Gavin’s Gaily Gigest

It appears bloggers (including myself) may have jumped the gun in stating that Part 6 of the Constitutional Renewal Bill grants the same powers to the executive as the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill. From the Save Parliament blog:
The scary-looking provisions in the Constitutional Renewal Bill don’t let ministers make arbitary law, they just [...]

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Today’s new look BBC News reveals much more than a glossy exterior:
“MPs have been told they will not have to publish details of what family members employed using public money do to earn their salaries.
“The new register of employed relatives will only list their job title.”

Because heaven forfend that we the public, who are paying [...]

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Hillary Clinton’s daring Bosnian mission.

Carla Bruni and Prime Minister’s Questions rolled into one glorious, glamorous whole.

The embryonic question rears its ugly, underdeveloped head.

The Constitutional Renewal Bill could mean the death of Parliament.

An alternative to the Alternative Vote.

Ten per cent teachers and the army.

If [...]

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Remember the Save Parliament campaign? It successfully fought against provisions in the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill (now an Act) that would have effectively abolished Parliament and allowed Ministers to rule by decree. The Government’s much heralded Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill contains a rather worrying, and remarkably similar, clause:
Part 6FINAL PROVISION
43 Power to make consequential [...]

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Lee unfortunately couldn’t do the animation for this week, so you’re left with only my nasal dulcet tones and the script for this week’s Politalks (ah, just like the old days) to guide you through Iraq, Obama, the Tory surge and Parliament on Youtube
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A possible new contender for the George Orwell Prize For Doublethink has emerged: Labour MP and former Europe Minister Denis MacShane. Discussing the Government’s decision not to hold a free vote on the upcoming Human Embryology and Fertilisation Bill, the sage Mr MacShane said:

“I respect the Catholic and other religions, just as I respect CND [...]

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Tories surge ahead in the polls, both nationally and in London, with worrying (for Ken) second choice preferences.
Jo Swinson calls for Parliament to be on Youtube (and listen out for the baby in this part).
The Iraq War five years on.
PMQs, China and Tibet.
Obama’s [...]

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This has slipped out, pretty much unnoticed. Nick Gargan, Assistant Chief Constable at Thames Valley Police, has been giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee and has indicated that MPs should not expect to be exempt from having their conversations recorded when they visit constituents in prison (as happened to Labour MP Sadiq Khan [...]

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Contrary to popular belief, I don’t think Ed Balls did say “so what” during Cameron’s Budget response yesterday. Here’s the video, kindly supplied by Guido Fawkes:

Due to the poor quality and fact a mike isn’t switched on near him, you can’t make out what Ed Balls said, however in the reaction shot that the cameras [...]

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The BBC are reporting:
“Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is calling for the number of MPs in the House of Commons to be cut by 150. This would save taxpayers millions of pounds and cut political parties’ need to raise cash from big donors, he says.”

At first glance, this looks like a worrying way of bring [...]

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