Lord Bird’s Future Generations Bill will be reintroduced on January 8

Big Issue founder Lord John Bird’s Future Generations Bill will restart is journey through the House of Lords on January 8 after it was drawn fourth in the private member’s bill ballot today.

The crossbench peer’s bid to ensure that decisions made in the present consider the needs of the future was originally introduced to the House of Lords by Green peer Baroness Jenny Jones on October 21.

But the general election meant the end of the parliamentary session and that the Future Generations Bill would have to go back to square one.

But, in the last action in the House of Lords before the Christmas break, Lord Bird’s bill was one of the top 20 bills in the private member’s bill ballot which means it will be given a priority spot to be debated in the Lords.

The draft legislation will now be given its first reading in the Lords on January 8.

Lord Bird said of the bill: “I hope it will pass through Parliament and help us make the world of tomorrow not simply an accumulation of the half-arsed hopes and the short-term governmental thinking of days gone by.”

Lord Bird and The Big Issue did not rest on their laurels when the general election meant that the bill’s progress through Parliament stalled.

We launched the Future Generations Pledge to ensure that the principles behind the bill would remain part of the political discussion during the election.

It was stand-out success, attracting 561 signatures from across the political spectrum with support from all the major party leaders, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. A total of 66 pledgers were elected in last week’s general election and The Big Issue will be monitoring them closely to ensure that they stick to their word and consider future generations in each of their political decisions.