In fact, done up to the nines, they intervene virtually every day – and are accorded automatic precedence when they rise to speak. It will therefore be interesting to see what role they will play when, in the new year, we debate proposals for a 100 per cent elected House, thus sending them back to their bishoprics. Of course, my only regret about their removal from the red benches will be to miss the arrival of the first female bishop to their midst. Now that would be a sight for sore eyes!
Meanwhile, life becomes more interesting in the second chamber for – despite the government’s theoretical working majority – some of the coalitions proposals (on AV, fixed-term parliaments, an elected House) – will not find unanimous favour on their side of the House, whilst some issues (removing the consumer and independent voice from decisions by abolishing arms-length bodies such as the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority) will not automatically guarantee support from the 79 Liberal Democrats and 181 crossbenchers.
There was an interesting revelation of views in a debate on charities and ‘the big society’. Many peers are in the House by virtue of a record in voluntary organisations; others, by virtue of their title, find themselves trustees and hence champions of various charities. None think these bodies can take over functions from the state without funding – nor indeed raise private funding to make good any cuts in public grants.
Finally, after a month of discussion about women on the front bench in the Commons, spare a moment to celebrate our women peers. We are led by the wonderful Jan Royall, former secretary to the British Labour group (forerunner of the EPLP) when led by redhead Barbara Castle. Jan went on to make a wonderful ginger-headed staffer to Neil Kinnock (himself with more of the red stuff on top at the time) before heading the European Commission office in Wales and thence to the Lords. She has an unusual combination of formidable intellectual insight, calm humour and pastoral care for her flock, while bringing challenging forensic skills to the government’s actions. Jan’s frontbench is particularly strong in the female ranks, with Patricia Scotland, Liz Symons, Glenys Thornton, Delyth Morgan, Christine Crawley and Angela Smith to name but some, and Margaret Wheeler – fresh from years of chairing the party’s conference arrangements committee – bringing her deft political fixing skills to the Whips Office.
One would hope that anyone whose status caused them to be sent to the Lords would know more about Parliament than Diane Hayter seems to know. She says that before entering she had imagined that bishops’ interventions would be confined to matters regarding the Church of England. It doesn’t take a very assiduous newspaper reader to know that, historically – and here I am only going back to Archbishop Ramsay’s statements on Rhodesia – that the bishops have spoken about all and sundry – and usually with a bit more sense than many secular peers. Oh, and you do not send bishops back to their bishoprics – that’s the office of bishop – but to their dioceses. Lady Hayter also says that peers involved with charities have told her that that, under the Big Society, those charities cannot take over the role of the state without funding. I don’t think that I needed a peerage to work that out. However, Lady Hayter also omits entirely that for 20 years or so the bulk of social care has been provided by charities and private companies, not local authorities, under contract.