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MP Condemns Hyperlocal Websites as Purveyors of Tittle Tattle and Opinion
Adrian Sanders MP dismissed websites as ‘Tittle Tattle’ during a session of the House of Commons’ Culture Media and Sport Committee on Tuesday 8 December 2009. In a shocking exchange at the House of Commons’ Culture Media and Sport Committee on Tuesday the 8th of December 2009 Adrian Sanders MP (Liberal Democrat, Torbay) dismissed everything […]
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Ministers Given Power to Replace Inquests with Secret Inquiries
Last week the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 was passed by Parliament. The act gives ministers the power to order an secret inquiry, without a jury, be held instead of a coroner’s inquest. I think inquests should be open, public, processes during which the circumstances of a death are determined discussed. An outcome should be […]
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Should Lone Parents of Under 5s Have Their Benefits Cut if they Don’t Attend Government Courses?
A couple of days ago I started a thread on the discussion site Mumsnet. I had been following a debate in parliament which had cumulated in Labour MPs voting to cut the benefits of lone parents of under 5s who won’t attend government run “back to work” courses. My post was removed from the site, […]
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Looking at How MPs Vote
In an effort to get a clearer picture of what MPs are doing in Parliament I have created an interactive table showing votes where parties have abstained and votes which have split parties. (Image:MONET) I’ve created an interactive table showing all House of Commons votes since the last general election. Using this it is possible to […]
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Cambridge Parliamentary Hustings Focusing on Growth
Top: Richard Normington, Daniel Zeichner. Bottom: Tony Juniper, Ian Nimmo-Smith. On the evening of Friday the 23rd of October I attended a hustings for prospective Cambridge Parliamentary Candidates run by the Federation of Cambridge Residents Associations with the cooperation of Cambridge Past Present and Future. The event focused on the subject of planned growth, particularly […]
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Diane Abbott Raises Concerns About Oakington Immigration Removal Centre in Parliament
At around 22:30 on Monday the 8th of June there was an adjournment “debate” in the House of Commons on the subject of the Oakington Immigration Removal centre. MP Diane Abbott used her valuable opportunity to decide the topic for the debate to discuss the centre. Key Points In response to Diane Abbott’s speech Home […]
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Bad Language in Government
The UK Parliament’s Public Administration Select Committee is currently calling for people to send them examples of the Government’s poor use of language. I have submitted the following: The HMRC’s description of their online forms for self assessment taxation as software. I feel that the use of the word “software”, while not technically inaccurate, suggests […]
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Counter Terrorism Act 2008 – Making a Bad Law Worse
Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 is a poorly written law which states: (1) A person commits an offence if— (a) he collects or makes a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or (b) he possesses a document or record […]
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The Santa Hat of State
During the State Opening of Parliament a military officer is given the role of parading in front of the monarch with what looks like a santa hat on a stick. It is a symbol of the monarchy which is kept with the crown jewels in the Tower of London. It is properly known as the […]