Britain is now run by a Zombie Government . You could have written the Queen’s Speech on the back of one of her stamps.
Time was a Queen’s Speech would indicate a Government’s policy agenda for the next year.
Now it’s a wishlist from a Prime Minister on borrowed time.
Getting a Tory majority at the last election has actually turned Cameron into a lame duck.
Lib Dem coalition ministers who helped push though his policies are gone. Instead, he faces a backbench brigade of B’Stards – right wing whingers who want him out asap.
Even if it means voting against the Government.
Since the election, Cameron’s been forced to do 24 U-turns! And the main people behind this? My fellow peers in the House of Lords.
As a minister I was infuriated to see our policies run into opposition in the Lords.
Read more:David Cameron's EU referendum is the most absurd political campaign ever fought
But I joined the Lords to continue my political campaign for climate change which I began at Kyoto in 1997 and took to its conclusion last year in Paris.
I’ve now seen at first hand what a great job the Lords has been doing to stop the worst excesses of Tory misgovernment.
The peers’ scrutineering role and ability to push back bad bills has defeated some of the Government’s worst proposals.
For example, we reduced the Tories’ attempt to weaken trade unions, we stopped them axing tax credits for the poorly paid and forced them to provide sanctuary for unaccompanied child refugees fleeing war-torn Syria.
The Lords opposition is a combination of Labour and Liberal members, independent judges, doctors and the bishops who, together, provide a majority.
The irony is that by flooding the Lords with Lib Dems to keep the coalition together, the Tories now face a progressive majority in the Lords who won’t be pushed around.
Labour’s leader in the Lords , Angela Smith, has shown great leadership with a hardworking front bench and whips.
Angela welcomes the party’s commitment, as I do, to a constitutional review and convention on further devolution.
This will inevitably consider the role of the Lords as part of a wider system of governance.
Labour must now continue devolution of powers and resources to the regions as an alternative to the Tory’s English parliament for English regions, in which the prosperous South will dominate politically.
A reformed House of Lords could comprise representatives from the nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland along with representatives from the English regions.
It could, and should, retain its scrutiny role of Government legislation. But it could begin to scrutinise the fairness of powers and resources given to each of the areas.
That would expose the inadequate and unjustifiable use of the old Barnett Formula which has just been renegotiated to give Scotland over £1,600 per head more than taxpayers in England.
We may need these radical ideas for our manifesto sooner than we think. For whatever the result of the EU referendum , the Tory Party will tear itself apart.
As I discovered with Tony Blair, as soon as you say you’re going, people won’t stop until you name the date.
Even if Cameron wins the referendum, the outers will move to shift him from No10.
And if that means calling a vote of no confidence to force an election, I’m sure they’ll do it.
Add to that, 11 police forces are investigating Tory MPs over claims of expenses fraud.
We could see up to 23 by-elections, mostly in marginal seats. And the Tories only have a majority of 12.
Jeremy Corbyn is absolutely right to get Labour on a war-footing for a snap election.
We need to build a platform, a manifesto and a campaign now so we can win it.