There will be another 40 plus years of legislators-for-life if government proposals for reform of the House of Lords made public by the Labour Leader of the House of Commons, Jack Straw, are agreed. The current legislators-for-life would be allowed to keep their seats until they died. Even then 50 per cent of the legislators could be representing themselves in the legislature, not the people.
These proposals were in a White Paper published on Wednesday that is intended to set out the final stage for reform of a legislative chamber that still includes hereditary legislators and legislators representing the Church of England.
Members of Parliament will have, however, a “free vote” that will allow them to reject the 50-50 proposal. They will be able to decide on the proportion of legislators that should be elected. The options will range from no elected legislators to a fully elected chamber. If any members of the reformed chamber are elected they will represent the same regional constituencies as members of the European Parliament. These representatives of the people will no longer be given the feudal title of “Lord”.
In an arrangement rather like allowing criminals to form the jury, the approval of the legislators-for-life is required for any reform of the House of Lords to become law. The “Lords” are reported to be dead set against the loss of their feudal privileges.
The White Paper allowed the Conservative Party, long a staunch opponent of democratisation, to say correctly that “these reforms will not lead to a more democratic and independent House of Lords”. Party spokesperson Theresa May said “While the Conservatives believe in election by the many, Labour’s reforms would mean selection by the few”.
Mr. Straw expressed the attenuated British understanding of the rights to the people prior to the publication of the White Paper with the statement that “In a modern democracy, it is difficult to justify a second chamber where there is no elected element – where the public has no direct input into who sits in it”.