Includes section: Law reports.

The report discusses the impact of Queen's and Prince's Consent on the legislative process. It notes that Consent is a matter of parliamentary procedure and could be abolished by means of addresses to the Crown, followed by a resolution of each House. If the House authorities decide that Consent is needed for a Private Member's Bill, the Government should as a matter of course seek Consent to remove any suggestion that the Government is using the Consent process as a form of veto on Bills it does not support. When the Queen or the Prince of Wales grant their Consent to Bills, they do so on the advice of the Government but the process of Consent is complex and arcane and its existence undoubtedly fuels speculation that the monarchy has an undue influence on the legislative process. Consent serves as a reminder that Parliament has three elements and its existence could be regarded simply as a matter of courtesy between the three parts of Parliament. The Committee says the process should be simplified and recommends that Consent should no longer be signified personally by a Privy Counsellor; that the requirement for Consent is published as soon as the Bill is printed; and that Consent be signified at Third Reading in both Houses, in all instances. The latter change would make it more difficult for the Government ever to use the process of Consent as a way of curtailing debate on Private Members' Bills it did not like.

This Report deals with the investigation into the conduct of Mr Simon Hughes: that he failed to register six donations to his local party received from four named companies over six years despite the links he had with the donors; that he failed to declare two of these financial interests, in the House and in the Public Bill Committee on the Scrap Metal Dealers Bill; that he failed to declare two of these financial interests when approaching another Member and local councillors; and that he arranged one meeting which amounted to lobbying for reward or consideration, contrary to the rules of the House. The Committee agrees that the meeting Mr Hughes arranged to discuss a local development did not constitute a breach of the lobbying rules. There was no attempt to conceal the donations to Mr Hughes's local party, which were reported to the Electoral Commission, although there was a failure to include them in the Register of Members' Financial Interests, and a failure to declare interests. The publication of the Commissioner's memorandum sets on record Mr Hughes's failures to declare appropriately. Mr Hughes apologised at the outset. The Committee recommends that he now registers any outstanding interests; late registrations will appear in bold italics. Nonetheless there is concern that a Member of Mr Hughes's seniority and experience should have failed to observe The Code of Conduct over such a long period and failed to seek advice from the Registrar. Mr Hughes should apologise by way of a Personal Statement to the House.

It tells a story of grandparents in the 1800s as judges in Missouri and those on the Supreme Court of Missouri on my mother's side of the family, then Congressman Frank W. Boykin of Mobile, Alabama, on my father's side of the family. Some highlights from the manuscript: Congressman Boykin started the multiethnic, multireligious Kounter Klan to challenge the corrupt Ku Klux Klan in Alabama and other Southern States. He served in Congress for over twenty-eight years but remained a man of the people. Boykin was also involved in real estate, where he purchased more than three million acres during his lifetime, developing Homosassa Springs in Florida with President Truman's brother. He had over eighteen different businesses, including in timber, farming, cattle raising, and shipbuilding. Boykin's suggestion is untold history setting the English Channel ablaze during World War II and helped thwart the Nazi invasion of the country of England. Also, a movie that was to be made in the '50s and '60s by Breedlove Production Company in Los Angeles, California, have been unable to find out if it is sitting in a can in a Hollywood, California, studio and if it was ever made. Charlton Heston was proposed to star in it, and the title was trademarked called Everything Is Made for Love, Frank Boykin's motto for over forty years. It tells of sexual and physical abuse, bullying through childhood to adulthood, divorces, being conned, and the con receiving seven years in prison, having four fathers from age two to fourteen. Travel experiences to other countries and of family, children, cousins, abduction, and the way to learning one's true self and identity.