Today is Lords Reform Day! Deadline 2011!
Today marks the 96th anniversary since Parliament first committed itself to democratically reform the House of Lords.
Wouldn’t it be outrageous if it took Parliament more than 100 years to fulfil its commitment to replace the House of Lords with something democratic?
Sadly, that is precisely what may happen. Today marks the 96th anniversary of the Parliament Act 1911 in which Parliament committed itself to replacing the House of Lords with “a Second Chamber constituted on a popular instead of hereditary basis” adding that “such substitution cannot be immediately brought into operation.”
At the time, you might have thought that would mean the House of Lords would be replaced by a democratic second chamber in 10, maybe 20 years. You would have been forgiven for not thinking that by the turn of the millennium, House of Lords reform would remain incomplete!
The good news is that the House of Commons and the Government have now firmly committed themselves to an 80% to 100% elected second chamber. The Commons voted for this in March. The Government confirmed its support for this last month. The House of Lords, perhaps not surprisingly, disagrees. As a result, although it is planning to publish its full plans for reform later this year, the Government is resigned to the fact that reform won’t be completed until after the next General Election.
We now have just four years before the centenary of the 1911 Parliament Act.
For full details of Lords Reform Day being run by the Elect the Lords Campaign please see the Elect the Lords Website.
May 3rd, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Its great to see this campain is going strong and that soon there may be true lords reform. Its a shame it has taken so long but, I suppose, it is the first time since the 1906-10 parliament that a progreesive government has been in power ith a great majority and has had the time and ministers to devote to, what is after all, a herculean effort. Hopefully Mr Brown and Mr Straw will have it sort be the end of this parliament to deprive the Tories the opportunity to kick it into the long grass. Lets ask Mr Churchills question to the Lords (where did you get it?) one last time and reform this insitution once and for all!