House of Lords reform

You report (24 January) that Lord Forsyth has called for Westminster to axe every MSP and to abolish the independent function of the Scottish Parliament to be replaced by floating MPs reporting to Westminster. However, if financial prudence is the crux of the anti-independence position that Lord Forsyth is advocating, then let us look at the financial credence of what he is presenting. If we really want to reduce the degree of governance, and the cost of political salaries in the United Kingdom's parliamentary system, why not abolish the House of Lords? If we think of financial prudence, then we can see that if the Lords was abolished, parliament could operate very well as a uni-chamber parliament through acts which would be passed directly through successive readings in the House of Commons. This system is used very efficiently in many countries, and is the model that Westminster recommended for the new Scottish Parliament. So, Lord Forsyth should add the abolition of the House of Lords to his public agenda, saving us all a lot of money. MARK MACNEILL https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/axe-the-house-of-lords-before-you-abolish-the-scottish-parliament-1-672747?fbclid=IwAR1K6e39-CfJ1ocPUThY6s0Ifc0srNy_r98lXB00NBbizFEA4Q07zf3Bi-A

Se analizan las características de la nobleza del Reino Unido, tanto en Inglaterra, Gales como en Escocia, comparándola con la nobleza española. Se trata en primer del Peerage o alta nobleza, su presencia en la Cámara de los Lores, en sus diferentes rangos: Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount y Baron. Su origen, historia, número, privilegios y tratamientos. No solo del titular sino también de la esposa e hijos, mediante los títulos de cortesía. Creación de un título y normas para su sucesión. Seguidamente se estudian las Baroneties y el Knigtage u órdenes de caballería, detallando una por una su origen, características y tratamientos. Se trata sobre la Gentry inglesa y la Fine escocesa y por último sobre los Reyes de Armas y la cualificación de Armiger o titular de un blasón registrado, lo que allí supone nobleza.

The failure of the Coalition government's attempt to reform the House of Lords has by no means taken further reform off the political agenda. The commitment to installing an elected upper chamber is still widely shared across the political spectrum, on the basis of perceptions that the House of Lords lacks democratic legitimacy. Against this view, this article considers recent literature upon non-electoral representation, deliberative democracy and bicameralism, which together highlight the possibility of an unelected second chamber playing a legitimate role within a wider (democratic) system of government. The article then considers the House of Lords from this perspective, reflecting on changes in the upper chamber since the 1999 reforms and evaluating its role within the wider political system. The paper concludes by suggesting that political debate should focus upon small-scale reforms to ensure that the Lords becomes more effective, representative and legitimate, within the constraints of its present role.

The UK January 1910 general election was fought against a background unique in British history. A constitutional crisis had been caused by the House of Lords' rejection of the Budget, with the threat of the creation of many new Liberal peers to ensure its passage if it should be rejected a second time in the event of a Liberal victory at the polls. In addition, the Government was fighting to retain its position after the landslide victory of 1906. The size of the 1906 Liberal victory meant that a swing to the Unionist opposition was almost inevitable in 1910, meaning that any gains by the Liberals would be likely to be the result of local factors. Darlington in the North of England's County Durham was one of the seats which the Unionist had held in 1906 (albeit against a Labour Party candidate with Liberal support) but it is unlikely they could have foreseen their candidate's defeat. At first sight the Unionist candidate had all the advantages on his side. He was a member of the Pease family which had given the town its MPs since 1885. The family had supplied many MPs for surrounding constituencies, and had been involved in the development of much of the North East's industry, starting with the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825. The Pease family was based in Darlington and many in the town were either directly employed by them or owed their jobs to the industries the family had brought to the town. This is the background I. T. T Lincoln found when he arrived in Darlington as the Prospective Liberal Candidate. A most unlikely candidate who within nine months was the town's MP. Lincoln was a Hungarian Jew, still a national of that country when adopted as the candidate, with a past including such diverse occupations as journalism, religious preaching and evangelizing, and social researcher, and he was still only 30 years old. This dissertation provides an explanation of how Lincoln could defeat a sitting MP who seemed to have all the advantages on his side, including belonging to a party which made sweeping gains at that election. Chapter 1 summarizes Lincoln's life. Chapter 2 deals with the Pease family and its influence on Darlington's economic, social and political life. Chapter 3 deals with the election campaign, the result, and reactions to it. The concluding chapter tries to explain Lincoln's surprising victory.

"Our House" is a keynote publication from British think tank ResPublica, which explores methods of reforming the House of Lords to enable it to improve the quality of legislation and national life by upholding and communicating the views and values of British civil society. 

"Our House" comprises a collection of expert essays written by an impressive collection of nationally respected civic and institutional leaders, authorities and commentators. These include:

Prof. Sir Roger Scruton FRSL, political philosopher;
John Longworth MEP, former Dir. Gen. of the British Chambers of Commerce;
The Rt. Rev'd Bishop Tim Stevens CBE, Convenor of The Lords Spiritual;
The Rt. Hon. Frank Field MP;
Philip Blond, Respublica Director
Rafe Heydel-Mankoo FRCGS, Historian and Respublica Fellow
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Adebowale, Chief Executive of social enterprise Turning Point; 
The Rt. Hon. Lord Wei, former Government Adviser on the ‘Big Society’; and
Sir Stephen Bubb, Chief Exec. of The Assoc. of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations.

