Yesterday saw the announcement of the result of that rare creature, a by-election in the Lords. In the event of the death of a hereditary peer, an election is held to fill the vacancy, the electorate being those Peers sitting on the same benches. In this instance, twenty-seven hereditary crossbenchers voted to fill the vacancy arising from the death of Viscount Bledisloe on 12 May. The result, the election of Lord Aberdare, whose father's death had caused an earlier by-election.
In the Chamber, it was Day 8 of the Committee Stage of the Coroners and Justice Bill, with the proposed new Sentencing Council for England and Wales front and centre (readers in Scotland and Northern Ireland might wish to make a cup of tea at this point). With the one consolation that the Council would include a number of lay experts, debate centred on its composition, with Conservatives seeking to double the number of lay justices, and Liberal Democrats wishing to include, potentially, a member with an expertise in rehabilitation of offenders. The latter proposal was accepted by the Government, so applause is due for Lord Dholakia, for it was his amendment.
A brief debate followed on an amendment put forward by Lord Ramsbotham, calling for sentencing guidelines to specify whether or not an offender will be capable of voting in parliamentary or local government elections during their detention. As Lord Lester of Herne Hill put it from the Liberal Democrat benches, it didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of being accepted, and in the absence of support from the Conservative benches, it was withdrawn.
My question of the day?
"To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they carried out research into the impact of taxi metering on the provision of service to rural communities."
According to Lord Adonis, they haven't...
In the Chamber, it was Day 8 of the Committee Stage of the Coroners and Justice Bill, with the proposed new Sentencing Council for England and Wales front and centre (readers in Scotland and Northern Ireland might wish to make a cup of tea at this point). With the one consolation that the Council would include a number of lay experts, debate centred on its composition, with Conservatives seeking to double the number of lay justices, and Liberal Democrats wishing to include, potentially, a member with an expertise in rehabilitation of offenders. The latter proposal was accepted by the Government, so applause is due for Lord Dholakia, for it was his amendment.
A brief debate followed on an amendment put forward by Lord Ramsbotham, calling for sentencing guidelines to specify whether or not an offender will be capable of voting in parliamentary or local government elections during their detention. As Lord Lester of Herne Hill put it from the Liberal Democrat benches, it didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of being accepted, and in the absence of support from the Conservative benches, it was withdrawn.
My question of the day?
"To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they carried out research into the impact of taxi metering on the provision of service to rural communities."
According to Lord Adonis, they haven't...
No comments:
Post a Comment