Government must not be allowed to water down Lords reform proposals

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 4th Aug 2006

The Leader of the House of Commons Jack Straw has proposed allowing hereditary peers to remain in the second chamber until around 2050.

The Elect the Lords Campaign has criticised secret plans drawn up by Jack Straw to keep hereditary peers in the House of Lords until around 2050.

Under proposals leaked to the Guardian, Jack Straw has suggested either making the remaining 92 hereditary peers into life peers or simply scrapping byelections every time an hereditary peer dies, rather than removing them from the House altogether. He adds that this could mean reducing the number of elected members in the new second chamber.

In a speech in July, he also indicated that the government would prefer plans to make the House of Lords more than 50% elected.

Commenting, national co-ordinator of the Elect the Lords Campaign Peter Facey said,

"Removing the majority of hereditary peers from the House of Lords is one area that Labour can claim to have made genuine progress. There is a clear consensus that the remaining hereditary peers should be removed from the Second Chamber and that the majority of its members should be elected. After the government has spent much of this year being pummeled over the 'cash for peerages' affair, it is frankly unbelievable that Mr Straw is attempting to water down proposals and slow down reform to a snail's pace.

"Jack Straw knows all about how easy it is to remove elderly people from their seats when there is political will to do it - ask Walter Wolfgang. While the more reactionary elements of the existing House of Lords often put up a good fight, historically they have always eventually lost out against politicians who are determined to face them down.

"10 August will mark the 95th anniversary since the 1911 Parliament Act received Royal Assent. This Act committed Parliament to introducing a democratic second chamber. Under Jack Straw's proposals, this objective would still not have been reached by the 150th anniversary."