The Spectator’s Notes | 16 November 2017

Although we all see rather too much of the present Mr Speaker, it was a good innovation that he and Lord Fowler, the Speaker of the House of Lords, laid wreaths at the Cenotaph on Sunday. It seems odd this never happened before: a parliamentary tribute is fitting. Since we shall soon, God willing, recover our parliamentary sovereignty, it is right to start paying more attention to the sovereign institution. I was amazed, listening to the PM programme on Tuesday, that the BBC led with an unadorned report of the latest Commons debate on Brexit. It was such a broadcasting novelty. For years, the media have given the most perfunctory attention to what the people we elect actually say in the chamber to which we elect them. Instead, we constantly have to listen to Norman Smith (or whoever) over-analysing what they won’t let us see or hear. It will be fun to take back control from the people who interpose themselves between us and our elected representatives.