Blockages as committee system struggles to get going
- 18 July 2017
- From the section Parliaments
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HoC
As the new set of select committee chairs don their purple striped togas, there are still a few vacant niches in key parts of the committee system.
First off - the Intelligence and Security Committee. The ISC is emphatically not a select committee of Parliament; it is a committee of parliamentarians appointed by the prime minister to oversee the security services.
The point here is that it has to be composed of people the spooks can trust - or the necessary level of candour will simply not be there, and ISC investigations will hit a brick wall.
I'm told the ISC Chair from the last parliament, the former Attorney General Dominic Grieve wanted to be re-appointed and wanted the committee up and running, and able to commission a new set of investigations before the summer recess. Given all that has happened in the last few months, that does not seem unreasonable….. but there is no sign of the committee members being appointed.
Inquiring minds want to know why.
Read full article Blockages as committee system struggles to get going
Week ahead in Parliament
- 14 July 2017
- From the section Parliaments
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AFP
It's the final four days of Parliament before the summer recess, with not all that much to occupy honourable members and noble lords, although Labour have succeeded in engineering an emergency debate to complain about the way the Commons has been managed, since the election.
Wiser heads are advising new members to enjoy the relative quiet while they can, on the expectation that Brexit hostilities will commence when they return in September, and the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is debated.
What do the elections of select committee chairs tell us?
- 12 July 2017
- From the section Parliaments
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HoC
To the smartest the spoils.
The results of the elections for chairs of the Commons select committees are due this evening, and the detailed results will shine a fascinating light on the fault-lines of the new House of Commons.
Read full article What do the elections of select committee chairs tell us?
Week ahead in Parliament
- 7 July 2017
- From the section Parliaments
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HoC
Parliament continues to mark time, with business in both Houses dominated by general debates and uncontroversial legislation.
But beneath the surface, Westminster life seethes with intrigue.
Parliament takes pride in role in gay rights struggles
- 7 July 2017
- From the section Parliaments
Westminster's "palace of enchantments" will be given an LGBTI gleam this weekend - lit up in the colours of the rainbow flag to mark both Pride Week and also the 50th anniversary of the Act of Parliament which legalised gay sex.
The decision was taken by Commons Speaker John Bercow and the Lord Speaker, Lord Fowler, who explained their thinking in their first-ever joint interview, for Radio 4's Today in Parliament.
Read full article Parliament takes pride in role in gay rights struggles
Five takeouts from this Parliament so far
- 6 July 2017
- From the section Parliaments
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PA
Some take-outs from this Parliament:
1. Conservative Brexiteers maintain their public show of confidence that their vision will be fulfilled, but some are increasingly nervous.
Who's the Tories' six million dollar man?
- 5 July 2017
- From the section Parliaments
Remember the Six Million Dollar Man, the 1970s TV series in which an injured astronaut was equipped with super-strong mechanical limbs and ultra-acute senses?
I've often wondered if its tag line, "we can rebuild him, better than before, stronger...." was the inspiration for a number of projects on the Labour benches of the Commons in the last Parliament, where teams of MPs toiled to retrofit potential leadership challengers with such qualities as people skills, a sense of humour, policy grasp, or a political cutting edge.
Week ahead in Parliament
- 30 June 2017
- From the section Parliaments
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HOc
The last time I noted a quiet-looking parliamentary week ahead, the prime minister went and called an election, so it is with some trepidation that I suggest that next week's agendas in the Commons and Lords look a little short of drama.
Labour MPs are on a two-line whip for a humdrum week of non-controversial legislation and several general debates, with no sign, yet, of the eagerly-awaited Great Repeal Bill, which will be the centrepiece of the forthcoming Brexit legislation.
Week ahead in Parliament
- 23 June 2017
- From the section Parliaments
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Hoc
The new Parliament swings into action next week with votes on the Queens Speech in the Commons and Lords.
And behind the scenes the whole place is seething with intrigue and jockeying for position.
Committee powerhouse takes time to get going
- 14 June 2017
- From the section Parliaments
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HoC
The modern - elected - Commons committee system has become a political powerhouse, certainly in comparison to its tepid predecessors.
In the last Parliament, the Work and Pensions and Business Committees held spectacular hearings on the plight of the pensioners of the collapsed British Home Stores chain; the Foreign Affairs Committee had to be courted by David Cameron as he sought to ensure he got a Commons majority for military intervention in Syria; the Brexit Committee caused considerable ripples with its report on the status of EU nationals resident in the UK; the Health Committee pushed for a new tax on sugary drinks, and a pincer movement involving Health, Communities and the Public Accounts Committees highlighted the issue of NHS funding.
Read full article Committee powerhouse takes time to get going
