Category Archives: Parliament

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

Mark Pack

An Early Day Motion to change Early Day Motions

By Mark Pack | Tue 1st March 2011 - 8:55 am

Never let it be said that self-referentiality is dead in Parliament. I give you Early Day Motion 432 for 2010-11 which calls for EDMs to be reformed or abolished.

EDMs have come in for a fair degree of flack (and it’s hard to see what the David Hasselhoff And Morecambe Winter Gardens EDM really achieved). However, many of the criticisms are easily dealt with by simple reforms, such as abolishing the expensive printing of hard copies of EDMs in large quantities.

With a few such simple reforms, EDMs could be an effective, and cost-effective, part of our Parliamentary processes. …

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Helen Duffett

Lib Dem Erin Harvey wins Parliamentary Researcher of the Year

By Helen Duffett | Mon 21st February 2011 - 4:53 pm

Erin Harvey Parliamentary Researcher of the Year 2011

Photo credit: Paul Heartfield, Federation of Small Businesses.

Erin Harvey, researcher to Liberal Democrat MP Gordon Birtwistle, scooped three prizes at last week’s Dods Parliamentary Researcher of the Year Awards.

From ePolitix.com:

Erin Harvey, the Liberal Democrat researcher who previously worked for Susan Kramer before joining the Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle in May, stole the show where she won three of the seven awards; Liberal Democrat Researcher of the Year, the Federation

…

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Paul Walter

PMQs: Flashman can’t resist putting the Clegg-shined boot in

By Paul Walter | Wed 16th February 2011 - 10:52 pm

Individual cases of unfortunate citizens are often brought up at Prime Minister’s Questions. A very powerful example of this was the subject of the first question today from John Mann (Labour). He cited the case of Gladys Hunt, whose care home fees have recently gone up by the staggering amount of £400 a week. Cameron replied that an extra £2 billion is going into adult care and that he’ll look into Mrs Hunt’s case.

Unusually, a Conservative MP raised the next question about a constituent in dire straits. This was Millie d’Cruz, who suffers from metachromatic leukodystrophy, and whose family …

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Paul Walter

PMQs: Cameron’s wheels start falling off

By Paul Walter | Wed 9th February 2011 - 10:29 pm

For the third week out of the last four, a Liberal Democrat asked the first question at Prime Minister’s Questions. This is turning into a tradition! Yay! This week it was the turn of Roger Williams to go through the charade of asking the PM for an entirely predictable list of his engagements for the day. Rather cleverly, albeit interrupted by some harrying from the Speaker, Roger manage to squeeze in two points: a) the key role played by the Sennybridge ranges and the infantry battle school in his constituency and b) a question about foreign students and universities: “Can …

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The Voice

Peers who voted against AV will now use it in their own by-election

By The Voice | Wed 9th February 2011 - 11:11 am

Peers who are currently trying to block a referendum on the use of the Alternative Vote in General Elections are about to use AV to replace one of their own members in the House of Lords.

The BBC’s James Landale reports:

The cause of this absurdity is the late Lord Strabolgi, a legend in the House of Lords, who died last December, aged 96.

He was one of 92 hereditary peers who were allowed to remain in the Lords in 1999 when all the others were kicked out.

It was agreed then that when any of the 92 died, there would be a

…

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Paul Walter

PMQs: The Pillsbury Doughboy takes on Motherhood and Apple pie – and loses

By Paul Walter | Thu 3rd February 2011 - 11:32 pm

For the second time in three weeks, a LibDem asked the first question at Prime Minister’s Question time. Bob Russell asked, first of all, for the PM to list his engagements for the day. As usual, there was the same response as there has been for virtually every week since Noah was in short trousers. “This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others and, in addition to my duties in the House, I shall have further such meetings later today.” Same question, same answer, every blinking week. It is hard not to have a mite of sympathy with …

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Helen Duffett

MPs with mental illness will no longer be automatically disqualified

By Helen Duffett | Thu 3rd February 2011 - 7:48 pm

The government announced today the repeal of a law which automatically expels MPs from Parliament if they have a serious mental health condition.

This morning on Daybreak TV, Nick Clegg spoke about the abolition of Section 141 of the Mental Health Act 1983:

Today we are announcing that we are repealing an old-fashioned outdated law which means that MPs at the moment are disqualified from being MPs if they have a mental health problem which goes on for more than six months.

