House of Lords

Fears of joint authority surface as the Lords approve no border checks without Dublin consent

Brian Walker on May 3, 2018, 3:48 pm

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Sometimes –only sometimes – debates in Parliament tell us a lot more than a dozen columnists or a week of Nolan. And with much greater courtesy than the latter, needless to say. One such took place yesterday when the House of Lords supported moves to prevent a hard border after Brexit under which no new checks or controls could be imposed without the agreement of the Irish Government. If you think this would be innocuous enough you’d be wrong. Approval for Patten’s amendment …

Time for Lord Laird to retire

Brian Walker on December 21, 2013, 2:04 pm

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Discretion and tact have never been John Laird’s close friends. Good judgment has been a positive stranger. Some of his causes like Ulster Scots were accompanied by a fair amount of indulgence, as all the world knew. John was not part of the temperance wing of Unionism. Reviewing his artlessly revealing autobiography I described him as Ulster Unionism’s jester, a word less open to misunderstanding than clown or fool. I stand by that. Jesters or clowns are exaggerated performers who …

Why we need a political opposition, Part 327: To toughen up our thin-skinned politicians

Mick Fealty on July 1, 2013, 11:15 am

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Tony Grew in the Bel Tel quotes Lord Black of Brentwood… “As a journalist, I can tell your Lordships that it is not so much what happens in the courts but the prospect of what might happen which has such a chilling effect on free speech and encourages the imposition of self-censorship. And he added: “After talking to diverse journalists in the Province, it seems to me that many of the Province’s politicians are notoriously thin-skinned about criticism. “Journalists and …

Dropped Lords reforms, no boundary changes and government turns inward?

Mick Fealty on August 13, 2012, 8:39 am

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There was a little spat last week, in the midst of Britain’s gold rush at the Olympics, the two men at the heart of government abandoned their attempt to reform the House of Lords (a Tory redline). In revenge, the LibDems cut their commitment to cut the number of seats in the Commons The Economist thinks it was a mistake both may come to rue: …the coalition is now far weaker. By trying to defuse rebellions in their own parties, …

Carwyn Jones looking for a national senate to replace the Lords…

Mick Fealty on February 9, 2012, 10:16 am

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A couple of weeks ago, on the sidelines of the newly revitalised Scottish Question, Carwyn Jones, the Labour leader in the Welsh Assembly made some remarks that have created some ripples in his own back yard: Asked how Wales would fare if Scotland voted for independence, he said: “I think we need to start thinking about this now. “It appears at the moment from the opinion polls that Scotland wouldn’t leave the UK, but how do we make the UK …

Sir Reg to become a peer

Pete Baker on November 19, 2010, 3:08 pm

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Not entirely a surprise to hear that the former leader of the UUP, Sir Reg Empey, is to become a peer. Or that he was nominated by the Prime Minister, and Conservative Party leader, David Cameron. The BBC has the full list of new working peers announced today. Pete Baker