THE former Lord Speaker has hit back at Michael Gove’s suggestion that the upper chamber be moved to Stoke-on-Trent during upcoming parliamentary repairs. Lord Fowler accused housing minister Gove of making a “cheap political point”, which risks delaying the works on the “dangerous” Westminster estate. “I think he should get on with building houses, which is his job,” he told us.
Fowler suggested both houses move to Birmingham. Yesterday there was a lively Lords debate on the move, which may be to the nearby Queen Elizabeth II Centre, run by Gove’s department. In a letter, current Lord Speaker Lord McFall said it was “highly questionable” that the Lords and Commons be in different places, given they work together.
