As Jacob Rees-Mogg, as leader of the Commons, continues to attack remote voting and to resist the Commons working more remotely during Covid, Jenny responds in the Lords. She disagrees with any peers who think that being in the chamber should give them more priority than than those who are working remotely.
Category: Lords reform and PR
An unelected chamber has no place in a modern democracy, reform of the House of Lords is long overdue
Immediately after being introduced in the Lords she began to use her position to fight for its replacement with a fully elected chamber. She has promoted a Bill that would give the Lords the chance to develop their own reforms
Read on for her latest posts on this topic
Greens celebrate appointment of Natalie Bennett to House of Lords
Green Party members are this morning celebrating the appointment of former leader Natalie Bennett to the House of Lords. Continue reading “Greens celebrate appointment of Natalie Bennett to House of Lords”
Restore our democracy, not just the buildings
The home of our democracy is falling apart and it is plain for anyone to see. We have buckets in the corridors collecting drips, dregs and sometimes even gushes. Sometimes water even mixes with electricity – as happened with a leak in my office – and yet we have become so conditioned to these things that no one bats an eyelid and we just get on with it. Sadly, the same can be said of our democratic processes.
Continue reading “Restore our democracy, not just the buildings”
Green Party Peer Launches Bid To Scrap House of Lords
I today launched the House of Lords (Elections and Reform) Bill. This comes on the day that the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) has criticised the Government for kicking the issue of Lords reform into the long grass for more than 107 years.
Continue reading “Green Party Peer Launches Bid To Scrap House of Lords”
Message to ‘Make Votes Matter’ mass lobby of Parliament
You are playing an essential role in our parliamentary democracy, in making your voices heard. I’m hopeful that your MPs will listen and start to think hard about the fact that our voting system is completely broken.
Continue reading “Message to ‘Make Votes Matter’ mass lobby of Parliament”
Crowdfunder to support Jenny’s work
Unlike MPs, who receive state funding, members of the House of Lords don’t receive any financial support to employ staff or fund office costs.
As the only Green in the House of Lords, covering as many issues as I can, I need staff to help me with research and press work. I have a small, part time team (equivalent to one full time person) who are paid for from donations from people like you. Continue reading “Crowdfunder to support Jenny’s work”
Starting a rebellion against secondary legislation
Did you know that the Government are able to wave through masses of tweaks to the law with little to no scrutiny by a process called “secondary legislation”?
Continue reading “Starting a rebellion against secondary legislation”
Football scuppers Lords vote on environmental protection
I love watching a good game of football, but I would never let that stand in the way of voting through environmental protections in the Lords. I’m furious that a ‘cross party’ group of peers have convinced Lord Krebs to drop the amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill today, just so that we can reach the amendment on giving the commons a meaningful vote before the game starts. Quite simply, the opposition whips were afraid that their peers would leave, while the Rugby and Cricket loving Conservatives stayed. This is no way to run Parliament and it’s time we replaced the Lords with an elected second chamber. Continue reading “Football scuppers Lords vote on environmental protection”
Withdrawal Bill debate shows why we need Lords reform
One of the surprises of life in the Lords is that our laws are partly decided by the bar room stamina of government supporting peers. The Lords defeated the government three times yesterday over the charter of fundamental rights and also earned a good concession from them over the protection of public health. The Opposition was on a roll and not one of the peers in the chamber got up to speak against the amendments sponsored by green NGOs to retain the EU’s environmental protections and principles. No one opposed, but vast numbers of Conservative peers were hanging out in the bars and restaurants, waiting for their whips to call them to vote. In the end, the Minister rose, made concessions and the amendment was withdrawn. Continue reading “Withdrawal Bill debate shows why we need Lords reform”
Fewer Lords is no guarantee of improved efficiency
A recent report by the Electoral Reform Society says that 115 peers claim £1.3m despite not speaking in Lords for nine months. I’m happy to say that I’m not one of them. I spoke nearly a hundred times last year and as the only Green in the room (the only Green Party peer), I’m in a unique position to raise issues that are often ignored. From civil liberties to the use of pesticides, I can influence what issues are discussed. Continue reading “Fewer Lords is no guarantee of improved efficiency”
