Fortunately, it’s not the hope that will kill you, especially in the upper chamber, but there is a high degree of uncertainty in terms of the week ahead.
Labour would doubtless love to prorogue on Tuesday, leaving the Lords to do so on Wednesday and avoiding the need to expose Sir Keir Starmer to another painful set of Prime Minister’s Questions, but there are still disputes between the two chambers on some key issues.
The Liberal Democrats have vowed to keep voting down the Government’s proposals in the Pension Schemes Bill allowing ministers to dictate where pension funds allocate their capital, and although there has apparently been a deal cut on Lords changes to the Crime and Policing Bill.
That leaves the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, both of which are still with the Commons for consideration of Lords amendments.
Otherwise, there are two Oral Questions from the Liberal Democrat benches. Today, Paul Strasburger asks the Government about implementation of the Supreme Court’s judgement in the For Women Scotland case within Government departments. I’m afraid that, to put it mildly, he’s not on what I would describe as the side of the angels.
Mark Pack, who does increasingly seem to be making his presence felt, has a question on Tuesday regarding implementation of safety recommendations following investigations by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.
Once prorogation takes place, the House will recess until the King’s Speech, when King Charles will, assuming he survives his trip to the United States, tell us all what further authoritarian gestures this Government wants to introduce. Until then, watch this space… to the accompaniment of the great Dionne Warwick…
* Mark Valladares is the perhaps slightly less erratic Lords Correspondent for Liberal Democrat Voice.


