Court Circular

May 20 2010: The Lord Young of Norwood Green and the Lord Faulkner of Worcester were received by The Queen and took leave upon relinquishing their appointment as Lords in Waiting to Her Majesty.

Appointment to Government Whips’ Office

 9 June 2009: Appointed a Lord in Waiting in the Whips’ Office in the recent reshuffle. This will involve deputising for Lord Adonis on transport issues, and also speaking on Wales and climate change. See Press release from Number10.gov.uk; also List of Spokespersons in the House of Lords. 

As a consequence I’ve resigned from the NMSI board of trustees, the National Football Museum board, the First Great Western Advisory Board, the Cotswold Line Promotion Group, the vice-presidency of the Football Conference, the National Association of Disabled Supporters, and my board membership of the Football Association of Wales and of ASH

It has also necessitated me relinquishing various posts which I have held in several All-Party Parliamentary Groups, as well as my chairmanship of the Railway Heritage Committee.  

Most recent details can be found on my personal website under Biographical

A childhood dream fulfilled

Last week I had a splendid time at the Tyseley Locomotive Works in Birmingham, and was allowed to drive the  Earl of Mount Edgcumbe up and down the yard.

Broadcasting of appeal for Gaza

 
On January 28  I  tabled the following Question in the House of Lords:
…. to ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the BBC over the broadcasting of the appeal for Gaza on behalf of the Disasters Emergency Committee.
Go to my website or the official Hansard report to read the exchanges.
See Lord Norton’s post : Debating Gaza  in  Lords of the Blog.
House of Lords debate on the conflict in Gaza  broadcast on 6 February on Parliament live TV.
Watch Andrew Neil and Anita Anand looking at the controversy over the Gaza appeal on The Daily Politics 

Official visit to Taiwan

I’ve recently returned from Taiwan where I headed a delegation from the All-Party Parliamentary British-Taiwanese Group.   More images from the visit can be viewed on the APPG website.

Happy New Year!

You can read a more detailed account of my various activities at my personal website.  Questions and contributions to debates in the House of Lords are featured,  as are pictorial records of overseas visits made with various official delegations. This and much more can be viewed there.

Great Train Show

Recently I recorded an excerpt for ABC Local for their Great Train Show episode 36.

To hear what I had to say about the Railway Heritage Committee,   SKLR, and the Zig Zag railway, move the button on the control to 8.40

Latin in Schools

In the Daily Telegraph of 27 December I was pleased to see the article “Students to be taught Latin in schools curriculum overhaul”  which referred to my Question of 25 October in the House on the teaching of Latin in schools.

House Magazine: A whistle-stop week

 In the 17 November issue of  The House Magazine  I’ve written a contribution giving a snapshot of my working week.

“The week started on Monday 3 November with a lunch with a CPA delegation from Pakistan, and afterwards I deputised for the Lord Speaker at a meeting in which I described the role of the House of Lords to them. They were all newly-elected members, but remarkably well-informed about world affairs and British politics.  In the afternoon I attended a presentation by the Office of Rail Regulation on their latest determination – we are still celebrating their decision to give the green light to the redoubling of the track on the Cotswold Line between Oxford and Worcester……”      read the full text on my personal website.

Honorary Fellowship from University of Worcester

5 November: Awarded honorary fellowship at University of Worcester – L to R in the image: Professor Judith Elkin, Deputy Vice Chancellor; myself; the Duke of Gloucester, Chancellor of the University.