Committee stage, and Days 3 and 4 take place on Monday and Wednesday next week. I have to admit that I understand precious little of this, even after reading the various (astonishingly lengthy) amendments, …

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Also posted in News | Tagged constitutional reform, courts and crime bill, financial services bill, house of lords and lords reform | Leave a comment

PMQs: Coalition comrades and Kettering cabinets

By Paul Walter | Thu 14th June 2012 - 12:15 pm

David Cameron rather wiped the floor with Ed Miliband yesterday. He did so with the very simple device of producing a letter from Sir Alex Allan, regarding the Hunt BSkyB imbroglio, which stated:

The fact that there is an on-going judicial inquiry probing and taking evidence under oath means that I do not believe I could usefully add to the facts in this case.

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Also posted in PMQs | Tagged david cameron and jeremy hunt | 6 Comments

Whether you regard Jeremy Hunt as guilty or innocent, an investigation is a must

By Mark Valladares | Wed 13th June 2012 - 7:51 am

The news that Liberal Democrat MPs are to abstain on a Labour motion calling upon David Cameron to refer Jeremy Hunt’s conduct to Sir Alex Allan is a disappointment. To be blunt, it is all very well letting it be known via ‘sources’ that we do not approve of the failure to refer the ‘Hunt Affair’, but then to stand aside when an opportunity to press the matter arises will not be understood by anyone outside the Westminster bubble.

Indeed, I would suggest that, if Jeremy Hunt wants to be anything other than a lame duck Secretary of State, he should …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged jeremy hunt and murdoch | 33 Comments

From the Lords: Dick Newby steps out…

By Mark Valladares | Wed 30th May 2012 - 5:22 pm

As a keen observer of life in the House of Lords, I feel it my duty to explore some of the less well-known aspects of life there. And, as a photograph has come into my hands that deserves a wider audience…

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Tagged dick newby and house of lords | Leave a comment

PMQs: Wouldn’t you also crack under this sort of pressure?

By Paul Walter | Fri 25th May 2012 - 10:57 am

Here are some quotes from Ed Balls MP from past Prime Minister’s Questions:

No No No No No No No No No No

and

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

and

Down Down Down Down Down Down Down Down Down

and

Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up

All this mono-syllabic heckling has gone on amidst a variety of facial squirms and gurns and even the exhibition of a wide portfolio of hand signals which have had puzzled observers searching umpiring manuals. This …

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Also posted in PMQs | Tagged david cameron and ed balls | 22 Comments

How well do you know the party’s MPs?

By Mark Pack | Thu 24th May 2012 - 9:55 am

One (and as far as I know, only one) current or former Lib Dem/SDP/Liberal MP has presented a 45 minute ITV programme about venereal disease.

Can you guess who it is?

(Answer after the jump.)

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Tagged history and jo grimond | 3 Comments

DPMQs: De facto but not de jure Fruit Ninja

By Paul Walter | Wed 23rd May 2012 - 11:53 am

MPs are always queuing up in droves to ask a question of the Deputy Prime Minister. He is what the Speaker describes as “box office”.

The subjects at this monthly session can, however, be a bit repetitive. House of Lords reform, electoral registration and lobbying all tend to pop up every time.

Helen Grant (Con) was anxious to get the Royal Sucession changes on the statute books pdq. But Nick Clegg reassured her that, should the Duchess of Cambridge undergo successful confinement resulting in a female happy event, …

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Also posted in PMQs | Tagged constitutional reform, house of lords, lords reform and nick clegg | Leave a comment

Coming up in the Lords: 21- 30 May

By Mark Valladares | Tue 22nd May 2012 - 12:52 pm

Welcome back to a suddenly rather quieter set of benches, as the avalanche of key votes has settled, and a new Parliamentary session glides effortlessly away from the Gracious Speech. We’re still catching up after the recess, so bear with us…

Having debated the Speech itself, and given the Government several pieces of its mind over Lords Reform, the Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill has its Second Reading today. For more information, check out Norman Lamb’s piece, published in Liberal Democrat Voice last week.

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Also posted in News | Tagged crime, european union, grocery adjudicator and house of lords | Leave a comment

Draft Energy Bill: keeping the lights on for now, and for decades to come

By Ed Davey | Tue 22nd May 2012 - 9:31 am

Over the next decade, around a fifth of existing power plants are due to close, against a background of projected increased energy demand and increasing energy prices. We need new investment simply to keep the lights on and avoid blackouts becoming a feature of daily life. But we also need investment in electricity generation for our climate change goals. We must decarbonise Britain’s electricity generation, to meet our Carbon Budgets as we transition to a low carbon economy.

