Robert Buckland Weblog

Amidst the acres of newsprint and hours of TV footage of the events of the past two days, it is worth reflecting for a few moments about previous changes of Government where there has been no General Election over the last century or so. Some changes have been brought about by rebellion (Lloyd George [...]

Further to our meeting on 12th June, the Swindon SEN Network has submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee, which is conducting an inquiry into the role of Local Education Authorities in the process of providing and assessing special educational needs. I reproduce the submission in full below:
MEMORANDUM OF [...]

I have been reading the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill recently passed through the House of Commons with the support, amongst others, of South Swindon’s current MP. In a recent letter to the Adver, she suggested that the Bill would help keep correspondence between her and her constituents private. Some mistake, surely?
The Bill [...]

This series has become a little more occasional than I would like.  I have been meaning to write about the unforeseen consequences of a change in criminal sentencing brought about by the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which came into force on 4th April 2005.  Prior to this date, Courts dealing with defendants who had committed [...]

Local elections and life has got in the way, but I promised to mention a very worthwhile HIV/Aids charity set up by Jeremy Hunt, MP for South-West Surrey. Jeremy visited North Swindon Library at the end of February and spoke about the work of the Hotcourses Foundation, which helps to fund education courses for [...]

My current feelings about the EU are pretty well summed up by Alan Massie in an article that appeared in last Saturday’s Telegraph. Like him, my political tradition is support and enthusiasm for the European Union. I do not see the current round of horse-trading as beneficial to the EU’s future, however. [...]

Encouraging words for Ken Clarke’s Democracy Task Force report from Henry Porter in the Observer (not a paper I usually purchase) last Sunday:
Henry Porter
Sunday June 10, 2007
The Observer
“A good quote from Churchill appears in Tory MP Ken Clarke’s ‘Democracy Task Force’ report. On leaving the Commons in [...]