John Birt

John Birt, Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) is a cross-bencher of the UK House of Lords.

Political Career

Birt was awarded a knighthood, and on 11 February 2000 he was created a life peer as Baron Birt, of Liverpool in the County of Merseyside. He took his seat in the House of Lords in March 2000 as a crossbencher.

Birt is an active cross-bencher in the House of Lords, speaking out in 2011 and 2012 in favour of government's proposed Health and Social Care Bill. Birt's special interests include the Media/ Broadcasting/ Communications Industry, Climate Change/ Environment, Criminal Justice and Education.

In 2013 Birt voiced his opinion to the House of Lords about his views on the Gay Marriage bill stating ‘this bill goes the whole hog and rightly allows gay couples, if they wish, to make the powerful statements of love and commitment that marriage proclaims. If gay couples want that option, they should have it.’

Education

John Birt was born in Liverpool, Lancashire to a Catholic father, a manager at the Firestone tyre company, and a Protestant mother. He was brought up a Roman Catholic, and educated at the direct-grant grammar school St Mary's College, Liverpool and St Catherine's College, Oxford, where he received a third-class degree in engineering.

External Links

UK Official Website http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-birt/2533