• Research Briefing

    Firearm Crime Statistics

    This Standard Note summarises statistics relating to crimes recorded by the police in England, Wales and Scotland in which firearms were reportedly used.

  • Research Briefing

    In brief: Pakistan’s multiple crises

    This note briefly surveys the current crisis in civil-military relations in Pakistan, which is symbolised by the 'memogate' scandal. With the Supreme Court also hearing a charge of contempt of court against Prime Minister Gilani, the government's position looks precarious. While a military coup is possible, early elections are more likely.

  • Research Briefing

    Welfare Reform Bill 2010-12: amendments at the Lords Committee and Report stages

    The Welfare Reform Bill has its Third Reading in the House of Lords on 31 January 2012. At Report Stage in the Lords, the government suffered defeats on amendments relating to under-occupation of social housing, the Employment and Support Allowance, the proposed benefit cap, and child support maintenance

  • Research Briefing

    Argentina and the Falkland Islands

    This Note looks at the last two governments in Argentina under Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who have pursued the Argentinean claim to sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

  • Research Briefing

    Railways: Thameslink infrastructure project

    This note describes the Thameslink infrastructure project, including information on how the scheme got off the ground, construction issues and the policy of successive government towards the project. It does not deal with the controversial Thameslink rolling project to purchase new trains to run on the route. This is covered in HC Library note SN3146. The re-let of the Thameslink passenger franchise is covered in SN1343.

  • Research Briefing

    Scotland Bill: latest developments

    The Scottish Parliament’s Scotland Bill Committee has recommended that consent for this legislation should be withheld unless significant changes are made to the Bill. This note traces developments since the Bill’s committee stage in the Commons, including amendments made on report, second reading in the Lords, the Scottish Government’s position, and the report of the Committee.

  • Research Briefing

    Railways: level crossings

    This note sets out the responsibilities of relevant bodies for the safety management of level crossings. It also gives information on government policy and regulation and some of the more notable accidents that have occurred on level crossings in recent years.

  • Research Briefing

    Railways: light rail schemes

    This note looks at the policies of successive governments towards light rail and provides information about reports that have been published about the same over the past eight years.

  • Research Briefing

    Civil Aviation Bill

    This paper has been prepared for the Second Reading debate in the House of Commons on the Civil Aviation Bill, scheduled for 30 January 2012

  • Research Briefing

    Initial proposals for new constituency boundaries: Wales

    The number of parliamentary constituencies in Wales will fall from 40 to 30 as part of the current boundary review. Provisional proposals for the new seats were published by the Boundary Commission for Wales on 11 January 2012. This note looks at the extent to which proposed constituencies can be identified with existing seats and which existing constituencies would be most affected by the proposals. The proposals for Wales are also compared with the initial proposals from the Boundary Commissions for England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, published in September and October 2011.

  • Research Briefing

    Oil embargo on Iran and the threat to the Straits of Hormuz

    EU countries are preparing to impose a new round of sanctions on Iran, to include an embargo on the import of oil. The US has also enacted new legislation which will target the Iranian central bank and make oil trading more difficult for Iran. Iran has responded with some threatening comments about closing the Straits of Hormuz, leading to a rise in the oil price. It has also signalled that it is open to re-starting talks. This note details these developments and gives some samples of recent expert commentary.

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