House of Lords

The debate on how to reform the House of Lords comes to an end with the vote on the proposals going to the House of Commons. The only House where representatives are elected. The idea of changing the system with one where Lords are elected for a 15 year period does not go far enough.

I agree with those who say that a new reformed Lords will become a rival to the Commons and this could create bigger problems than what already exist.

The big question for me is whether we need to have an upper chamber with people in it that carry titles and are therefore, by implication, seen as being higher than the rest of us. The obvious answer to that is that we do not want such a system and all titles are incompatible with Equality principles.

So we need to change the debate and start asking the question of what to replace the Lords with? The answer would be with a Senate of Equals who are elected for a 5 year period and do not come with titles that are, at the end of the day, concepts of pure fantacy and very much out of date!