Governance of Britain

The Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw made a statement today on further reform of the House of Lords in which he announced the publication of a White Paper.  ”The White Paper sets out how a wholly or mainly elected second chamber might be created, within a bicameral legislature in which the House of Commons retains [...]

Today the Justice Secretary Jack Straw marked the anniversary of the Governance of Britain with a statement to the House of Commons in which he set out the progress made in meeting the objectives of the programme.  He said that in July last year the Prime Minister outlined steps toward further constitutional reform to renew our democracy, building a [...]

Lord Taylor of Warwick has called a debate on  ”the concept of Britishness in the context of the cultural, historical and ethical tradition of the peoples of these islands”  which will take place on Thursday 19 June in the House of Lords.  It’s expected to take place shortly after 11am and you will be able to watch [...]

Today the Joint Committee heard evidence from Tony McNulty MP, Minister of State, Home Office, Janet Paraskeva, First Civil Service Commissioner and Sir Gus O’Donnell, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service. Tomorrow the Committee will hear from Lord Lyell of Markyate, Lord Morris of Aberavon, Lord Mayhew of Twysden, Lord Carlile of Berriew [...]

The next meeting of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Reneweal Bill will be held on 3 June.  Confirmed witnesses so far are Gareth Crossman, Director of Policy at Liberty and Mike Schwarz, Partner at Bindmans. A meeting will also be held on 4 June and evidence will be  heard from Baroness Usha Prashar, Chairman of [...]

The Joint Committee of the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill will hold two evidence sessions this week.  The first at 1.45pm today will hear evidence from Tim Dutton QC, Chairman, Bar Council, Andrew Holroyd, President, Law Society and Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor, Daily Telegraph. Sebastian Payne, Lecturer, Kent Law School, University of Kent, Peter Facey, Director, Unlock [...]

The Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill will be holding an evidence session on 14 May at 4.15pm. They will be interviewing former Chiefs of the Defence Staff including Admiral the Lord Boyce, GCB, OBE, DL, Field Marshal the Lord Bramall, KG, CGB, OBE,  MC, and Marshal of the Royal Air Force the Lord Craig of Radley, GCB [...]

The Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill holds its first evidence session today at 1.45pm in Committee Room 2A/3A at the Palace of Westminster.  Witnesses include Professor Vernon Bogdanor, University of Oxford and Peter Riddell, Chief Political Commentator at The Times and Chairman of the Hansard Society.  A full list of witnesses can [...]

The Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill has released its call for evidence, inviting interested organisations and individuals to submit written evidence. The deadline for submissions is 12 June 2008.More information and details of the scope of the inquiry can be found here.

The two Houses of Parliament have established a Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, published by the Ministry of Justice on 25 March 2008.  The remit of the Committee is to consider the draft Bill, and report on it to both Houses by 18 July. At the Committee’s first meeting on Tuesday 6 May, [...]