Chris Patten’s first job in government was a junior post at the Northern Ireland Office which he held from 1983 to 1985.

A leading article in The Times on September 16 expressed concern that the Prince of Wales might seek to bring undue influence to bear on ministers when he becomes King. Alistair Lexden responded with a defence of the Prince in a letter published in the paper on September 18.

On 31 July 1963, Dr Stephen Ward, a well-known osteopath and artist, was convicted on two counts alleging that he lived on the earnings of a prostitute. The two counts related to the two young women at the centre of the Profumo scandal, Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies.

Nothing could be more welcome, as we commemorate the centenary of the First World War, than an account of what happened in Parliament during the period. Parliament itself has now published a short book, dealing with some aspects of events.

At oral question time in the Lords on 13 September, Alistair Lexden returned to a serious issue about which he has been greatly concerned since the beginning of last year—namely, the failure of the police in London and elsewhere to observe the standards expected of them during investigations of a

Some children—a relatively small percentage of the total number—placed in care can thrive in boarding schools.

Every Wednesday afternoon when the House of Commons is in session, backbench Conservative MPs meet in the well-known 1922 Committee. When important political events are taking place or when MPs are restive (often the two go together), meetings are crowded and discussion is lively.

Brexit will affect Ireland, North and South, more profoundly than any other part of the EU. The grave and wide-ranging implications were examined at length and in the most constructive fashion in an authoritative House of Lords report published at the end of last year.

Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940) is widely regarded today as a disastrous Prime Minister, one of the worst in British history.

On 26 August Matthew Parris devoted his weekly column in The Times to the procedures for electing the leader of the Conservative Party. The final decision, which is now made by the party membership should, he argued, be restored to MPs.