I have just introduced a short debate in the Moses Room (Grand Committees in the House of Lords take place in a room known as the Moses Room as there is a large fresco called ‘Moses bringing down the Tables of the Law from Mount Sinai’ there) on the possible use of the Segway Personal Transporter in the UK.  My interest in this was fired by seeing a demonstration of a Segway in use and hearing of the use of  them made by some 1000 police and law enforcement agencies around the world.

The police experience elsewhere has found a series of benefits: they can easily be integrated into patrolling, they cut down response times, they provide a better line of sight for officers (because the officer is on a platform 40-50cm above the ground), and they improve engagement between the police and the public (compared with officers in a car).

They are also of use for other specialised purposes.  For example, BAA deploy them at Heathrow and find that they speed up response times in the event of an incident or equipment breakdown and provide an efficient way of patrolling and doing routine maintenance tests.  A number of UK local authorities are also interested in deploying them in parks, city centre precincts, routine maintenance patrols and even for parking enforcement.

Finally, if made available for general use, there is evidence from a major study in Canada that a high proportion (62%) of car users would be keen to give up their cars for many short journeys – with a considerable saving in carbon emissions and congestion.

Most other countries permit their use.  In the UK, however, the Deparment for Transport is adamant that existing legislation does not permit their use on roads, on cycle routes or on pavements.  Moreover, there are – it is claimed – no powers that would even permit a trial to take place. (I am not convinced of this.  As a non-lawyer, Section 44 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 seems to permit the appropriate exemptions to be made.)

Andrew Adonis, the Lords Transport Minister, stonewalled elegantly on behalf of the Department.  However, he did agree to try one out himself (although he insisted that I do so as well) and offered me a meeting with his Departmental colleague, Jim Fitzpatrick MP.

What was noticeable was the make-up of the discussion.  As Andrew pointed out, he and I, “as the representatives of the Proletarian Party were the only mere Life Barons present”.  The other speakers were the Earls Attlee (grandson of Clement, but now speaking on behalf of the Conservative front-bench), Liverpool (also a Conservative and descendent of another former Prime Minister – a Tory this time) and Erroll (a cross-bencher who is also the hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland), and Viscount Falkland (speaking for the Liberal Democrats).  The Earl of Glasgow (another Liberal Democrat, who had originally wanted to speak as well) also sat in for most of the debate.  When Earl Attlee expressed his sympathy to Viscount Falkland that he was only a Viscount, Lord Falkland hastened to point out that he was, in fact, also an Earl, but as it was a Jacobite creation it didn’t count.  All in all, five of the ninety-two remaining hereditary peers still sitting in the Lords were present.  I am not sure what it means, but it certainly felt strange.

An unscientific sample of my personal experience seems to suggest that it is.  However, this is not just that I had a bad journey in this morning or even through this week.  Instead, it is a view that has been developing over several months.

One bus route I use reasonably often has had its frequency reduced from once every ten minutes during the week to once every twelve minutes – marginal in itself, but if a particular bus doesn’t run and it is raining …..

On another route that I use virtually every day, the number of times a week when there seem to be problems seems to have risen as well. 

I am not aware of any consultation on changes in the contracts with the bus companies concerned and, of course, it may just be chance, but I wonder how many other Londoners are beginning to feel that under Mayor Boris Johnson there seems to have been a deterioration of service.

By and large, the bus service remains good and efficient and is still markedly better than that which existed before the improvements instituted by the current Mayor’s predecessor.  However, I hope we are not starting down the slippery slope to what existed in the 1990s.

Michael White has written an extraordinary Comment piece in today’s Guardian, headlined in my copy “Mr Nice Guy asked to deliver the undeliverable”.  I can only assume that this is Michael White’s bid to win “The Political Assassin of the Year” newspaper columnist award. 

How can any Chief Whip – let alone one with the avuncular charms of Nick Brown – survive being labelled as Mr Nice Guy?  Michael White then makes it worse by quoting unnamed Labour MPs describing their Chief Whip as “decent” and “not at all the unsubtle brute”.

Chief Whips are MEANT to be brutal for goodness sake!

And how helpful is it to Nick Brown’s authority for Michael White to go on to list the Chief Whip’s disagreements with Government policy?

The House of Lords is now on the first day of the Report Stage of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill.  This exciting piece of legislation sets up a new Marine Management Organisation under which many of the existing, diverse areas of marine regulation would be centralised, streamlines the existing marine licensing system and provides powers to create a joined-up marine planning policy, introduces new measures to reform fisheries management, provides a framework for establishing marine conservation zones and enables the creation of a walkable route around the English coast.

The Bill has received eleven full days of detailed debate during the Committee stage.  For those not directly involved the discussion has been – shall we say – less than riveting.  The LibDems – in particular, Lord Greaves – have spoken often and at length.

A little earlier the first division of the day was called.  The procedure is that three minutes after the division starts, the question is again put to the House and, if at that stage those moving the amendment do not shout “Content”, the amendment automatically falls.  This is what happened: it was a LibDem amendment and they failed to repeat their shout of “Content” after three minutes. 

A chastened Lord Greaves was subsequently seen wandering round the House – allegedly – telling all and sundry that he must have dozed off at the critical moment.

Given the soporific nature of most of his previous contributions on the Bill, this was regarded as poetic justice.