We need an estimated £110 billion investment in electricity generation and transmission this decade alone. So we need electricity market reforms to incentivise …

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Also posted in News | Tagged climate change, ed davey and energy bill | 46 Comments

This week in Europe: 21-24 May

By Mark Valladares | Tue 22nd May 2012 - 7:52 am

Yes, we’re back in Strasbourg, apparently, for another week of drama and excitement. Alright, perhaps I exaggerate a bit… and apologise for being a little behind.

Yesterday saw the first debate on the new EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which will include a provision for visa-free travel to Canada for all EU citizens, something the Americans could perhaps learn from, as well as a series of short debates on, amongst other things, the EU’s internal security strategy and strengthening the rights of vulnerable consumers.

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Also posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged european parliament | Leave a comment

Yesterday in the Lords: flightless poultry call for a postponement of Christmas?

By Mark Valladares | Tue 1st May 2012 - 7:53 am

So, the Joint Select Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill has reported, and it would be fair to say that the ladies and gentlemen in ermine are, to put it mildly, perturbed. So perturbed that an extra two days were set aside for debate before the House prorogues prior to the Queen’s Speech.

With Lord Richard, the Chair of the Committee, focussing on the work of the Commiittee itself, it was left to Baroness Scott of Needham Market to make the opening speech for meaningful …

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Also posted in News | Tagged Joint Committee of the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill, martin thomas and ros scott | 5 Comments

David Cameron’s jibe at Dennis Skinner: forget the ageism, it was just badly done.

By Stephen Tall | Mon 30th April 2012 - 6:55 pm

David Cameron, it became clear today, was not impressed by Commons Speaker John Bercow’s decision to grant Labour leader Ed Miliband an urgent question on the subject of Jeremy Hunt’s hanging-by-a-thread career as culture secretary. His not-impressedness manifested itself as indignant anger — it was “spectacularly ill-judged” according to the Telegraph’s Iain Martin:

From the off Cameron’s approach was wince-inducingly ill-judged. He rushed his statement and sounded steadily more touchy as he got deeper into it, lashing out and even shouting at one point about Charlie Whelan. It wasn’t very Prime Ministerial.

Mr Cameron has faced particular stick for his dismissive suggestion to veteran Labour backbencher Dennis Skinner that it was time he took his pension:

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Also posted in News | Tagged david cameron, dennis skinner, ed miliband, jeremy hunt and rupert murdoch | 25 Comments

PMQs: Miliband hits barn door – twice

By Paul Walter | Fri 27th April 2012 - 1:54 pm

Britain back in recession, embarrassing emails about government links to Murdoch. These are gifts to the opposition. The most open of open goals at this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions.

I liked Miliband’s opening question:

Today we had the catastrophic news that Britain is back in recession. I am sure that the Prime Minister has spent the past 24 hours thinking of an excuse as to why it is nothing to do with him, so what is his excuse

…

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Also posted in PMQs | Tagged Angela Smith, david amess, david cameron, ed miliband, jeremy hunt, news international, recession and stephen lloyd | 31 Comments

Lords Reform – if evidence were needed…

By NewsHound | Tue 24th April 2012 - 11:52 am

Yesterday, Unlock Democracy published new research confirming that a majority of the public support government plans to introduce elections to the House of Lords. A poll conducted by YouGov has found that:

69% support a half, majority or wholly elected second chamber. The most popular response was for a fully elected second chamber (33%). Just 5% support a wholly appointed second chamber (don’t know: 22%).

45% believe members of the House of Lords should not be allowed to block reform; 32% felt they should (don’t know: 17%).

48% supported experts being invited to participate in legislation on an ad hoc basis, rather

…

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Also posted in News | Tagged house of lords and unlock democracy | 5 Comments

PMQs: It’s déjà vu all over again

By Paul Walter | Fri 20th April 2012 - 12:05 pm

Andrew Selous MP (Conservative) got up at Prime Minister’s Questions this week and said this:

What does he think about Ken Livingstone, who said that: “I get loads of money, all from different sources, and I give it to an accountant and they manage it”? Is that modern socialism for you?

A superb question. But one could be forgiven for being reminded of Yogi Berra’s remark:

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Also posted in PMQs | Tagged andrew cunningham, andrew selous, budget 2012, david cameron, ed miliband, ian murray, naomi long and stephen gilbert | 2 Comments

Labour put down tax amendment that would have given Tories tax cut they want – which Lib Dems stopped

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 18th April 2012 - 7:59 pm

I realise that Parliamentary shenanigans and point scoring isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but it’s worth pointing out that Labour today squandered a relatively good position going into the first PMQs of the new Parliamentary term. Ed Miliband had an open goal ahead of him given controversy over the pensioners’ tax allowance, “pasty tax” and charity tax relief yet he and his strategists still managed to misunderstand parliamentary procedure to a ludicrous extent. He’s just lucky that more excitable members of the Tory benches didn’t take their chance to have some fun.

