Free Republic

54 years since the UK last launched a satellite from British soil—now a House of Lords report demands we "urgently distance" from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which carries half our satellites. Is this dependence a crisis—or a golden opportunity? We unpack the £1.2B plan, Shetland’s new spaceport, Brexit’s space fallout, and why sovereignty matters without ditching the world’s best rockets. Time to launch from Britain again?

A small group in the House of Lords has proposed hundreds of amendments that are helping stymie a bill that was meant to legalize medically assisted death for the terminally ill. Six hundred and eighty-eight. That is the number of amendments that just seven members of Britain’s House of Lords have proposed to a bill that was meant to legalize assisted dying for the terminally ill. So many amendments have been lodged — more than 1,280 in total — that the bill now seems doomed to fail, in a rare example of the Lords, Parliament’s unelected second chamber, blocking a...

Centuries of British political tradition will end within weeks after Parliament voted to remove hereditary aristocrats from the unelected House of Lords.

Our Framers corrected several shortcomings in the English approach to lawmaking. In England, the same people who write statutes also amend the English constitution. We can thank the Framers for their foresight in Article V. Unfortunately, in the name of a living and breathing Constitution, our government increasingly takes the easier British path to amendments, through the government itself. Whether through a formal amending procedure or not, the corruption of both constitutions picked up steam after simultaneous Progressive victories in the early 20th century. Below, we’ll find that Progressive democracy won in 1911 and 1913 in the House of Lords...

The House of Lords. There’s an unmistakable correlation between the decline of the British and American middle houses of government and the loss of liberty in their respective countries. Today’s House of Lords and the US Senate not only do not serve their ancient or intended purposes, they subvert them. These previously proud and distinct institutions which in times past were separated by a degree from the popular will, today give the patina of legitimacy to majoritarian tyranny that denies natural and societal rights. This, the first of probably three squibs, begins with the British House of Lords (Lords) from...

The great 19th century political writer Walter Bagehot once said that ‘the best cure for admiring the House of Lords is to go and look at it’. His words could be applied to the Upper House today, where irresponsible partisanship over Brexit risks the creation of a constitutional crisis.As the confrontation with the Government deepens, all respect for public opinion has been abandoned by a large number of peers in their undemocratic quest to overturn the result of the EU Referendum.So far the House of Lords has inflicted nine defeats on Theresa May’s Brexit legislation, and several more are likely...

A new report by the British Parliament’s upper chamber declared President Donald Trump unfit to lead the West’s foreign policy in the Middle East, and called upon the UK to lead the way in recognizing Palestine as an independent, sovereign state. The report was produced by the House of Lords’ International Relations Committee after six months of study, and reflects the anxiety some European leaders have felt towards President Trump’s campaign pledge to alter Washington’s approach to the NATO alliance, the United Nations, the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and other hot-button issues. The committee’s findings call for the UK to...

Former president Jimmy Carter on Wednesday will make a rare address to the upper chamber of the British Parliament to draw attention to the eradication of the Guinea worm disease, according to the Associated Press.

Baron John Sewel, who is tasked with upholding standards in the House of Lords, was filmed by a newspaper allegedly snorting cocaine off a prostitute’s breasts.

Every so often, people who don't really understand the importance of anonymity or how it enables free speech (especially among marginalized people), think they have a brilliant idea: "just end real anonymity online." They don't seem to understand just how shortsighted such an idea is. It's one that stems from the privilege of being in power. And who knows that particular privilege better than members of the House of Lords in the UK -- a group that is more or less defined by excess privilege? The Communications Committee of the House of Lords has now issued a report concerning "social...

A hereditary peer has questioned whether flatulence caused by the country’s high consumption of baked beans is adding to global warming. Viscount Simon, 73, a Labour peer who has been a member of the House of Lords for more than 20 years, raised concerns about the “smelly emissions”.

National parliaments should be able to initiate reviews of existing EU law, according to a report by the UK parliament. The paper, published on Monday (24 March), by the House of Lords’ EU committee, says domestic lawmakers should have more power in the EU legislative process. “There should be a way for a group of like-minded national parliaments to make constructive suggestions for EU policy initiatives,” it notes. “We would envisage a ‘Green Card’ as recognizing a right for a number of national parliaments working together to make constructive policy or legislative suggestions, including for the review or repeal of...