We are scrapping that – it is a relatively symbolic thing because it has never been used – but

…

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Judith Jolly

Baroness Judith Jolly’s maiden speech

By Judith Jolly | Sun 30th January 2011 - 12:37 pm

In recent months, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs’ and Peers’ first words in Parliament, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. Earlier in January, Baroness Jolly of of Congdon’s Shop in the County of Cornwall, made her maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on the NHS. Her words are reproduced below.

My Lords, I start by thanking noble Lords kindly for the warm welcome that I have found since my introduction on Tuesday-from Members opposite as well as from my own Benches. Advice about my speech was to keep it simple, but most of all to keep it short. I extend these thanks to members of staff who have been exceptionally helpful in all manner of ways. I must say that I am not without trepidation. My introduction by comparison was easy, as once in my robes I was but an actor. Today, I feel somewhat naked without them, particularly in such eminent company.

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Chris Rennard

Chris Rennard writes: The row over the AV referendum will bring forward major changes in the House of Lords

By Chris Rennard | Sat 29th January 2011 - 11:30 pm

The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill has now had a longer Committee stage in the House of Lords than any legislation taken there since at least 1945. The Bill is not a particularly complicated Bill when compared with, say, the last Labour Government’s Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill. Labour’s last constitutional Bill covered thirteen different areas of constitutional reform (including an AV referendum) and was dealt with in the Commons in a few days by use of a ‘Programme Motion’ (guillotine).

The PVSC Bill has been subject to an extensive and well organised filibuster on Labour’s benches abusing …

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Ben Stoneham

Lord Ben Stoneham’s maiden speech

By Ben Stoneham | Fri 28th January 2011 - 2:24 pm

In recent months, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs’ and Peers’ first words in Parliament, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. Yesterday, Baron Stoneham of Droxford, of the Meon Valley in the County of Hampshire, made his maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on Tourism. His words are reproduced below.

My Lords, it is an honour and a privilege to speak to the House for the first time. I would like

…

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Paul Walter

PMQs: Miliband goes all Ballsy

By Paul Walter | Wed 26th January 2011 - 7:41 pm

Good Lord! Ed Miliband and David Cameron actually agreed on something. They agreed that yesterday’s growth figures were “disappointing”. They even agreed that if you set aside the bad weather impact, the figures were flat over the last quarter. An amazing level of agreement at PMQs! Unheard of!

Miliband asked about the causes of the disappointing figures. Cameron pointed to the UK’s large deficit and the large banking boom and bust. Ed Miliband then asked Cameron to confirm that he still thinks we are “out of the danger zone” (Cameron’s words from 15th December). We are no longer linked with PIG (Portugal, Ireland, Greece), said Cameron.

After Cameron said “If you do not deal with your debts, you will never have growth”, Ed Miliband came back with “If you do not have growth, you will never cut the deficit.” That has to be his best rejoinder ever at PMQs. Cameron dealt with that, however, by quoting the head of the OECD: “if you don’t deal with the deficit you can be assured that there will not be growth because confidence will not recover”.

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Tony Greaves

Tony Greaves writes: Coalition, Government and the Lords

By Tony Greaves | Tue 25th January 2011 - 10:43 am

We are in a new situation which started with the coalition being negotiated. Nobody in the political parties had thought it through. It had to be made up as they went along and it is still being made up, week by week, month by month. It has had a major effect on the resulting policies. It has also had an effect on the ongoing processes of government.

The coalition was put together in five days. An important lesson must be that future coalition-building in this country after an election really ought to take place at a slightly more measured pace, and …

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Raj Loomba

Lord Raj Loomba’s maiden speech

By Raj Loomba | Mon 24th January 2011 - 3:41 pm

In recent months, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs’ and Peers’ first words in Parliament, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. On Friday, Lord Loomba made his maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Amendment) Bill . His words are reproduced below. We featured Baroness Doocey’s and Baroness Kramer’s maiden speeches over the weekend.

My Lords, it is with some trepidation, but a lot

…

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Dee Doocey

Baroness Dee Doocey’s maiden speech

By Dee Doocey | Sun 23rd January 2011 - 1:51 pm

In recent months, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs’ and Peers’ first words in Parliament, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. On Friday, Baroness Doocey made her maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Amendment) Bill . Her words are reproduced below. Baroness Susan Kramer also made her maiden speech in the Lords during the same debate; we featured it yesterday.

My Lords, I also begin

…

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Susan Kramer

Baroness Susan Kramer’s maiden speech

By Susan Kramer | Sat 22nd January 2011 - 1:51 pm

In recent months, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs’ and Peers’ first words in Parliament, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. Yesterday, Baroness Kramer made her maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Amendment) Bill . Her words are reproduced below. Baroness Dee Doocey also made her maiden speech in the Lords yesterday; we will be featuring it tomorrow.