Miliband looked not to Labour big hitters of the …

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Also posted in News | Tagged ed miliband, income tax, labour party, stephen williams and tax | 8 Comments

DPMQs: Trading attacks, squalidity and the long grass commission

By Paul Walter | Thu 22nd March 2012 - 11:54 am

Another Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions and another set of traded attacks. Harriet Harman has a go about the 50p tax rate and tax credit cuts. Nick Clegg lobs back this salvo:

Next month, this Government will take more than 1 million people on low pay out of paying income tax altogether. Next month, we will deliver the largest cash increase in the state pension ever. There will be no more of Labour’s 75p pension insults. Next month, thousands of children from disadvantaged backgrounds will receive an uplift

…

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Tagged constitutional reform, house of lords, lords reform and nick clegg | 4 Comments

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore | Wed 21st March 2012 - 10:55 am

Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore MP writes a weekly column for newspapers in his constituency. Here’s the latest edition.

The Economy

The economy remains the most important concern for people in my constituency and last week’s employment figures were a reminder of the challenging economic climate and that getting people into work is the UK Government’s first priority for Scotland.

We are doing all we can to get people working by laying the foundations for more sustainable growth and creating the conditions for businesses to invest in good quality jobs. By reducing corporation tax and making tough decisions on public spending …

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Also posted in News | Tagged budget, economy, Michael Moore and Westminster Notes | Leave a comment

Edward McMillan-Scott MEP “I’ve been helping Syrian rebels”

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 15th March 2012 - 7:28 pm

Edward McMillan-Scott, is one of our Liberal Democrat MEPs for Yorkshire and the Humber and a Vice President of the European Parliament with special responsibility for Human Rights and Democracy. I caught up with him for a quick chat at Conference in Gateshead.

Elected in 1984 to the European Parliament, he recently celebrated his second anniversary of joining the Liberal Democrats at the weekend. He came to us because of the way the Conservative Party had “abandoned its relationships with mainstream parties in the European Parliament. Rather than follow …

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Also posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged ALDE, edward mcmillan-scott, human rights and syria | 3 Comments

Q: What links the AV referendum, boundary changes & Lords reform? A: The Coalition Agreement

By Stephen Tall | Thu 15th March 2012 - 9:57 am

It appears the Tories are attempting a sneaky re-write of some very recent, and well-documented, history. What prompts me to say this? Let’s look at the FT’s Kiran Stacey’s report of Nick Clegg’s feisty performance at yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions:

asked why he was so focused on House of Lords reform when there were so many other more important issues to tackle. Clegg’s response was very telling:

There are other issues like changing the boundaries which I know are close to his party’s heart…

The Tories will absolutely hate that. They say the original agreement between the two parties was

…

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Also posted in News | Tagged av referendum, coalition agreement, lords reform, nick clegg, parliamentary boundary review, Peter Lilley and PMQs | 6 Comments

Nick Clegg does PMQs – my tweets

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 14th March 2012 - 1:16 pm

As always, Paul Walter will be along later with his imitable account of PMQs, but I thought that seeing as our own Nick Clegg was standing in for David Cameron today, we could have a bit of a bonus.

I tweeted my way through a session that could have been a tough one for our leader – but he managed to deal with the predictable Labour attacks on unemployment and the Health and Social Care Bill thoughtfully and without aggression or rancour.

Here is a link to my tweets – with apologies for the spelling mistakes. My fingers had trouble keeping …

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Also posted in News | Tagged dennis skinner, harriet harman, lorely burt, nick clegg, peter bone, Peter Lilley and PMQs | 1 Comment

PMQs: Lest we forget

By Paul Walter | Fri 9th March 2012 - 11:24 am

A different Prime Minister’s Questions review this week. Often, the Prime Minister prefaces his first answer with a tribute to fallen service personnel. I have mentioned these tributes a few times in the course of these write-ups over the last (nearly) two years.

It seems appropriate to devote the whole of this week’s review solely to those who have died fighting for us, as we pass the milestone of 400 troops killed in Afghanistan with a particularly bloody incident.

Whatever our views of the right or the wrongs of our involvements overseas, I think most people agree that our service personnel do …

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Also posted in PMQs | Tagged afghanistan | 1 Comment

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