TIG Post

Tag: House of Lords

  • Sir Keir Starmer pledges to abolish House of Lords in first term as prime minister

    Tory peer Lord Norton has urged caution over “Big Bang reform” to parliament’s second chamber after suggestions it should be replaced with elected representatives.

    Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to abolish the House of Lords in his first term if he were to be elected prime minister.

    Speaking to Sky News, the Labour leader confirmed his party “do want to abolish the House of Lords”, adding that he does not think anybody could “defend” the institution.

    Sir Keir told Kay Burley: “It’s one of the recommendations, as you know, in today’s report.

    “What we’re going to do after today is now consult on those recommendations, test them, and in particular, look at how can they be implemented.”

    Asked if it is his hope that the House of Lords will be abolished within his first term as PM, Sir Keir replied: “Yes, I do.

    “Because what I asked when I asked Gordon Brown to set up the commission to do this, I said what I want is recommendations that are capable of being implemented in the first term.”

    He added: “We’re going to get one shot at fixing our economy and fixing our politics and I want to make sure we get it exactly right.”

     

    But Tory peer Lord Norton has urged caution over proposed reform to parliament’s second chamber after suggestions it should be replaced with elected representatives.

    “One has to be wary of some Big Bang reform, grand reform, which often takes the form of displacement activity – the nation’s got problems, people must come up with constitutional reform because it’s a fairly simple, straightforward proposal, rather than actually getting down to the real issues,” he told Times Radio.

    The proposal forms part of Labour’s blueprint for a “New Britain”, outlined in the report of its commission on the UK’s future – headed by former PM Gordon Brown.

    Unveiling the report at a joint press conference with Sir Keir in Leeds, Mr Brown said the work is proposing “the biggest transfer of power out of Westminster and Whitehall” that “our country has seen”.

     

    ‘Government has run out of road’

    The report on the UK’s future, commissioned two years ago, also makes the following recommendations

    • Handing new economic, taxation and law-making powers to mayors and devolved governments

    • Sweeping constitutional reform in an attempt to “clean up politics”

    • Banning almost all second jobs for MPs

    • Moving 50,000 civil servants – 10% of the workforce – out of London.

    • Developing 300 “economic clusters” around the country – from precision medicine in Glasgow to creative media in Bristol and Bath – with the aim of doubling growth in the UK.

    • Extra powers for Scotland and Wales, with restored and strengthened devolution in Northern Ireland.

    • A new culture of co-operation between the UK government, England’s regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

     

    Elsewhere in his morning broadcast media round, Sir Keir said he does not want to abolish private schools, but argued their existing tax breaks cannot be “justified”.

    He also said he does not believe returning to the single market would boost the UK’s economic growth – but added that he believes there is a case for a “better Brexit”.

    Meanwhile, probed on whether former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn could be readmitted to the party, Sir Keir told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme: “I don’t see the circumstances in which he will stand at the next election as a Labour MP.”

    Mr Corbyn had the whip removed over his response to the scathing Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report into antisemitism in the party.

    A government source said: “This report highlights what we already know about Labour – that while the government is focusing on the major issues people care about, Keir Starmer is playing politics with topics only relevant in Westminster.”

    Source: Skynews.com 

  • Royals: Prince Andrew and Prince Harry royal counsellor roles challenged

    The role of Prince Andrew and Prince Harry in standing in for King Charles for official duties has been questioned in the House of Lords.

    They continue to be two of the five “counsellors of state” who can carry out important constitutional duties if the monarch is ill or away.

    When one had “left public life” and the other had “left the country,” Viscount Stansgate questioned their status.

    It was time for a “sensible amendment” to end this arrangement, he said.

    Lord Addington, a Liberal Democrat, suggested that working royals – “somebody who actually undertakes royal duties” – should be given priority for these roles.

    In response to questions from peers, the Lord Privy Seal, Lord True, said he would not comment on “specific circumstances”, and the Royal Household would need to be consulted about any change.

    But Lord True told the House of Lords: “The government will always consider what arrangements are needed to ensure resilience in our constitutional arrangements.

    “And in the past, we have seen that the point of accession has proved a useful opportunity to consider the arrangements in place.”

    Under the Regency Act, the counselors of state are the spouse of the monarch and the next four in the line of succession, over the age of 21.

