Sir John! Sir John! Are we there yet?

View image | gettyimages.com One of the absurdities of this year’s “silly season” has been another of Britain’s periodic bouts of Chilcot-bashing. When there’s a period of slow news, it seems, journalists remember that Sir John Chilcot was tasked six years ago with inquiring into what we all call simply “Iraq”; and that his report’s […]

Lord Lester: my life as a goat

Lord Lester, writing in the Guardian today, explains why he resigned as the government’s independent adviser on constitutional change. I have some sympathy for Lord Lester – he had the experience (that many civil servants have had) of finding out his role and position was in reality quite different from the one he was offered, […]

Baroness Deech and the Cohabitation Bill

I’m grateful to John Bolch (again) for his reminder last week about what happened to Lord Lester’s Cohabitation Bill: it ran out of time, basically, after committee stage in the Lords on 30 April, and since the government opposes it, it’s not going anywhere. John and I disagree sharply on this Bill: since I was […]

Lord Lester’s Cohabitation Bill

I’m grateful to John Bolch at Family Lore for pointing out that Lord Lester’s Cohabitation Bill has its second reading in the Lords today. Lord Lester’s proposal, supported by Resolution, is aimed at protecting people who’ve lived together with a partner without getting married, and who are in hardship when they split up. The idea […]

Lord Lester: it was bound to end in tears

The Guardian today has a story about Lord Lester’s disgust and disappointment as Labour’s human rights record. Oh, well. You’ll remember he resigned as a government adviser last month. I doubt the government is all that heartbroken at his going; they got the small amount of political kudos they wanted from his appointment last year, […]

Lord Lester’s resignation

You hardly mention Lord Lester for ages, then suddenly two posts about him come in the same week. He resigned the other day as the government’s adviser on constitutional stuff, which news gives me another chance to kick the government about its bill of rights and responsibilities. You might also be interested in the Joint […]

Lord Lester’s amendment

The Commons votes today on the third reading of the Employment Bill, the main interest in which is what’s now clause 19, which amends section 174 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 in order to permit unions to bar or expel members of the BNP. The amendment flows from the ruling […]