Lords defied and vellum is saved for nation

THE thousand-year-old practice of recording Britain’s laws on vellum is to continue, to “safeguard our great traditions”. Matthew Hancock, the minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, said that he was prepared to use the Cabinet Office’s budget to cover the cost of recording laws on calf skin. His intervention comes after the House of Lords said that from April all legislation would be printed on archive paper instead, to save £80,000 a year. Mr Hancock said: “Recording laws on vellum is a millennium-long tradition and surprisingly costeffective. While the world constantly changes, we should safeguard some of our great traditions.” A number of MPs reacted with fury to the decision by the Lords last week, calling it “outrageous constitutional vandalism”.