The much discussed publication was initiated by Philip Blond (ResPublica Director) and Rafal (Rafe) Heydel-Mankoo (ResPublica Fellow & British Civic Life workstream) and was formally launched in the House of Lords in 2012, with a panel including:

The Rt Hon Frank Field MP, The Rt Hon The Lord Low of Dalston and, most significantly, the Government's Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform: Mark Harper MP. 

Indeed, the publication opens with an official statement from the Government specially written by Mark Harper in his capacity as Minister for Constitiutional and Political Reform.

In their concluding chapter, Phillip Blond and Rafe Heydel-Mankoo together lay out a series of powerful arguments against the Coalition Government's planned reforms and set out a radical reform alternative --- a ‘hybrid house’ that is:

1/3 elected by the public;
1/3 nominated by political parties, and
1/3 appointed by civil society.

Agreeing that the upper house must include an elected element, Blond & Heydel-Mankoo argue that such an election should foster plurality and strengthen our mixed constitution, rather than extend the writ of a form of democracy that will diminish the plurality of the Upper House. A wholly elected upper house would destroy the complementary nature of our bicameral parliament, where the upper house cannot thwart the elected lower house but merely try to urge "sober second thought".  An elected upper house would conceivably lead to deadlock as each claimed a rival mandate.

Far from being undemocratic, Heydel-Mankoo stresses that in common with many upper houses, the House of Lords "performs a role as democratically vital as the lower house, through its championing of the constitution and human rights, its legislative review and executive scrutiny, and its defence of political minorities and opposition.

Rafal Heydel-Mankoo's solo essay on bicameralism examines the key roles upper houses play around the world, from strengthening national unity to substantially improving the quality of legislation. 

Noting that the current House of Lords is already more diverse than the House of Commons, Heydel-Mankoo argues that it has the potential to be more representative of British society than the lower house and therefore better able to serve the wider public interest.

The UK January 1910 general election was fought against a background unique in British history. A constitutional crisis had been caused by the House of Lords' rejection of the Budget, with the threat of the creation of many new Liberal peers to ensure its passage if it should be rejected a second time in the event of a Liberal victory at the polls. In addition, the Government was fighting to retain its position after the landslide victory of 1906. The size of the 1906 Liberal victory meant that a swing to the Unionist opposition was almost inevitable in 1910, meaning that any gains by the Liberals would be likely to be the result of local factors. Darlington in the North of England's County Durham was one of the seats which the Unionist had held in 1906 (albeit against a Labour Party candidate with Liberal support) but it is unlikely they could have foreseen their candidate's defeat. At first sight the Unionist candidate had all the advantages on his side. He was a member of the Pease family which had given the town its MPs since 1885. The family had supplied many MPs for surrounding constituencies, and had been involved in the development of much of the North East's industry, starting with the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825. The Pease family was based in Darlington and many in the town were either directly employed by them or owed their jobs to the industries the family had brought to the town. This is the background I. T. T Lincoln found when he arrived in Darlington as the Prospective Liberal Candidate. A most unlikely candidate who within nine months was the town's MP. Lincoln was a Hungarian Jew, still a national of that country when adopted as the candidate, with a past including such diverse occupations as journalism, religious preaching and evangelizing, and social researcher, and he was still only 30 years old. This dissertation provides an explanation of how Lincoln could defeat a sitting MP who seemed to have all the advantages on his side, including belonging to a party which made sweeping gains at that election. Chapter 1 summarizes Lincoln's life. Chapter 2 deals with the Pease family and its influence on Darlington's economic, social and political life. Chapter 3 deals with the election campaign, the result, and reactions to it. The concluding chapter tries to explain Lincoln's surprising victory.

This thesis assesses the failure of the UK House of Commons to pass an item of legislation: the Parliament (No. 2) Bill 1968. The Bill was an attempt by the Labour Government 1964-70 at wholesale reform of the House of Lords. Government bills would normally pass without difficulty, but this Bill had to be withdrawn by the Government at the Committee Stage in the Commons. While the Bill’s failure is often attributed to a backbench filibuster, this was a necessary but not sufficient cause for the failure. The filibustering would have been overcome if the Bill was supported enthusiastically by a larger number of the Labour backbenchers.

The Labour Party had an attachment to the Westminster Model of British Government. Within this constitutional conservatism, there was a conservative standpoint on the House of Lords which consisted of three tenets: firstly, the Lords’ existing anachronistic/irrational composition was considered as preferable to a rationalised composition, since this protected the supremacy of the House of Commons; secondly, it was thought that a Labour Government should be focussing on economic and social reform, rather than on Lords reform; thirdly, there was a distinct lack of theory, or theorising, on the Second Chamber qua Second Chamber, which was based on the Labour Party’s empirical, atheoretical, and pragmatic approach in general.

The Parliament (No. 2) Bill was intended to appeal to the Labour Party on the basis of a range of selling-points: 1) abolishing the Lords’ hereditary basis, 2) abolishing the Lords’ capacity to impede the Commons, 3) strengthening the Commons’ scrutinising functions, 4) technocratic reform of the governance institutions, and 5) modernising Parliament as part of a wider institutional modernisation. The thesis concludes that these selling-points were insufficient to overcome the Labour Party’s conservatism on Lords reform, grounded as it was in a broader constitutional conservatism, and that this overall conservatism was the principal cause for the Bill’s failure.