News from the Centre for Citizenship

An election is underway to fill a vacant seat in Britain’s legislature. The only citizens allowed to vote in the House of Lords election are Conservative legislators-for-life. The only citizens permitted to stand for election are hereditary “Lords.” Under current law the winning candidate will be a legislator until she or he dies.

Multimillionaire Irvine Laidlaw has agreed to end his tax exile of 22 years and live in Britain in return for a life seat in the legislature, according to the Financial Times. In a statement to the newspaper he said that he “would not have become a resident if it were not for the” legislative appointment.…

Michael Grade, who chairs state lottery operator Camelot, is to be the new head of the BBC. Mr. Grade will chair the state media giant’s board of governors. State lotteries have been described as “a tax on the poor.” Mr. Grade is likely to feel at home, therefore, in a business that targets unemployed single…

A legislator-for-life, Barbara Scott, is one of the two leading candidates to chair the board of the BBC state broadcaster. Ms. Young was appointed as a legislator-for-life in 1997 and is a member of the Labour Party group in the unelected second chamber of the legislature. The other leading contender for the post is Michael…

Gavyn Davies, former BBC chairperson, has told friends that “he expects to spend most of his time on the wealth management business” according to the Financial Times. He is talking to Goldman Sachs bankers about setting up a company to manage the investments of wealthy clients. The state broadcaster formerly headed by Mr. Davies extorts…

Charles Falconer, the so-called Lord Chancellor, has announced that parliament will be asked to restrict the powers of the legislators-for-life who sit in the second chamber of parliament The exact nature of the proposed change was not revealed, only that the unelected legislators would have less ability to influence legislation. The announcement was made as…

There will be no more reform of the House of Lords in this session of parliament, the government has announced. This means that the remaining 93 hereditary legislators-for-life will keep their seats in the legislature for the time being. The decision not to go ahead with a bill to remove the hereditary legislators was taken…

Religious groups are to receive a special tax break, Chancellor Gordon Brown has announced. They will not have to pay the value added tax paid by others when they repair their places of worship in the next two years. The state Anglican church, which already receives a bite from each tax payment, was among the…

The legislators in the unelected chamber of Britain’s legislature have effectively blocked a bill that would separate the nation’s highest appeal court from the legislature. At present the chief justices are also legislators. The so-called Lords voted by 216 to 183 to delay the Bill for months of scrutiny. The government is now expected to…

The New South Wales parliament in Australia has passed the State Arms, Symbols and Emblems Bill 2003. Clause 4 of the Bill provides that the State arms or State symbols, rather than the royal arms of the United Kingdom, are to represent the authority of the State in a parliament building, a courthouse, an office…