End-of-session reports shows the problems with secondary legislationThe latest edition of my email newsletter about work in Parliament, A Lord's Eye View, is out and you can also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: The first big Parliamentary report I've been involved with is now out, a review of how the government did at secondary legislation in the last Parliamentary session. Read on to find out what the report says. Scrutinising a session's worth of secondary legislation [IMG: Lord Hanson speaking in the House of Lords] A ... (more) |
Duncan Dunlop MSP's first speech: a compelling commitment to improving things for children in care.Yesterday, our new MSP for the South of Scotland, Duncan Dunlop, made his first speech in the Holyrood Parliament and it had me simultaneously in bits, furious and relieved that vulnerable children in our care system now have a champion they can look to in Parliament to fight their corner. He was withering in his criticism of the Scottish Government's flailing reform of the care system. He described a horrible incident experienced by a young man who had just been rejected by his mum. He read out the first names and children of care-experienced children he had known who had ... (more) |
Jonathan chosenI'm delighted to report that Jonathan Aibi has been selected as the Lib Dem candidate for the High Fell by-election in Gateshead. No date has yet been fixed for the by-election, caused by the decision of a Reform councillor to throw in the towel after just 11 days into the job. There will be lots of campaigning coming up, just as we thought elections were over for the residents of Gateshead. (more) |
Don't askThe SNP's former chief executive Peter Murrell has pleaded guilty to embezzling £400,000 of SNP campaign cash. He's now behind bars awaiting sentencing. The case raises questions about what his estranged wife and former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon knew of Murrell's criminal activities. To say the least, she must surely have asked questions when a luxury campervan was parked on her front drive. And (more) |
National Conversations we need to haveNearly a year ago the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) set out its understanding of the transformed international environment this country now faces, and called for the government to lead 'a national conversation' on how we should respond. Yet since then there has been silence from the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, and only muffled warnings about Russian activities from the Defence Secretary – to the intense frustration of Lord Robertson and General Barrons, two of its authors. Robertson has accused the government of 'corrosive complacency' in its passive response. We desperately need a number of intense national conversations on a ... (more) |
Sarstedt Brothers: Chinese RestaurantProduced by Tony Visconti, this was released as a single in 1973 and should have been huge. It wasn't. I didn't hear the song again until they invented the internet. If I hadn't had such a strong memory of the line "the men from Mars in their Japanese cars" I might have feared I'd imagined the whole thing. (more) |
Meet the OvertonsTwo-thirds of the British public believe that ordinary working people do not get their fair share of the nation's wealth. That figure has risen ten percentage points since 2019. Trust in government is at record lows. Dissatisfaction with the NHS, with social care, with housing, with the basic functioning of the state, is at or near levels never previously recorded in four decades of the British Social Attitudes survey. And yet support for more welfare spending has fallen to its lowest point since the survey began. Read those two facts together. The public is not saying the system is fine. ... (more) |
Lord Bonkers' Diary: Too close to the wicker hareWhen I had the idea of Freddie and Fiona buying a cottage in the village, I couldn't resist it even though I sensed things might not go well for them. But never did I dream it would end like this. Friday To the village green for the lighting of the Beltane bonfire. As the kindling catches and dusk falls, I survey the crowd of excited villagers. Why are there so many elves amongst them? No one listened to me! The bonfire is too close to the wicker hare. Oh, the voices of the children! "Sumer is icumen in, loudly sing, ... (more) |
Dog shoots woman with shotgun at Nebraska convenience storeWell done to the Guardian for winning our Headline of the Day Award with this story of everyday life in the United States. The judges rejected the argument that the only thing that will stop a bad boy with a gun is a good boy with a gun. (more) |
From selling donuts to being "chained", and why this is not about the "Mayoral jewellery"[IMG: Michal Siewnak as mayor of Welyn Hatfield] It was 21 years ago next month, when I landed at Stansted. I remember, as it almost happened yesterday. I didn't think too much about it. My wife and I had a plan, stay a few months and go back to Croatia, where I had a job waiting for me. We came not for any employment reasons, but initially to visit our friend, who is a Catholic Priest. 21 years later, we are still here! We packed 26 years of our lives in a rucksack and we tried, like many, to build ... (more) |