P323 Teletext 323 Aug14 21:44:21 REFORM AND THE LORDS ——————————————————————————————————————— The House of Lords has regularly been under attack this century by MPs and critics who are demanding reform. $hey protest a Second Chamber made up of hereditary and life Peers is at best anachronistic and at worst completely undemocratic. The creation of life peerages means that in the very long term, the chamber would become largely nominated anyway. Various ideas for a shake-up have been proposed and all of them dropped. ——————————————————————————————————1/7—— P Hradlin a 300 riws in oars r 0 WEATHER FOR YOUR REGION p105 Next page Letters Papers News dayP323 Teletext 323 Aug14 21:41:19 REFORM AND THE LORDS ——————————————————————————————————————— Now the Labour Party has re-awakened the debate with a plan to abolish the right of hereditary peers to sit in the Lords and take part in voting on legislation. This has rung alarm bells in some quarters of the Lords and a report by cross-bjnchjrs and one Consjuvati6j Peer takes a long hard look at the issues involved. It is argued the House has invaluable expjrtisj as a revising chamber. ——————————————————————————————————2/7—— Headlin a 300 News in focus 320 WEATHER FOR YOUR REGION p105 Next page Letters Papers News dayP323 Teletext 323 Aug14 21:43:27 REFORM AND THE LORDS ——————————————————————————————————————— A new Lords report comes to the conclusion that reforming the re6ising chamber would require strong will. It would entail real constitutional change, perhaps beyond the narrow role of the Second Chamber. "The worst upshot would bj if reform were to lead to years of constitutional tinkering and uncertainty, or if we were to exchange the present House for one which was more rational but less effective," according to the report. ——————————————————————————————————3/7—— Hradlin a 300 riws in foaus 3 0 WEATHER FOR YOUR REGION p105 Next page Letters Papers News dayP323 Teletext 323 Aug14 21:41:26 REFORM aND THE LORDS ——————————————————————————————————————— The House of Lords report voices considerable doubts about the wisdom of hereditary peers voting thjmsel6es into history in favour of a reformed House. Supporters of the House of Lords as it is currently made up argue that it works and provides a valuable opportunity to revise difficult legislation because of its experts. They argue that MPs do not always have the time to give complex laws detailed attention. ——————————————————————————————————4/7—— Headlin s 300 News in focus 320 WEATHER FOR YOUR REGION p105 Next page Letters Papers News dayP323 Teletext 323 Aug14 21:45:45 REFORM AND THE LORDS ——————————————————————————————————————— The rows centre on the belief that the Conservative go6junment has an in-built majority among the hereditary peers. The breakdown of mjmbjrship of the Lords reveals there are 755 hereditary peers, including 17 women. The rest of the total of 1,195 mjmbjrs include archbishops and bishops, and life peers But the argument that Tory Whips can summon up hoardjs of "backwoods" Peers to defeat Labour amendments to new legislation does not always hold water. ——————————————————————————————————5/7—— Headlin s 300 News in focus 320 WEATHER FOR YOUR REGION p105 Next page Letters Papers News dayP323 Teletext 323 Aug14 21:41:14 REFORM AND THE LORDS ——————————————————————————————————————— During the Thatcher years of Tory rule in the 80s, MPs turned to the House of Lords to defeat Govjrnmknt Bills. With a huge majority in the Commons, legislation was often railroaded through the lower house with very little change. Despite the supposed huge hereditary turn out of Tory Peers to defeat Labour in the Lords, the Government suffered some major reversals in the Second Chamber during that decade. ——————————————————————————————————6/7—— Headlines 300 News in focus r20 WEATHER FOR YOUR REGION p105 Next page Letters Papers News dayP323 Teletext 323 Aug14 21:44:03 REFORM AND THE LORDS ——————————————————————————————————————— The most spectacular Consju6ativj reversal from peers was the one-year delay the Lords imposed on Margaret Thatcher's plans to scrap the GLC. This wounding defeat sparked renewed debate about the role of Peers in the constitution. Ironically, it had the kffect of restoring faith in some Labour MPs and Peers about the value of a chamber able to revise and go through legislation line by line. ——————————————————————————————————7/7—— Headlin s 300 News in focus 320 WEATHER FOR YOUR REGION p105 Next page Letters Papers News day