Welcome to the latest edition of Letter of the Lords the weekly newsletter aimed at shining a light into the

e work the partys peers are doing in the second chamber. Why not let us know what you think? Email the newsletter onlordsmedia@libdems.org.uk. And thats also the address to give to friends, colleagues and loved ones to sign up too. Plus dont forget to keep up to date with the blog at libdemlords.org.uk and follow us on Twitter at@LibDemLords.

IN THE CHAMBER

The Care Bill, hailed by Baroness Jolly as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reform the social care system, received its Second Reading in the Lords effectively the beginning of its Parliamentary journey. The Bill aims to bring together existing care legislation into a new set of laws building the system around peoples needs. As part of that, it sets out new rights for carers, emphasises the need to reduce care needs and introduces a cap on the costs which people have to pay for care so that people will not have to sell their home to pay for residential care. And following on from the inquiry into the terrible failings at Mid-Staffordshire Hospital, it sets out for the first time Ofsted-style ratings for hospitals and care home so that the public can compare, along with enable a new Chief Inspector of Hospitals to deal with unresolved problems. Saying she was immensely proud of the Bill, Baroness Jolly said: Labour and the Conservatives ducked reform of the care system for decades and it was Lib Dem minister Paul Burstow who had the will and political capital in the Department of Health and with the care sector to push it following a report by the Law Commission. Norman Lamb picked it up when he was appointed, putting his mark on it by including the focus on integration of care and health services. She wasnt alone. Even Labour peer Lord Warner said: Let me say at the outset how much I welcome this Bill and in doing so I pay tribute to the contributions made to its construction and arrival in this House by Paul Burstow and Norman Lamb...

QUOTE OF THE WEEK My Lords, the purpose of this Bill can be summed up very simply to improve the support we give to offenders in order to break the cycle of reoffending. Lord McNally introduces the Offender Rehabilitation Bill as it gets its Second Reading in the House.

TWEET OF THE WEEK #SameSexMarriage Bill has just been read a first time in HoL. Big content shout from @LibDemLords Baroness Barker (@LizBarkerLords) and colleagues welcomes the equal marriage Bill into the Lords, where it will be debated straight after the recess.

A week after Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon told the Lords that it was unwise and discreditable of the UK not to help Afghan interpreters who were in danger of being abandoned and hunted down by the Taliban, the Government reversed its position. A five-year visa would be offered initially to those who worked on the front line for a year or more, covering around half of interpreters, it said. Lord Ashdown had said that its previous position was shameful.

The Intellectual Property Bill, which makes a number of changes around design, patents, freedom of information and recognition of foreign copyright,received its Second Reading in the Lords. The Bill should reform and simplify intellectual property rules and make them easier to understand. Lord Clement-Jones said that the provisions relating to patents will benefit small business in terms of simplification and costs.

Lord Roberts of Llandudno asked the Government whether it would consider allowing asylum seekers the right to work after six months of waiting for a decision on their application. The present situation, he said, really just condemns them to penury and despair and is a total denial of their potential. The minister, Earl Attlee, said the Government believed it was important to maintain a distinction between economic migration and asylum, a response described by Lord Roberts as half-disappointing.

Leading a debate on religious violence in Pakistan, Lord Avebury said that only the UN Security Council had the authority and resources to tackle the problem. He told the Lords that there were good reasons why the international community needs to pay attention to the upsurge of religious violence and hatred in Pakistan in recent years, and indeed to the related political violence during the recent elections in which more than 100 people were killed.

And Baroness Scott of Needham Market held her first meeting as chair of the House of Lords EU Select Committee, a role she was appointed to earlier this month. The committee considers EU documents and other European-related matters in advance of decisions being taken on them.

BEST OF THE BLOG This week on the Lib Dem Lords blog, Lord Steel of Aikwood gave a moving speech on the 100 anniversary of his friend and colleague Jo Grimonds birth, while Lord Alderdice praised the Care Bill and Lord Avebury called on the UN Security Council to grapple with religious violence in Pakistan.
th

WHATS COMING UP The House of Lords is now in Whitsun recess until June 3. The next newsletter will hit inboxes on June 7.

You go home from the ball with the boy who brought you there Lousewies van der Laan on coalition politics

Follow the Lib Dem Lords on Twitter @LibDemLords, contact the newsletter at lordsmedia@libdems.org.uk and see the blog at libdemlords.org.uk.