The Week Ahead

Congress returns this week - and Al Franken is due to be seated on Tuesday. A Climate Change bill is on its way to the Senate after being narrowly passed in the House before the holiday break. However it is likely to face much resistance - Inhofe said last week that it would be dead on arrival.

House of Representative business is listed at http://democraticleader.house.gov/links_and_resources/whip_resources/weeklyleader.cfm?pressReleaseID=3176

At Westminster the House of Lords gets to look at the Parliamentary Standards Bill (2nd Reading on 8th July, provisional), minus the offending clause which was voted out in the Commons. The Commons will consider the Finance Bill - and debate ID Cards.

The Parliamentary Calendar is available at http://services.parliament.uk/calendar/

Sulgrave

Once again Independence Day weekend approaches. It will be celebrated across the USA, and (ironically, since it celebrates independence FROM Great Britain) in many places in the UK. There is a special menu being served in some of the restaurants and cafes around the Palace of Westminster.

One place that always has a special celebration is Sulgrave Manor in southern Northamptonshire. It was the home of George Washington's Great, Great, Great Grandfather - the first in his family to hold executive office (as Mayor of Northampton).

Details of Sulgrave Manor and the weekend's events can be found at http://www.sulgravemanor.org.uk/

Select Committes

The Hansard Society has made the recordings of the sessions of its conference on Select Committees available at http://ow.ly/gfGP

Summer in the City

It's been pretty uncomfortable at Westminster this week - it's been quite a heatwave. But any discomfort is nothing like the summers in the Victorian period. Air conditioning hadn't been invented. As the industrial age developed - and more people moved towards the growing city of London - the Thames became horribly polluted.

1858 saw an unusually hot summer. The smell, particularly of the sewerage, was so great that the work at Westminster was affected. Interim measures included draping curtains soaked in chloride of lime around the Palace. There was even talks of temporarily removing Parliament up to Hampton Court.

When the weather eventually broke, conditions improved. A Commons select committee was set up to study the causes, and produce solutions to the problems. Subsequently a bill was rushed through Parliament and became law in 18 days, to provide more money to construct a massive new sewer scheme for London, and to build the Embankment along the Thames in order to improve the flow of water and of traffic.

The Costs of the Monarchy

This week we are told how little the Royal Family costs the country. Of course Kings and Queens were masters of spin long before democracy emerged. The figures that are being proclaimed are just the costs of the Civil List. Indeed, if you divide those costs by the total population (which includes non-taxpayers) you come up with a "price" similar to a loaf of bread.

A fairer picture can be found here. I guess that losing £167m from your calculations is of little concern to a very rich family. [Queen's wealth] Is it worth it? Well if you haven't read Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" - this week ending with Independence Day - now's the time to do so - it is available here.