My Lords, as I rise to make

…

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Helen Duffett

Lib Dem Peer Lord Goodhart calls for filibuster ban

By Helen Duffett | Fri 21st January 2011 - 7:27 pm

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Lord John Sharkey’s maiden speech

By John Sharkey | Fri 21st January 2011 - 2:47 pm

LDV has been bringing you the words of our new representatives as they speak for the first time in the Houses of Parliament. We bring you maiden speeches from new MPs and new members of the House of Lords. You can find an archive of all maiden speeches we’ve published by clicking this link. If you think we’ve missed someone, do please drop us a line.

Lord Sharkey: My Lords, it is a great privilege and a great honour to join your Lordships’ House. It has also been a great pleasure because of the immense kindness shown …

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Paul Walter

PMQs: Pot-shot Miliband, a hand grenade, and some calming poetry

By Paul Walter | Thu 20th January 2011 - 9:25 pm

Wow! A Liberal Democrat MP asked the first question at Prime Minister’s Questions this week.

Andrew George spoke in English, rather than Cornish – which he has been known to speak in the Commons chamber. (Well, all right then, it was only for his maiden speech, I grant you). Anyway, Andrew’s question implied some scepticism about the government’s NHS reform plans, saying it involved a “gamble” which might give “private companies the easy pickings”.

Ed Miliband picked up the PM on the disappointing unemployment figures, especially those for youths. He said they were caused by the government “cutting too far …

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Paul Walter

DPMQs: Nick Clegg looks forward to Mañana

By Paul Walter | Thu 20th January 2011 - 2:36 pm

The LDV Collective have asked me to add the monthly Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions to my radar screen. When these sessions started they seemed rather manufactured and unnecessary. However, they have evolved into an important part of the Commons’ calendar, covering a wide range of key issues. They are of interest especially for those of us in the Liberal Democrats who are interested in hearing what Nick Clegg has to say in his official capacity, under scrutiny from MPs, in a mercifully Flashman-free environment.

But this will never be like Prime Minister’s Question Time. The chamber is only about a …

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Helen Duffett

Parliamentary pillow fight as peers face all-night sittings

By Helen Duffett | Mon 17th January 2011 - 11:49 pm

Members of the House of Lords are bedding down for the first ermine sleepover in recent Parliamentary history as peers debate the government’s plans to hold a referendum on electoral reform.

After eight days of the Bill at Committee Stage, there are still 165 amendments of the original 275 remaining for consideration.

From the Financial Times:

Labour peers are braced for the prospect of all-night sittings in the coming days in what the government has condemned as unprecedented “filibustering” by the opposition party.

Officials were setting out camp beds in several rooms in the House of Lords on Monday night for

…

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Mark Pack

Want a copy of Parliament’s rules? That’ll be £268.40

By Mark Pack | Fri 14th January 2011 - 12:25 pm

Erskine May is the House of Commons rulebook – but if you want to get a copy, it’ll cost you £268.40 from a commercial publisher, and Parliament has said no to a request for a free electronic copy from a member of the public.

The origins are typical of the British constitution. Erskine May started off as a unofficial guide written by an assistant librarian in the House of Commons. Over time it established itself as the reference work and is now treated just like an official rule book. But unlike Hansard – another Parliamentary publication which originated with …

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Alex Marsh

Opinion: Should we be concerned about the Government’s attempted quangocide?

By Alex Marsh | Thu 13th January 2011 - 1:20 pm

Quangos – Quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations – occupy a strange place in the British political landscape. They tend to proliferate because governments can’t resist seeing new commissions for this or advisory panels for that as essential, while rarely deciding that existing bodies have outlived their usefulness. Yet, the term “quango” inhabits the same discursive space as “bureaucracy”. There is an engrained association with waste, inefficiency, red tape and pointless interfering. In many people’s minds, and frequently in political rhetoric, “quango = bad” by definition. (For a discussion of a similar equation regarding bureaucracy, see here on my blog.) So, the …

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Paul Walter

PMQs: Who’d be a Prime Minister?

By Paul Walter | Wed 12th January 2011 - 11:11 pm

Prime Minister’s Question time is getting rather repetitive. But by hook and by crook, Ed Miliband is determinedly clawing his way forward. Today’s was quite an impressive performance from the Opposition leader. He is obviously doing his homework. He certainly gets an “E” for effort.

