On procedure and politics

Beginning to think is beginning to be undermined

The Financial Privilege of the House of Commons

A controversial bill overhauling the UK’s social benefits system suffered a number of defeats in the House of Lords as the upper chamber rejected several provisions of the Government’s bill. When the bill was returned to the House of Commons, something happened. A committee of the House of Commons resolved that the bill “engages the [...]

Members leaving the House

As similar as are the UK and Canadian parliamentary systems, there are some very interesting differences. One of these is the fact that British MPs can’t resign their seat the same way Canadian (and Australian and New Zealand) MPs can, as I blogged about in this post. Similar to that, Lords can’t resign either. Lords [...]

Initial thoughts on the Lords’ Reform proposals

Having had some time to consider the Coalition Government’s White Paper on reforming the House of Lords, I do see a few potential issues that hopefully will be addressed during the consultation process. You can read my blog post summarising the proposals here. 1. Accountability The first is that of accountability. The main argument for [...]

Reforming the House of Lords

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg delivered a ministerial statement today outlining the Coalition’s plans for reform of the House of Lords. A draft bill and accompanying White Paper outlining the government’s proposals, which are based on the recommendations put forward by an all-party committee chaired by Clegg earlier this year, are now available online. If [...]

Fixed-term Parliaments – Addendum

A comment on my earlier post suggesting that the reason why the Lords defeated the Fixed-Term Parliaments Bill was because fixed-term parliaments was not a promise made by either the Liberal Democrats or the Conservatives in their 2010 manifestos. This, however, is incorrect. Both parties promised fixed-term parliaments. The Lib Dems did not indicate how [...]

Fixed-term Parliaments Bill – update

(Note: this post was written back in May 2011. The Fixed-term Parliaments Bill received Royal Assent on 15 September 2011. When looking for the status of a bill before Parliament please always consult the Bills before Parliament page of the UK Parliament website for the most up-to-date information about any bill.) The Coalition government’s Fixed-Term [...]

The unnecessary senate?

Canada’s New Democratic Party moved an opposition day motion that proposed two main points: that the Senate be abolished, and that proportional representation be adopted. More specifically, the motion called for the House to recognize the “undemocratic nature of the current form of representation in the Parliament of Canada, specifically the unnecessary Senate and a [...]

On Senate Reform

(For an analysis of the proposed Canadian Senate reform bill, click here.) The Coalition Government has pledged to reform the House of Lords, making it fully elected, and that in time for the proposed May 2015 election. An article in The Independent threw a bit of cold water on that goal, however. The changes proposed [...]

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