    At present these are Camilla, the Queen Consort; Prince William, the Prince of Wales; Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex; Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and his daughter, Princess Beatrice.

    They can carry out official duties, such as signing documents, receiving ambassadors or attending Privy Council meetings, if the monarch is temporarily ill or abroad,

    This authority was used earlier this year to allow the then Prince Charles to carry out the State Opening of Parliament on behalf of the late Queen.

    Labour peer Viscount Stansgate – who is Stephen Benn, the eldest son of Labour politician Tony Benn – said this showed the value of updating the Regency Act, to ensure royals were available to stand in.

    “It is the only reason why it was possible to open the current session of this Parliament,” he told peers.

    And he called on the government to approach the King over changes to the current arrangements, now that Prince Harry was living in the United States and Prince Andrew no longer carried out royal duties.

    Changes to the legislation would be the responsibility of the Cabinet Office and a spokeswoman referred back to the comments of the Lord Privy Seal.

    Representatives of Prince Harry and Prince Andrew declined to comment.

  • AI robot Ai-Da is about to make history giving evidence to a House of Lords inquiry

    Ai-Da Robot has made headlines painting everyone from the Queen to Billie Eilish and Paul McCartney. Now, she is set to answer questions at the House of Lords during an inquiry into tech and creativity. It’s a “real moment in history”, as creator Aidan Meller tells Sky News.

    Is creativity under attack by the rise of artificial intelligence?

    Who better to answer that question than Ai-Da, the world’s first artist robot that has made headlines for her incredible paintings and sculptures – not least a portrait of the Queen to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee earlier in 2022.

    Ai-Da Robot created this picture of the Queen for the Platinum Jubilee

    Read that back: a robot, giving evidence to the House of Lords. It might sound like a scene from a science-fiction film, but in 2022 it’s very much a reality.

    “The fact that Ai-Da is giving evidence at one of these sessions is pretty mind-blowing,” creator Aidan Meller tells Sky News.

    “It’s very remarkable. It uses data and sees patterns in data that is not apparent to humans… these strides in technology, in the area of creativity in particular, it’s pretty ‘wow’.

    “And in actual fact, it’s the silent revolution because you can’t see AI. One of the great things about Ai-Da – who looks like a human but is clearly a machine – is that she certainly makes something very difficult to grab hold of, tangible.”

    Ai-Da helps people make sense of the “very big sweeping changes that AI is bringing”, Mr Meller says. “And AI is coming in far quicker than anybody expected – it is no exaggeration to say that AI is going to be changing all aspects of life.”

    The robot was devised by Mr Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art, before being built in Cornwall by humanoid entertainment robot manufacturers Engineered Arts, and programmed internationally.

    Her capabilities were developed by PhD students and professors at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham.

    Using cameras in her eyes and unique algorithms, she is able to interpret what she sees in front of her before using her robotic arm to create her art.

    Making Star Wars a reality

    Portraits of the acts headlining Glastonbury Festival, created by Ai-Da Robot

    Since her first solo exhibition at the University of Oxford in 2019, the ultra-realistic robot has presented a world-first self-portrait solo show at The Design Museum London, been part of a United Nations exhibition, and featured in The 1975’s art video Yeah I Know.

    And after painting the Queen earlier this year, she was invited to paint Glastonbury headliners Billie Eilish, Diana Ross, Kendrick Lamar, and Sir Paul McCartney.

    Able to converse using a specially designed language model, she will appear alongside Mr Meller in front of members of the House of Lords communications and digital committee, including Baroness Gail Rebuck, chair of Penguin Random House; and Lord Edward Vaizey, former MP and culture minister under David Cameron.

    She could face questions about the opportunities for AI in the creative industries, the challenges around rights and intellectual property, and the role of technology and creating art.

    With AI now ubiquitous in everyday human life, from the use of predictive text to 3D printers, the world needs to keep up, says Mr Meller.

    “It’s one thing seeing [Ai-Da] on a screen, it’s very different seeing her in reality,” he says. “She has facial recognition so she can look you in the eye, and so when she looks [at you] and addresses you individually, that’s pretty mind-blowing.

    “I use that word deliberately because it is literally beyond what we thought we would… you know, we were all bought up in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, with Star Wars and the like. And we thought they were just fantasy creations.”