Cameron’s snarling responses continue rather gratuitously, albeit leavened with some good points.
Today’s session was dominated by banking. Miliband attacked Cameron for breaking promises on bankers’ pay, bank taxation and transparency. It is all Labour’s fault that the government can’t stop large RBS pay awards – they wrote the contract, riposted Cameron.

There then followed a points draw …

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Paul Walter

PMQs: The Coronation of Basil Brush

By Paul Walter | Wed 15th December 2010 - 9:56 pm

There was all the seasonal fun of the pantomime thrown in to Prime Minister’s Questions today: “Broad brush”, “Air brush”, “Basil Brush” (Cameron’s description of Miliband) – the coalition leadership depicted as the pantomime horse and, of course, “Look behind you”. It was all there.

Ed Miliband in special sotto voce mode, asked about the unemployment increase of 35,000 saying that, with this, Cameron’s claims of being “out of the danger zone” seem “very hollow”. Cameron went on about something called the Work Programme and said claimants were down and vacancies were up.

Miliband (reverting to his bunged-up “Choones” voice) said that …

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Alex Foster

Is this the first draft of a UK constitution?

By Alex Foster | Tue 14th December 2010 - 5:55 pm

The Cabinet Office have published a book they calling the Draft Cabinet Manual.

You can download a PDF of it.

Here’s a bit of churnalism from the press release.

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Dan Rogerson MP

Dan Rogerson MP writes: the Pupil Premium is launched

By Dan Rogerson MP | Tue 14th December 2010 - 11:22 am

Yesterday the Government announced the details of the brand new Pupil Premium which will make available £2.5 billion a year to children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds by the end of this Parliament. In doing so the coalition is delivering one of the key Liberal Democrat manifesto policies.
Schools will now be able to work out exactly what they will be receiving from next April and how they will be able to use this to help their most disadvantaged children.

I have three young children and care passionately about fostering children’s potential early on. I know that there has been …

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Paul Walter

Opinion: A refreshing exercise in transparency

By Paul Walter | Mon 13th December 2010 - 4:19 pm

A couple of years ago I made a complaint about my MP, Richard Benyon. I feel a shiver of guilt even writing the word “complaint” now. I suppose I am very English about complaints. I don’t like making a fuss. I have bumped into Richard off and on since 1992 and always found him to be “a nice enough cove”, as P.G. Wodehouse might put it. Making a “complaint” about such a harmless fellow just didn’t seem British. But occasionally I feel I must put pen to paper, as I did in this case.

What I thought were political comments …

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Mark Pack

Parliament starts publishing details of rulings on MPs

By Mark Pack | Sun 12th December 2010 - 7:55 pm

A small step-forward for accountability – the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standard’s recommendation from before the election for the details of his rulings to be published online has recently been implemented, along with a couple of years of archives. You can now read the rulings here.

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Helen Duffett

Tuition fees: How Liberal Democrat MPs voted

By Helen Duffett | Thu 9th December 2010 - 7:19 pm

21 Lib Dem MPs voted against:

  • Annette Brooke (Dorset Mid & Poole North) Annette gives her reasons here.
  • Sir Menzies Campbell (Fife North East)
  • Michael Crockart (Edinburgh West)
  • Tim Farron (Westmorland & Lonsdale)
  • Andrew George (St Ives) See Andrew’s Tuition Fees Statement.
  • Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South)
  • Julian Huppert (Cambridge) See Julian’s website.
  • Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye & Lochaber)
  • John Leech (Manchester Withington) John’s tuition fees speech in full.
  • Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne) Stephen spoke exclusively to the Eastbourne Herald.
  • Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) See Greg’s article in the Daily Mirror.
  • John Pugh (Southport) John spoke to the Liverpool Echo.
  • Alan Reid (Argyll & Bute)
  • Dan Rogerson (Cornwall

    • …

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    NewsHound

    +++ Tuition fees passes 323 vs 302

    By NewsHound | Thu 9th December 2010 - 5:44 pm

    Ayes to the right 323, Noes to the left 302. The Ayes have it, the Ayes have it.

    A very tight vote. Passes by more than the Lib Dem payroll vote of 18 but not by much.

    Names either way will be available when Hansard prints them.

    EDIT 1 – payroll vote diminished by 2 resigning PPSes, Jenny Willott and Mike Crockart, and of course Chris Huhne’s absence in Cancún.

    Also one Conservative PPS.

    EDIT 2 – Evan Harris of course is no longer an MP but had a piece for The Guardian today explaining why he would have voted against, but also giving …

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