There is a a quickish fix that could be tried. That is for the government to change the law and allow only the same number of peers to vote as there are MPs.
The number of voting peers would be decided by the percentage of the popular vote gained by each party at the general election. The parties would then allocate the peers that vote from among their number.
It would mean of course that the government of the day would almost certainly not have a majority in the Lords. That might not be a bad thing as the Lords cannot constitutionally block anything that is in the manifesto and this might lead to comprehensive and more honest manifestos.
Who I am kidding no government in the UK will pass legislation that will affect its own power.
It’ll be very sad if we can’t abolish the hereditary peerage. We should also retire life peers at 80, retire those who don’t turn up or don’t speak more than once a month, retire the bishops and aim to have a house of the regions.
There is a a quickish fix that could be tried. That is for the government to change the law and allow only the same number of peers to vote as there are MPs.
The number of voting peers would be decided by the percentage of the popular vote gained by each party at the general election. The parties would then allocate the peers that vote from among their number.
It would mean of course that the government of the day would almost certainly not have a majority in the Lords. That might not be a bad thing as the Lords cannot constitutionally block anything that is in the manifesto and this might lead to comprehensive and more honest manifestos.
Who I am kidding no government in the UK will pass legislation that will affect its own power.
It’ll be very sad if we can’t abolish the hereditary peerage. We should also retire life peers at 80, retire those who don’t turn up or don’t speak more than once a month, retire the bishops and aim to have a house of the regions.