Clegg is Heading for Political Carnage on Lords Reform
Jerry Hayes issues a stark warning to the eputy Prime Minister and Mark Harper.
26 Feb 2012, 10:17
House of Lords
The sun is shining, the birds are tweeting, I am out to dinner with some old friends and I have a spring in my step. So why do I have this terrible urge to head butt a Tory MP? And not just a random one like some sort of political dwarf throwing, but one in particular. One who has said something so sphincter rattlingly, gonad tighteningly, hogg whimperingly bat shit crazy that I’m afraid that at last resort I may have to engage the services of Jeremy Clarkson.
Today, I hope unscripted, and without orders from above, the minister for constitutional affairs has announced that the Lords reform Bill will be bulldozed through Parliament by means of the Parliament Acts. Which is rather ironic when you consider that if there is an elected Lords they will have the same democratic legitimacy as the Commons and the Parliament Act will have to be repealed. Now, I rather like Marker Harper. He is bright, congenial and good company. I also would imagine he is rather ambitious. So why in the name of all that he would consider sacred, like a red box and a limousine, has he lit the blue touch paper which, if it is allowed to burn, will lead to a Parliamentary and constitutional nuclear detonation? Hasn’t he got enough to contend with Alex Salmond’s premature ejockulation on Scottish independence? Apparently not.
One thing that is absolutely clear is that the overwhelming majority of sentient people don’t give a monkey’s uncle, a tinker’s cuss or a radio controlled, supersonic flying fuck about the reform of the House of Lords. It seems to be an obsession that is gripping Harper’s boss, Nick Clegg and a handful of political invertebrates.
Of course the Lib Dems want to show how different they are from the Tories. Of course they want to implement a major change which they can claim is their own. But this isn’t it. Now I know some of you will rightly observe that all three parties promised a reform of the Lords in their manifestos, but only the LibDems actually meant it and didn’t think for one moment that they might just be in a position to push it through. And now, God help us, they are.
As I’ve written about this before I won’t bore you with the details. In a nutshell the Lords works. It may be unelected, but it seems to be more in keeping with what people actually want by the way they often vote against the government of the day. They scrutinise the ill thought out pap that is served up from the Commons and improve it. But because they are there for life the whipping system passes them by as a rather polite irritation. Elect them and we politicise them into the worst sort of chancering, greaserist, ambition obsessed, tribal posturing that dominates the Commons.
So what could happen on the la,la land to total cockup? Well, the overwhelming majority of Tory backbenchers are against it and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there was a raft of ministerial resignations if this is pushed too hard. Worse, the Lords themselves have threatened to scupper the government’s legislative programme. So, every Bill bulldozed though via the Parliament Acts? Suicide.
Worse there is no consensus at all on what the reforms should be. Labour is bitterly divided. Past attempts to push this through destroyed both Derry Irvine and Ivor Richard (Blair’s first Leader of the Lords). Former Speaker Betty Boothroyd, no slouch when it comes to the democratic principle, is fiercely against. But if Cameron is not too careful Miliband could use the chaos and confusion to his advantage. He could rally his troops not out of principle, but the belief that they could smash the Coalition.
There is a much simpler way of dealing with this, which will not distract the Coaltion from its key goals and which would save the Lib Dems face; reform the Lords in two simple ways. Allow the 92 hereditaries to remain until they fall off the perch. Just don’t replace them. Secondly, don’t allow those who do not play a full part in the House to remain. And let the Lords decide who will stay in the same way that they vote for hereditary replacements. It’s democratic, it’s fair, will reduce the numbers and stop what I fear will be a terrible political car crash. It will show whether Clegg has sound political judgement. To risk everything he has achieved on an unloved, half-baked plan that will dominate the news when people want to see the government fighting for their jobs, their children’s education and their health service, would be an act not just of political insanity, but suicide. And not just for Clegg. This political carnage is easily avoidable. For heaven’s sake avoid it.
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Jerry Hayes
Jerry Hayes is a former Conservative MP and leading barrister defending and prosecuting high profile cases
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Comments (5)
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I absolutely do not want an elected Lords.
Apart from the fact that it would likely challenge the legitimacy of the Commons, it'd lead to stalemate a la the House of Representatives vs POTUS which frequently wastes half a presidential term with bickering.
And from what I've read - terms of 15yrs???!?
Frankly, I'd rather Mr Clegg parked his horse in front of the cart and decided EXACTLY what the purpose of a second chamber is supposed to be first.
Then work out what way - if any - it should be constituted.
If we go down the route of sorting out the WLQ, a bit more devo for Scotland or independence - that leaves a bigger issue as the ROTUK parliament would be 98% England with leftovers.
Now is not the time to be fiddling about trying to please his core vote.
Electoral reform never appears on the MORI Issues Index - one would think the LDs had better things to be using as a stunt if they want to attract more votes.
26/02/2012 14:54I find the idea of reforms to the House of Lords terrible. There is no need for reform and it breaks the tradition of this country, as I have written on my blog, Tory Lead - you can access the article here (http://torylead.blogspot.com/2012/02/reject-reforms-of-house-of-lords.html). I have created an e-petition calling for the reforms to be scrapped, which you can sign here (http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/30051).
Hopefully these reforms can be scrapped and forgotten about - once and for all.
26/02/2012 15:40"One thing that is absolutely clear is that the overwhelming majority of sentient people don’t give a monkey’s uncle, a tinker’s cuss or a radio controlled, supersonic flying fuck about the reform of the House of Lords."
Eat your heart out Shakespeare.
26/02/2012 21:56I cannot understand why our very expensively educated elite cannot see why this will not work. This is self-delusion on a truly European scale. If the Lords is to be elected, it has to be fundamentally distinguished from the Commons, else we should have deadlock.
If we are to change the HoL, we should change to a presidential system with a written constitution, and roles of the legislatures redefined. It is already difficult for ministers to fulfill the roles of both representatives and executive. It is also difficult to bring outside expertise into government without making peers of them. A presidential system like that of the USA would solve both, but Cleggover will never make that fly either.
26/02/2012 23:45How is it that all of us can see what is so obvious but the politicians can't? And Dave, Shakespeare was just a gifted amateur compared to my sophisticated prose.
27/02/2012 08:04