The Stables

This morning, at the Stables in Wavendon, I enjoyed listening to a presentation (with some great music) - with contributions from the "audience" - about the original Stables. It was presented by Brian Whitehead who was involved in recordings made there.

This month has been one of reminiscences - as we have mourned the death, and celebrated the life of Sir John Dankworth. The Stables are adjacent to the home of Sir John and his wife, Dame Cleo Laine. They were the moving spirits behind setting up what has become one of the top ten music venues in the UK. As well as jazz - the 350 or so concerts a year include all types of music and also a fair range of comedians.

During the first half of this mornings presentation the 'old' Stables were described and the theme of the music played was "Mostly Home Grown" performers. The second half's theme was "the transatlantic stars".

The current Stables is a modern building with a decent sized auditorium, but the 'old' Stables was just that - a converted stables. During the Second War War it was used as a nuts and bolts factory - and local rumour has it that these were produced for the work going on at Bletchley Park.

"Jazz Matters" are held on Sunday mornings in "Stage 2" - where the outside wall is original - and the interior stands where the foyer of the 'old' Stables were. Sir John Dankworth started these Sunday morning sessions - and he attended and participated in almost every one when he was in the country. Many of the regulars have been coming for many years, though I've only been attending frequently for the last 12 months or so. Further details are available here. Tickets can be purchased at The Stables website.

The Week Ahead

Two useful pdf documents -

The Week Ahead - from the House of Commons' 'Weekly Information Bulletin (although it summarises business for both chambers and committees of both Houses.) 'The Week Ahead' is usually around p6 of the online pdf.

The Weekly Leader - the week's business, provided by the office of the Leader of the House of Representatives.

The current TV schedule for C-SPAN is available here
BBC Parliamen't schedule is available here

R (Binyam Mohamed v Secretary of state for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs

The Court of Appeal's further judgement in this case (see earlier post) has now been published. The issue is whether the redacted paragraphs from the main judgement should be made public. It can be accessed here.

It's a useful judgement to read

firstly, it is readable - some reports can be very long and the reasoning complex. This is logical and can be followed with ease.

secondly , the issues are of great importance.

Press Coverage is available -

The Independent

Guardian

The Times

Scrutiny in the Lords

Yesterday I had a meeting which prevented me from attending the earlier part of the debate initiated by Lord Norton of Louth on "the case for enhancing the means available to the House of Lords to scrutinise legislation and public policy". I did however sit through a number of speeches. It was an informative and interesting debate. I will be reading the debate in Lords Hansard and would recommend the same to you. The work of the House of Lords and the challenges for the future are well described.

There were useful summaries of the work of scrutiny undertaken by this 54th Parliament of the United Kingdom (or the '2005 Parliament' as it is usually referred to). Lord Strathclyde and Baroness Royall gave such summaries for the House generally and Lord Roper did so for the 'family' of European Union committees.

The weaknesses of current scrutiny were also highlighted - and various suggestions put forward. All the leaders of the parties in the Lords and the convener of the Cross Benches were present - and I left confident that there was a mood and a will for enhancement.

The debate can be read in the Lords Hansard of 25th February - which can be accessed via here.

Written Question

Yesterday's Hansard for the Houuse of Lords published the following written question and answer -

Lord Elton - To ask the Chairman of Committees whether consideration will be given to acquiring a number of respectable cats to reduce the rodent population of the Palace of Westminster.

The Chairman of Committees (Lord Brabazon of Tara): The possible use of cats, respectable or otherwise, to control the rodent population in the Palace of Westminster has been considered and ejected on a number of practical grounds. For example, the cats would ingest mouse poison when eating poisoned mice; there would be nothing to keep them in the areas where they are most needed, or to stop them walking on desks in offices and on tables in restaurants and bars; they can carry fleas and other parasites; and many people are allergic to cat hair. However, the Administration is taking a wide range of other control measures such as significantly increasing the number of bait boxes and traps, sealing mouse access points and intensifying the cleaning regime to minimise the presence of crumbs in the bars and food outlets. The age, construction and location of the Palace of Westminster are such that it will never be possible to eradicate mice entirely, but all appropriate measures are being taken to minimise the numbers.

I am aware from internal emails that mice have been spotted around the House of Lords end of the Palace - but haven't seen them myself! The Speaker's wife (who lives in the Speaker's House which is in the Palace) revealed a few weeks ago in a tweet - "Eeek we have a mouse again! Just seen it run under the dishwasher. The mouse-catcher man doesn't work on Sundays though... what to do?"