Steve Beasant Liberal Democrat (Free subscription) | 20/11/2008
Commenting on Justice Minister Michael Wills’ comments today that the Government has ruled out caps on donations, blaming the Tories for a lack of an agreement, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson, David Howarth said: “This is feeble and appalling. We must get big money out of politics.” David Howarth went on to say: “Public confidence in politicians [...]
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 13/11/2008
One of the dafter ideas to become conventional wisdom during the first dotcom bubble was that our political system suffered some flaw that would be curable by letting people vote from their desktops or mobiles. Amazingly, this still seems to be official policy. Michael Wills, the minister charged with constitutional reform, conceded to Parliament last month that no new pilots of e-voting are planned....
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 04/11/2008
Jack Straw, the justice secretary, is facing a cabinet-level revolt over his plans for a British bill of rights and responsibilities, and has sent his justice minister, Michael Wills, on a mission to re-explain the proposals to sceptical Whitehall departments. Some cabinet ministers believe there is no demand for such a complex constitutional development and it will be regarded as irrelevant in times...
SOCIALIST UNITY (Free subscription) | 31/10/2008
In 2005 I stood against Labour MP for North Swindon, Michael Wills, in the general election - on the basis that Wills was an enthusiastic backer of the war on Iraq, and remains a thoroughly unrepentant one. It was a rich experience, and (if you ignore the fact that almost no-one actually voted for me!) [...]
Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness (Free subscription) | 28/10/2008
It seems that the death knell for a national day sounded prematurely yesterday. The BBC reports Labour rowing back on Michael Wills’ previous statement. O’Neill is suitably scornful of the mixed messages issuing from government. It does rather reek of, ‘what the minister meant to say ………..’. Tim Luckhurst mirrored my own error by assuming that Wills’ statement actually reflected government policy....
A Pint of Unionist Lite (Free subscription) | 28/10/2008
Nothing like a piece of joint-up government: In a written answer to Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell minister Michael Wills said: "A number of Lord Goldsmith's recommendations merit further consideration across Government and will be taken into account in discussion and debate on policy development in these areas. "However, there are no plans to introduce a national day at the present time." Having...
TechDigest (Free subscription) | 27/10/2008
If you want to exercise your demographic right to say you'd rather have a blue politician representing you than a red one, you're going to have to carry on with the tiresome old 'ticking boxes with a pen' system - there will be no "e-voting" for the likes of us any time soon. Michael Wills, the minister for justice, told parliament that "The Government does not plan to introduce e-voting for the 2009...
The Open Rights Group (Free subscription) | 27/10/2008
The Government have announced today that they do not plan to run e-voting pilots during the 2009 European or local elections. Answering a written question from Conservative MP Eleanor Laing, Michael Wills stated that: “Further work on remote electronic voting will be funded as necessary from existing budgets agreed for Electoral Modernisation, subject to ministerial and [...]
Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness (Free subscription) | 27/10/2008
Michael Wills MP, Minister of State for Constitutional Renewal, has indicated that plans for a mooted ‘national day’ have been shelved . Answering a written question from Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell, Wills confirmed that although parts of Lord Goldsmith’s citizenship review would be considered, “there are no plans to introduce a national day at the present time”. Hopefully it is correct to read...
open... (Free subscription) | 27/10/2008
For the moment , at least: Secretary of State for Justice Michael Wills was asked if the government planned to introduce e-voting before the local and European elections in 2009. He said last week: "The Government do not plan to introduce e-voting for the 2009 European or local elections ... The Government have no plans for further e-voting pilots in statutory elections at this stage."
Labourhome (Free subscription) | 27/09/2008
Did anyone see Michael Wills, the constitutional affairs minister, at Conference? Or hear much from his boss, Justice Secretary Jack Straw? Or hear anything at all about the Ministry of Justice's flagship Governance of Britain programme? Compared to the past few years, this was a very quiet Conference in terms of addressing democratic or constitutional reforms, or even initiatives to re-engage voters...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 04/09/2008
Individuals and companies should have guaranteed rights of access to government-held non-personal data, says the chair of the panel advising government on use of public-sector data. In a formal letter to Michael Wills, the justice minister, the chair of the government's advisory panel on public sector information, Professor David Rhind, says that making such data available is "essential to encourage...
This is Guernsey (Free subscription) | 21/07/2008
KEY policy issues facing Guernsey are on the table today at a meeting between Chief Minister Lyndon Trott and Michael Wills, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice.
http://www.iwr.co.uk/ (Free subscription) | 27/06/2008
Rosalie Marshall, Information World Review , Friday 27 June 2008 at 14:33:00 Minister for Justice Michael Wills acknowledged public disquiet over plans for massive government databases Technology is developing too fast for organisations, both public and private, to form lasting data handling principles, Minister for Justice Michael Wills told a House of Lords Constitution Committee gathering...
Labourhome (Free subscription) | 25/06/2008
So Michael Wills has launched a consultation into the possibility of shifting the day of elections from a Thursday to the weekend, in the latest wheeze to get more people to turnout at the polls. Do we really not vote because we work so hard on a Thursday? Or because we dont' believe it will make a difference? The government hopes we might be more inclicned to cast a vote if we could do it as part...
