Peering into the future
The Lord Speaker’s Committee is expected to publish a report later this month calling for a reduced number of peers. Not hugely original as many previous reports and inquiries have…
Housing policy at the 2017 party conferences
With young people’s political capital rising after turning out in large numbers to vote for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, politicians are starting to put more emphasis on housing policy. This…
Parliament is back
Parliament is back – for a short while anyway – until MPs and Peers go to their respective Party Conferences. Other than that short break, what can we expect from…
Happy New Year – or is it?
The first week back after the festive season can be hard – no longer do we have the luxury of a lie-in, feet up on the sofa or just taking…
Glitter Balls
I am a Strictly Come Dancing devotee – and have been for some years, thus seeing Ann Widdecombe, John Sergeant, etc strut their wares in the name of entertainment. And…
Recess is over and the political kids are back in Westminster
MPs returned to Westminster yesterday after summer recess. It will be nice to see some political activity; since Easter recess and campaigning began in earnest for the EU referendum, it…
Can politics learn from the Olympics?
Just over a week ago, the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games took place; it passed me by completely, not only because I was asleep when it was televised,…
Queen’s Speech 2016: The snap judgement
There’s a sense of de ja vu with this Queen's Speech. Looking back to Ranelagh’s summary of last year’s offering, there is much that is repeated. Is this symptomatic of…
Queen Speech 2016: What to expect
With the EU referendum campaigns in full swing, it is easy to forget that government ministers are still responsible for governing the country. Indeed, the Conservative Government will be keen…
The Junior Doctor Contract: A Trojan Horse?
If there is a universal truth of any strike action, it is that public opinion will gradually shift against those withholding services from the public. This is especially true of…