Plans to get rid of the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords have been set out by the government, marking the biggest shake-up of Parliament in a quarter of a century. Abolishing the 92 seats reserved for hereditary peers – who inherit their titles through their families – was one of Labour’s general election promises.
The aim is to finish reforms introduced by the last Labour government, which in 1999 revoked the 700-year-old right of all hereditary peers to sit in the Lords, leaving just 92 as a compromise with the Conservatives.
One of the 92, a former leader of the Lords, Tory Lord Strathclyde, condemned the move as a “high-handed, shoddy political act.
Speaking in the Lords chamber, he argued it should be peers who rarely took part in debates who were removed, not hereditary ones, many of whom he said were very active participants and “some of our most senior and experienced” members.
Lords leader Baroness Smith noted that the measure had featured in Labour’s manifesto and in the King’s Speech, which outlined the government’s programme of laws. She said there was nothing in the legislation to stop hereditary peers who were removed being nominated for life peerages in future.
She also observed that none of the remaining hereditary peers were women. Labour has also promised to introduce a retirement age of 80 for members of the Lords, but says that move will follow later after consultation.
Another Conservative former cabinet minister, Lord Forsyth, described the removal of hereditary peers as a “naked attempt to disable opposition in this House”, because – given the size of Labour’s majority in the Commons – it was the only part of Parliament that would properly scrutinise legislation.
Source: BBC
In other news – Meghan Markle taking over the show from Prince Harry
Experts fear Prince Harry has given up on the Hollywood dream life and is more interested in reconnecting with his roots, now that a UK comeback is being pushed into the books.
News of this has been brought to light to the Royal Observer by an inside source that is well placed within Montecito. Read more