Gay marriage is set to become law after clearing the House of Lords. The Queen is expected to be asked to give her approval to the Bill—one of the most radical pieces of social legislation of her reign—by the end of this week.It opens the way for the first legally-recognized same-sex weddings to take place in England and Wales by next summer and brings the centuries-old understanding of marriage as being solely between a man and a woman to an end. … Baroness Stowell, the Government spokesman who steered the bill through the Lords, told a chamber packed with peers...

David Cameron is considering plans to create a "multi-faith" House of Lords where Muslim imams could sit alongside Anglican and Catholic bishops. The controversial suggestion is revealed in a paper drawn up by Tory officials which calls for a wide range of different churches to be represented once reforms to the Upper House are carried out. Currently 26 Anglican bishops have seats in the Lords. But Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, is drawing up a draft bill setting out wholesale changes to the Lords that are expected to include provisions for hundreds of existing peers, including the bishops, to...

It’s rather dismaying to see the thoughtful and well-regarded online magazine Front Porch Republic being roiled by a series of articles written by editor John Medaille celebrating the virtues of monarchism as compared to democracy. I don’t believe John’s point was call for the U.S. to build its own Buckingham Palace or design its own crown and scepter, which will never happen in a million years. It was to simply show the follies of democratism as a guarantor of the public’s liberties compared to an enlightened king (one tyrant 3,000 miles away as compared to 3,000 tyrants one mile a...

In February, the British government announced it would begin contacts with the non-military wing of Hizballah. Now this strategy has been further clarified. The specific target—perhaps not the best choice of words since it is Hizballah that really targets people—are Hizballah legislators. The goal is to talk to Hizballah members of the Lebanese parliament to get them to encourage their organization to abandon violence and play a constructive political role in Lebanon. This approach is based on the assumption, of course, that parliamentarians are parliamentarians, friendly, outgoing chaps who know how to kiss babies and slap backs in the local...

What has she done in her career? Does she have the experience to govern? Isn’t she just a name and a pretty face in expensive clothes? All questions asked by Democrats (I’m being nice) regarding Sarah Palin as McCain’s pick for Vice President. But Caroline Kennedy isn’t put under the same kind of scrutiny. Apparently, qualifications don’t matter to the left as long as you don’t hunt moose. One this is certain: if Kennedy’s last name were Palin she wouldn’t be anointed. I’m curious if she’ll sit down with some prominent Big Apple media fixtures like Charlie Gibson and Katie...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gives Matt Lauer some news as their interview continues Wednesday on "Today." If convicted Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is banished from the U.S. Senate, Palin will not seek his seat. "I'm not planning on it because I think the people of Alaska will best be served with me as their governor," Palin says. "Making sure that we are prudently spending the tax dollars. That we are making sure that our resources are being developed responsibly and ethically. And all those things that are a part of my agenda as governor. I think the people of Alaska...

London - You might want to take that vacation in England just as soon as you can – before its 1,000-year run as a sovereign nation comes to an end. This winter, 27 nations of the European Union (EU) signed the Treaty of Lisbon. You may think, "Innocuous enough," as Portuguese-inspired visions of the Tagus River and chicken piri-piri swirl before your eyes. But for England (Britain, actually) the Treaty of Lisbon isn't that appetizing. That's because, if ratified, it will become the decisive act in this creation of a federal European superstate with its capital in Brussels. Britain would...

Sayeeda Warsi takes her seat in the House of Lords as Baroness Warsi of Dewsburyon Monday. Baroness Warsi is the first Muslim to sit at Cabinet level and the first female Muslim to sit for the Conservatives in the Houses of Parliament. At 36 years old Sayeeda will be the youngest member of the Lords. In June David Cameron, Leader of the Conservative Party, appointed Sayeeda to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion. The creation of this position in Shadow Cabinet demonstrates the Conservative Party’s commitment to tackling the challenges faced by modern Britain . Setting out...