Silent Peer
"Can I call you MR Stevenson? You can call me citizen Flynn." that was the unexpected turn of questioning in today's Select Committee on honours.
Lord Stevenson is the Chair of House of Lords Appointment's Committee that vets new Lords. 
They chose the Peoples' Peers and rejected some nominees because of the scandal of loans to parties. Recently they nailed Lord Laidlaw. He had given £millions to the Tories, promised to returned from tax exile when he was ennobled. He remained abroad and the committee now have been persuaded him to stop being a lord.
Chasing the theme of whether a peerage is an honour or a job as a legislator, I sought to established how serious Lord Stevenson took his own duties as a legislator. 'How often did you vote in the Lords, last year?" I innocently inquired. He left the press bench gasping when he said he had not voted at all . Subsequently I found that he had not asked any written questions either. He had made a speech. But that was in 2000.
His excuse is that as chair of committee he wants to keep himself out of politics. I pressed him on why he continued as a Lord for years without apparently doing the work of a Lord. 'The problem is that the person who appointed me hair of the committee', he explained 'did not
know that I was a member of the Lords.' 'Not surprising' I suggested ' when you do not vote or speak.'
There is resentment among his comrade Lords because Lord Stevenson sets down standards for new lords while neglecting to take any part in the business.
Witch hunt
An event to warm the heart was a reception last night for Paul Robeson Junior hosted by Hywel Francis MP. Hywel's father Dai had a friendship with Paul Senior going back to the thirties.
It was make the anniversary of the abolition of slavery. Paul Robeson's said his grandfather was 'a field slave. 'They suffered brutal brief lives. His father had a special link with wales after making films in the valleys. Dai Francis campaigned to get Robeson's passport restored when it was seized in the MacCarthyite witch hunt. Robeson drew parallel between the treatment of black slaves and the mean lives of the Welsh working class.
The wonderful Beverley Humphreys has been the inspirer of the revival of interest in this great man. Paul Robeson, athlete, magnificent singer and human right campaigner, it was joy to join in a tribute to him.
Hallelujah
While it was great exercise for me standing up and down for a half an hour at Prime Minster, I did not get called by the Speaker to ask my question of Afghanistan. As a consolation I have the chance to ask Peter Hain: Paul Flynn (Newport, West) (Lab): Are not the Welsh Assembly Government to be congratulated on how they dealt with the recent farming difficulties—particularly the single farm payment and the recent health crises? They have been cautious, but practical and swift, in reducing the harm that was likely to be caused to the farmers. Can we now expect a hallelujah chorus of gratitude from the National Farmers Union to the “One Wales” Government?
Mr. Hain: If there were to be such a chorus, it would be the first. However, I agree with my hon. Friend’s comments on how the Welsh Assembly Government have handled the situation.
Dawn raid
The cash for peerages, Yates of the Yard will before our committee on the 23rd. The investigation may be over but the niggles linger on.
Some of us are still irritated about the police investigation, dawn raids on witnesses houses, suspiciously timed leaks to the press from mysterious sources, all those arrests with nothing at the end. We look forward to Policemen Yates helping us with our inquiries.
There is another irritation with journalist Peter Oborne. In a Channel Four Dispatches programme he attacked our committee role in the inquiry. It's all hogwash. He was told beforehand that what he claimed is impossible. A word with him might be worthwhile too.
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