This fascinating little story on Michael Crick’s blog a few days ago seems to have gone virtually unnoticed. It appears that the Liberal Democrats are trying to get money meant for parties in opposition even though they are now part of the Con-Dem Government. Having made a bid for Short money in the Commons they are [...]
Filed under: Labour Party | Tagged: Cranbourne Money, House of Lords, Jan Royall, Michael Crick, Short Money | Leave a Comment »
Despite the resignation of David Laws, I have decided to go back to my tradition of book reviews over the weekend. Others will have much to say on Mr Laws. My only commment is that he clearly was in the wrong and had to resign. However, it’s obviously not a good start for the Con-Dems [...]
Filed under: Labour Party | Tagged: Ben Sherwood, Coalition, David Laws, Life and Death of Charlie St Cloud | Leave a Comment »
I was very pleased to receive the following from my old friend Mee Ling Ng, one of the founders of Chinese for Labour. Mee Ling has written this to Chinese for Labour members: “The Government intends to reduce the number of MPs by 10% and yet create 100 new peers. Where is the democracy in [...]
Filed under: Labour Party | Tagged: Chinese for Labour, House of Commons, House of Lords, Mee Ling Ng, Tories | 1 Comment »
Following yesterday’s pomp and circumstance, what could be more apt than considering the promised reform of that most august institution, host to the state opening of parliament, the House of Lords itself? (By the way, did you know peers have to pay £125 a go to hire their ridiculous robes?) The Queen’ Speech was sadly [...]
Filed under: Labour Party | Tagged: Cameron, Clegg, Coalition, House of Lords | 3 Comments »
I was delighted today to see that Nick Griffin has announced his plans to step down as leader of the BNP. Any development that lessens the exposure of this man and his odious party should be welcomed. The election results earlier this month clearly showed that Mr Griffin and his party are on the [...]
Filed under: Labour Party | Leave a Comment »
While not on the same scale as the MPs’ expenses disk, the Sunday Telegraph didn’t do badly in getting hold of the Queen’s Speech prior to the event. (As an aside, I’m not at all sure I approve of leaking matters of such importance in advance – it diminishes the Queen’s Speech itself almost to [...]
Filed under: Labour Party | Tagged: Alternative Vote, Boundary Commission, Coalition, Lib Dems, Queen's Speech, Tories, VinceCable | 2 Comments »
Speaking at a hearing last week organised by London Green MEP Jean Lambert, Shama Mall, the Deputy Director of Church World Service – Pakistan/Afghanistan, stated her firm belief that the current focus on military solutions in Pakistan is incapable of tackling the root causes of religious-based extremism. Endorsing development aid as a means of addressing poverty and social [...]
Filed under: Labour Party | Tagged: 1951 Citizenship Act, Beenish Hashwani, Church World Service - Pakistan/Afghanistan, Domestic Violence Bill, EU-Pakistan Summit, Jean Lambert, Pakistan, Rubina Bhatti, Shama Mall, Sophia in 't Veld, Taangh Wasaib Organization, Women's Rights | 2 Comments »
As we come to the end of the May Strasbourg plenary session of the European Parliament, I ask myself, “What difference has the change in government UK made?” and more specifically, “Looking at the European Parliament, would you know the Tories and Lib-Dems are in a coalition at home?” Although we may live in interesting [...]
Filed under: Labour Party | Tagged: ALDE, Con-Dems, ECR, european parliament, Tories | 3 Comments »
Earlier today we voted on an amendment to the 2011 European Parliament calendar which sought to combine the two Strasbourg sessions proposed for September 2011 into one week. This would mean that MEPs and staff would only come to Strasbourg once in September next year and therefore for only eleven weeks in 2011 rather than the [...]
Filed under: Labour Party | Tagged: ECR, european parliament, Strasbourg | 1 Comment »
