Government says they didn’t tinker with local grant settlement it just worked...
There were some exchanges on local government grants in House of Lords Question Time this afternoon. The Bishop of Liverpool asked the Government “what steps they are taking to ensure that financial...
View ArticleReminding us that the terrorist threat has not gone away
Today’s guilty pleas at the Old Bailey are a timely reminder that the homegrown terrorist threat has not gone away. Three men (Richard Dart, Jahangir Alom and Imran Mahmood) had been charged with:...
View ArticleHospitals need to answer their phones as well as HMRC
This morning the Public Accounts Committee published a coruscating report on the continuing problems that HM Revenue and Customs have in answering the telephone. On Saturday thousands marched through...
View ArticleHow often does Boris Johnson speak up for Londoners?
The focus of that Eddie Mair interview was the question of Boris Johnson’s fitness for further office. There was no real discussion of how well he has actually done in his current job as Mayor of...
View ArticleBoris Johnson has stopped speaking up for Londoners – he doesn’t even whisper...
A few weeks ago I asked “How often does Boris Johnson speak up for Londoners?” The answer seemed to be not very much. I had tabled a question in the House of Lords: “To ask Her Majesty’s Government...
View ArticleIs the Government auctioning off UK sovereignty by allowing the country’s...
I have tabled a question for oral answer in the House of Lords this afternoon, as follows: “To ask HM Government what proportion of the United Kingdom’s critical national infrastructure is owned by...
View ArticleKeeping the Olympic Flame alive
For the past six months I have been chairing the Lords’ Select Committee on the Olympic and Paralympic Legacy. And today, after 33 evidence sessions, hearing from 53 witnesses and taking written...
View Article“Constable country”– why we need a greater local dimension in policing
Earlier today, Peers debated Policing for a Better Britain, the product of two years work by a group chaired by the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Lord John Stevens. The report is a Royal...
View ArticleCriminalisation of forced marriage is one step towards #FREEDOM2CHOOSE
Shaz is 15 years old. This is how she tells her story: “When I was 12, I went on a family holiday to Bangladesh. As soon as I got out there were marriage proposals from my cousins. I started starving...
View ArticleWhat we need from London’s Next Mayor
My piece for LabourList is here: Labour’s NEC has just agreed the timetable for the selection of the Party’s candidate for London Mayor in 2016. The process will kick in within days of the General...
View ArticleLet’s not knock the leadership process or its ultimate outcome but focus on...
I have known Jeremy Corbyn well for over forty years. I was CLP Chair when he was our constituency organizer and agent. We were members of Haringey Council together. He is now my MP. However, when I...
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