By: Vanity Unfair

Vanity Unfair — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 17:05:17 +0000

A subject of interest to this site was also included in the Labour Party manifesto.
https://labour.org.uk/change/serving-the-country/
Constitutional reform
Although Labour recognises the good work of many peers who scrutinise the government and improve the quality of legislation passed in Parliament, reform is long over-due and essential. Too many peers do not play a proper role in our democracy. Hereditary peers remain indefensible. And because appointments are for life, the second chamber of Parliament has become too big.
The next Labour government will therefore bring about an immediate modernisation, by introducing legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. Labour will also introduce a mandatory retirement age. At the end of the Parliament in which a member reaches 80 years of age, they will be required to retire from the House of Lords.
Labour will ensure all peers meet the high standards the public expect of them, and we will introduce a new participation requirement as well as strengthening the circumstances in which disgraced members can be removed. We will reform the appointments process to ensure the quality of new appointments and will seek to improve the national and regional balance of the second chamber.
Whilst this action to modernise the House of Lords will be an improvement, Labour is committed to replacing the House of Lords with an alternative second chamber that is more representative of the regions and nations. Labour will consult on proposals, seeking the input of the British public on how politics can best serve them.
There is no mention of the Bench of Bishops, party patronage, donations to political parties, equalisation of retirement ages with the Commons, and whether “immediate” is immediate. I await developments agog.

Comments on: Keir Starmer must bring the UK’s diverse but divided people together

By: Vanity Unfair