Gordon Brown has shown he is willing to duck convention, but his legislative programme contains few surprises so far, says John Ludlow
The start of the summer recess often feels like the end of the Parliamentary session. As the Houses prepare to rise, most MPs and peers visibly wind down and if ministers seem to buck the trend it’s only because they are frantically trying to get as many Bills as they can on the statute book before the holiday season starts. The big front bench reshuffles, so common around this time, only add to the general sense that we are at a change-over point.
And this year is certainly no exception. The final sitting week saw a clutch of measures receive Royal Assent, including the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill, the Offender Management Bill and the controversial Mental Health and Corporate Manslaughter Bills. The bulk of the government’s legislative programme is now safely through.
As for the reshuffle, the arrival of Gordon Brown as prime minister prompted even bigger changes than usual, even if most of it was musical chairs. If anything it