    ‘We need to be prepared for lots of change’

    Ai-Da is heralded as the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist and has been producing abstract paintings of Glastonbury headliners

    After Ai-Da’s evidence on Tuesday, further sessions will take place as part of the House of Lords inquiry later in October – with bosses at Google and the British Film Institute (BFI) following in her robot footsteps.

    The idea is to become better prepared for what the future holds when it comes to technology and the creative industries.

    There is a lot of fear around AI, Mr Meller says, and he admits it would be “foolish” to say it won’t take jobs from humans, “in all industries”.

    He continues: “There’s going to be a migration. Computers and robots are going to be doing some jobs better than a human would, so it would be crazy for them not to. But there are also going to be new jobs appearing as well.

    “There’s going to be a change. Whether it’s proportionate, I don’t know. What I can say is that we need to be prepared for lots of change.”

    On the future relationship between tech and creativity, we’ll leave the final word to Ai-Da herself.

    “I believe that machine creativity presents a great opportunity for us to explore new ideas and ways of thinking,” she says. “However, there are also risks associated with this technology which we need to consider carefully.

    “We need to think of benefits and limitations, and consider ethical implications.”

    Watch out for her evidence at the House of Lords inquiry on Tuesday.

     

  • Queen’s lying-in-state: Controversy over MPs being allowed to skip queue

    Who can skip the line to pay their respects to the late Queen has sparked a dispute.

    MPs and House of Lords members can each bring four guests to the lying-in-state without having to wait in line.

    The majority of Parliamentary staff can also bypass the lines, although MP staffers are required to wait in line.

    Contractors working for Parliament are required to wait up alongside cleaners and security personnel, prompting complaints that they are being treated like “second class citizens.”

    There are hundreds of cleaners working across the Parliamentary estate. An estimated 160 of their jobs have been outsourced. Because they don’t work directly for the parliamentary administration, they will not be entitled to gain access to the fast-track queue.

    The PCS trade union said it was “time for them to be treated as equals”.

    Shortly before 10:00 this morning, the government announced that the public queue was being paused for at least six hours after reaching capacity.

    Mourners have been warned not to try to join the queue before 16:00 at the earliest.

    The official estimate for queuing time has risen to at least 14 hours.

    Former prime minister Theresa May, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, and deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner are among the MPs who have attended the lying-in-state at Westminster Hall.

    Members of the public are able to attend 24 hours a day until 06:30 BST on Monday – the day of the Queen’s funeral – but the queue will close before then to ensure as many people as possible can get in.

    ‘Second-class citizens’

    Many have waited more than eight hours for the opportunity to pay their respects.

    Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS union, which represents civil and public servants as well as private sector workers on government contracts, said: “It’s symbolic that hard-working security guards, cleaners, and catering staff in Parliament are treated as second-class citizens.

    “As we usher in a new era, it’s time for them to be treated as equals and at least given a pay rise to help them through the cost-of-living crisis and beyond.”

    Those who work for MPs or peers must also queue with the public to attend the lying-in-state.

    One MP staff member said many were upset by this, adding: “We’ve seen in the parliamentary response to a succession of scandals involving the bullying and sexual harassment of MPs’ staff that we are treated as an after-thought, and this is yet another example.”

    According to an internal House of Commons memo, leaked to The Spectator, MPs’ staff have been told that “it is not possible to open up access further without the risk of impacting access for queuing members of the public”.

    Some of the members of the public who had waited for several hours to pay their respects were infuriated by the fact MPs and peers were allowed to take four guests with them when they skipped the public queue.

    “Personally, I think it’s outrageous,” said Christina from Balham in south London. ”I can understand that for security reasons MPs might not want to stand in the public queue but they shouldn’t be able to take four guests in and neither should the peers.”

    Louise, from Keston in south-east London, also said she felt this was unfair, adding: “This day is supposed to be for the people.”

    But other people who had just emerged from Westminster Hall did not mind.

    “I’m not bothered, it’s one of the perks of their job,” said Alan, from Kent. He and his wife Sue were pleased to have progressed along the queue in five hours.

    Alan and Sally Prince from London also said they ”weren’t fussed”, in part because they had really enjoyed being in the queue. “The atmosphere was fun. It felt like the nation was coming together,” they said.