A New Look, a New Focus

When I began this blog, back at the turn of the century, I was a Lecturer in Law; and also in British & European Politics & Government. Additionally I worked at Westminster - first for a couple of MPs and latterly for two members of the House of Lords. I had been a Parliamentary Candidate twice (Blaby 2001, 2005). Subsequently I stood for Parliament in 2019 in the neighboring constituency (to my home in Milton Keynes) of Buckingham. I am now fully retired. Much has changed since I kept this blog on a regular basis. I'm older, hopefully a bit wiser. I've done some more broadcasting, but now am pretty free to do whatever I want. I grow increasing concerned at the direction that politics in Britain (and in other parts of the World) have taken. I used to love political campaigning - and have campaigned frequently in the UK and the USA. You can read previous posts describing those activities and my observations. Campaigning has developed as academics have researched into the effectiveness of different tools and tactics. My fear is that Political Consultants, and Politicians themselves, have learnt what works - but without considering the consequences. Naked manipulation has become the order of the day - but its effectiveness has declined. Today we are less trusting, less sympathetic to what our representatives do - sometimes with good cause. We have more opportunity to express our views - but have less influence in decision making. I started reading Andrew Blick and Peter Hennessy's "The Bonfire of the Decencies" this morning. they begin by saying "Our central thesis is that mechanisms for the upholding of constitutional principles in the United Kingdom are deficient and require an overhaul." Written Constitutions, with Separation of Powers, are failing in other countries too - the USA is a case in point. But France may see a lurch towards right wing authoritarian government in the next elections - some member states of the EU already have leaders who have little respect for democracy. Can the tide be turned? Or is Democracy destined to die a painful death? I remain optimistic. We have fought for rights and freedoms in the past. It won't be pleasant or comfortable - but it can be done. what can we learn from the struggles of our ancestors? The "New" Washminster will look at how institutions are changing, and at how we can learn from the struggles of previous centuries. I value your observations and suggestions. Let's engage in conversations about how we can attain a better future. David

Online access to (sometimes ancient) Hansard

Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield (a greatly respected historian) put done the following written question which was answered last week -

To ask the Chairman of Committees "what assessment he has made of the possibility of providing greater electronic access for the public to historic Hansard data on Millbank Systems' experimental web domain; what plans have been made to host the information on the parliamentary website; and what steps are being taken to digitise data that are not currently available on the experimental website." [HL13352]

The Chairman of Committees (Lord Brabazon of Tara): "The Historic Hansard web pages and search engine are hosted on Millbank Systems' web domain on behalf of Parliament and are available to all users of the web. The service is supported on a "best endeavours" basis. PICT and staff from the departments of Information Services of both Houses are currently investigating the options for maintaining and enhancing the current service, and for placing the technical support arrangements on a more sustainable footing. Work is also under way to safeguard the Historic Hansard XML data and page images through the digital preservation project, which is led by the Parliamentary Archives. One of the options under consideration for Historic Hansard would involve integrating the historic web pages with the archive of more recent Hansard material on the website and enabling users to browse and search across the full Hansard record in a more seamless fashion. The timescales, benefits and costs of that approach are being assessed. This project, along with others, has been included in a digitisation programme, which will review requests to digitise parliamentary material currently only available in hard copy. Digitised content from these projects will be added to the main parliamentary website or through partnership websites so that it is easier for users to access the material. More information about the various projects included in this programme of work will be published on the intranet in due course."

I should like to commend and recommend the website - I have used it extensively for my own research (particularly for my current work on whips - and for the paper I wrote for the last Wroxton Conference
(9^th Workshop of Parliamentary Scholars & Parliamentarians) "The First Labour Group in the House of Lords, 1924").

It can be accessed at http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/

Parliamentary Reform

Last Thursday I attended a "Parliament Week" event at the Guildhall. It was addressed by the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow. Further speeches were made by Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield (Peter Hennessy, the historian); Lord Desai (Meghnad Desai, Economist) and Michael Cockerell (Journalist and Documentary Maker - The Great Offices of State; The Secret World of Whitehall).

Questions were taken (mine is at 59 mins 50 secs to 1 hr 00 mins 25 secs - I was deliberately provocative - but the point remains, the Lords is very limited in its ability to effectively challenge the Government of the Day).

 

The BBC Parliament broadcast can be accessed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b0170435/