Inside The Lords: parliament might be suspended, but politics continues
Inside The Lords: parliament might be suspended, but politics continues
Claire Fox on ageist Lords reforms, delayed legislation and assaults on Farage.
Inside The Lords this week isn’t really inside the Lords - as you all know, we’re in the run up to the General Election. But politics continues even when the Palaces of Westminster are closed - in fact, the Labour Party has been talking about the Lords this week. Keir Starmer’s suggestion that the over-80s be booted out of the Lords as a kind of compromise to abolishing it is ridiculous. Some of the best speakers in that unelected chamber are over 80. It’s not just the Labour Party that’s being half-hearted: Rishi Sunak’s attempt to keep everyone happy by sitting on the fence when it comes to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) hasn’t convinced anyone.
I won’t go into too much detail about the election so far - make sure you listen to the Academy of Ideas’ Podcast of Ideas where we go into detail about everything that’s happened so far. But I wanted to note that there are some pieces of legislation that didn’t get sorted in time before the election was called - including a very important one on ‘debanking’. It’s now been revealed that some of the regulations to protect people from being debanked haven’t gone through, and so the Free Speech Union has launched a petition to urge all the major political parties to include a promise in their manifestoes to enact this secondary legislation in the next parliamentary session. You can sign the petition here.
Another legislative hiccup is in relation to the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, which was supposed to take effect at the beginning of August. But some are now arguing for a postponement - effectively trying to thwart - the positive, if not perfect, protections for free speech that this bill entails. But we know that the fight for free speech on campus is more necessary than ever. Durham University has just cancelled a discussion on peace in the Middle East, citing safety concerns. This is despite widespread support for the debate among the student populace. Fair play to the Durham Union, who were organising the event, who are also hosting Debating Matters this week - with sixth formers debating a whole range of topics, including cancel culture!
Despite parliament being suspended, politics continues. Here at the Academy of Ideas, we’re trying to programme the Battle of Ideas festival (get your earlybird tickets now). And we’ve been discussing how to frame a discussion about the right to protest - bearing in mind the repeated assaults on Nigel Farage and the defacing of the King’s portrait this week by animal-rights activists. These kind of moral dilemmas we’ll be addressing, including all our usual interrogations of the big political issues of our time. We’re trying to build a community - a grassroots reorientation of politics. Join us, we’ll be announcing some changes to this Substack in the following weeks and we want you with us.
Media you might have missed…
Ella Whelan on BBC Radio 4’s Moral Maze: Democracy - is our system morally superior?
The Moral Maze, live at the Hay Festival - listen at 8pm on Wednesday 12 June.
Podcast of Ideas General Election special: D Day, selection madness and the return of Farage:
Claire Fox co-hosts the Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast
Ella Whelan on BBC Sunday Morning Live
Ella discusses who should pay for climate change, and whether we should ban ‘ultra-processed foods’.
Claire Fox returns to spiked’s Last Orders
Farage, cakes and single-use vapes - spiked (spiked-online.com)
Ella Whelan discusses the attacks on Nigel Farage on GB News
‘Even if I did think Farage was far-right there’s no excuse for me turning that view of him into a violent act.’
Upcoming events…
Debating Matters Durham Championship 2024
THURSDAY 13 JUNE
Venue: Durham Union Society
Birmingham Salon: Creating dangerously or the art of conformity?
1-3 PM, SATURDAY 15 JUNE
Venue: Map Room, Cherry Reds, 88-92 John Bright Street, B1 1BN
Speaker: Denise Fahmy
Tickets: Birmingham Salon
Leeds Salon: Politicians under the microscope
7PM, WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE
Venue: The Adelphi, Leeds, LS10 1JQ
Speakers and tickets: Politicians Under the Microscope : The Leeds Salon
East Midlands Salon: Is democracy under threat?
7PM, THURSDAY 20 JUNE
Venue: The Brunswick Inn, Station Road, Derby, DE1 2RU
Speaker: Hilary Salt
Tickets: East Midlands Salon - because debating ideas is important
Academy of Ideas Economy Forum: Can the UK afford Net Zero?
7PM, THURSDAY 27 JUNE via Zoom
Speaker: Professor Gordon Hughes
Tickets: Can the UK afford Net Zero? – Academy of Ideas
SATURDAY 19 AND SUNDAY 20 OCTOBER.
Venue: Church House, Great Smith St, Westminster, London, SW1P 3BN
Earlybird ticket offer: Buy tickets here
