Articles tagged Parliament:
Are We Destined to Have December Elections Forever?
- 5 Nov 2019
Last week someone emailed a question to the For the Many podcast, which I record each week with Jacqui Smith about election dates. They asked if we would now have to go to the polls in December every five years, given the Fixed Term Parliaments Act. I confidently said, yes,...
Calm Down, Calm Down, Prorogation is Not the End of Democracy As We Know It
- 28 Aug 2019
It's the end of democracy as we know it. This government is autocratic. Boris Johnson is running a tin-pot dictatorship. A coup. Just four of the quotes I've heard on the radio and TV over the last hour and all to do with the fact that the Prime Min...
IPSA is the Parliamentary Equivalent of a Failed State
- 20 May 2010
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has not made an auspicious start. It has packed itself with very highly paid staff, most of whom know nothing about the way Parliament operates. It's chairman, Sir Ian Kennedy, has become a hate figure among MPs. So what, yo...
Why I'd Vote for John Bercow
- 18 May 2010
It's interesting that many of the left have interpreted the blogpost last night on Ming Campbell and the Speakership as proof that I want to see the back of John Bercow and that I therefore automatically support Nadine Dorries and Kat Hoey in their bid to oust him. Read the po...
In the Name of God Go
- 18 May 2009
I feel a profound sense of both anger and sadness having listened to the Speaker's statement. Sadness that he refused to address any of the Points of Order and anger that he made no mention of hos own plans. All he did was announce a plan to call a meeting of party leaders. It...
Giving Journalism & Politics a Bad Name
- 23 Dec 2007
You know it's a light news day when a Sunday newspaper has a story about MPs' pay on its front page. Cue today's Mail on Sunday. Their front page headline screams MPs DEMAND 10pc PAY RISE. The story commences: "A political furore erupted last night after it was revealed that M...