Monthly Archives: November 2011

Parliament as Electoral College?

Posted on November 30, 2011 by pp549

NB; this is not a normal post – more just an exploration of some of my views on a very broad and complex issue. Normal service will be resumed shortly. I recently read Andrew Coyne’s article Decency alone can’t save … Continue reading →

Posted in Scrutiny | Leave a comment

Pre-legislative scrutiny in the British parliament

Posted on November 26, 2011 by pp549

The UK parliament has, since the end of the second world war, had a somewhat well-deserved reputation for being less than assertive. In some sessions of parliament in the 1950s, not a single government MP broke ranks to vote against … Continue reading →

Posted in Committees, Legislating, UK | Leave a comment

Moderation or revision: comparing the Australian Senate and the House of Lords

Posted on November 23, 2011 by pp549

As some may know, there is a joint committee of the British parliament examining the issue of House of Lords reform and giving the draft bill a look before it is finalised. On Tuesday, they had a chat with some Australian Senators … Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, Committees, Foreign legislatures, Legislating, UK | Leave a comment

A History of Committees in the British House of Commons

Posted on November 19, 2011 by pp549

I recently became interested in the history of committees in various legislatures, and the seven hundred year history of the British parliament was too intriguing to leave alone. So I decided to do a bit of research and this is what I … Continue reading →

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Making it easier to unseat the British Speaker

Posted on November 11, 2011 by pp549

The House of Commons Procedure Committee has unveiled its latest report examining the elections of various positions in the House of Commons (2010 elections for positions in the House). Most of the report is fairly uninteresting – bits about number … Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, Canada, Foreign legislatures, France, Ireland, New Zealand, UK, United States | Leave a comment