House of Lords Archive

  • Christine Lagarde, the eurozone's last chance (picture IMF)

    Federal Union review of 2011

    Last year was dominated by the crisis in the eurozone.  It dominated the debate about the future of European integration, obviously, but has also turned out to be a major influence both in the UK and around the world. Taking Europe first, it is absurd...

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  • The House of Lords

    Should we tinker with the House of Lords or leave well alone?

    Letter published in the Times, 20 August 2011 Sir, Professor Bogdanor’s warnings of possible gridlock between two elected Houses in Parliament are well made but one might question the assumption that an elected chamber must be directly elected. A second chamber could be indirectly elected,...

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  • Professor Robert Hazell

    Constitutional Reform – End of the Road? (14 July 2011)

    Constitutional Reform – End of the Road? 14 July 2011, 4.30pm – 6.30pm, followed by a reception Mary Sumner House, 24 Tufton Street, London SW1P 3RB Robert Hazell, Director of The Constitution Unit, will talk about the whole of the new government’s constitutional reform programme...

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  • The House of Lords chamber

    Moving to an elected House of Lords

    By Satish Desai Report on an event sponsored by Unlock Democracy Held at 11.30 am on 26 August 2009 at The Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU The event was chaired by Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian, and Polly Toynbee, Peter Facey and Meg...

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  • Gordon Brown

    Gordon Brown’s constitution

    It may be safely said that Gordon Brown must have a strong constitution if he can withstand all that has been thrown at him and still remain prime minister. But can it be said that his latest proposals will strengthen the British constitution? His statement...

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  • Timothy Garton Ash (source Carl-Johan Sveningsson)

    US-style senators

    Timothy Garton Ash, thinking about possible changes to the British constitution, writes of the House of Lords that “We can’t have US-style senators because we don’t have US-style states.” (Item 5 in his list here.) US senators are indeed powerful figures in the American political...

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  • The House of Lords in session (source UK Parliament)

    A report on the House of Lords reveals too much centralisation in England

    An elegant investigation by the New Local Government Network has revealed that members of the appointed House of Lords are not evenly spread across the country. A disproportionate number live in London and the south east of England. (Read the report here.) London provides nearly...

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  • Clock Tower (Big Ben) (copyright UK Parliament)

    Latest proposals on Lords reform will make little difference

    A new White Paper has been published on reform of the House of Lords, the latest in a long series of such publications since Labour won the election in 1997. Reform of the upper house was a key part of their programme for modernisation of...

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  • The House of Lords

    Illegitimate comments

    Jack Straw has published at last his proposals on reform of the House of Lords. (You can read about them here). The reform debate has been going on a long time: who knows if it will come to an end this time. Labour came to...

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  • Campaigners in Edinburgh (picture Make Poverty History)

    Review of 2005

    By Richard Laming 2005 will be remembered as a bad year for federalism. There have been bad years before and there no doubt will be bad years again, so there is no reason to despair. It is simply necessary to be realistic. Perhaps we should...

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