| Lord Birt, 56, who sits as a politically neutral cross-bencher in the House of Lords, is a close friend of New Labour. |
| He retired from the Army in 1985 and became a cross-bencher in the House of Lords. |
| Cross-bencher Palmer raised the issue in the Lords during a debate on the abuse of tips by big companies who keep part of the service charge for themselves. |
| After a Seize The Day talk at Saltburn and District Retired Men's Forum, she outlined her ambitions in the House of Lords as a non party political cross-bencher. |
| Behind the debate lies a campaign by Lord Joffe, a cross-bencher, to make it possible for terminally ill patients to ask for medical help in ending their lives. |
| Lady Boothroyd, who sits in the House of Lords as a cross-bencher, was a Labour MP before becoming speaker, the first woman to hold that office. |
