It takes a special kind of stupid to turn discontent over an ill-thought and mean-spirited policy into a crisis that rocks the foundations of the Mother of all Parliaments. Such is the blindness of George Osborne’s overrated “genius” that the Tories have plunged themselves into a serious political crisis. They have threatened all kind of […]
Posts Tagged ‘House of Lords’
The Tories don’t have the political capital to reform the House of Lords
Oct 27th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Cameron flooding the Lords prepares the way for its abolition
Aug 20th, 2015 by Grahame Morris.The House of Lords is beyond redemption. While recent scandals have brought this issue to the forefront of politics, the reality is that the Lords has been an outdated and defunct institution for over a century. At the last election Labour proposed to replace the Lords with an elected Senate representing the regions and nations of the […]
The Stansgate title should not be revived, nor the pretender “elected” to the Lords
Nov 20th, 2014 by Jon Lansman.Tony Benn was devoted to his family, and so far as one could tell, it was always reciprocated at least in his lifetime. The devotion took many forms but I am concerned here with the impact of that devotion on the family’s public face and on political matters. In a family in which four generations have […]
Cameron granting peerages for party donations is as corrupt as Lloyd George
Aug 10th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.It really stinks that Cameron’s latest list of peerages includes so many Tory party donors like the Asian jewellery tycoon who either personally or through his company has made 20 donations to the Tories in the last six years, and the Tory co-treasurer who has donated over £2.3 million to the party. This rancid exchange […]
Why are Labour members not allowed to select Labour Peers?
Aug 7th, 2014 by Jon Lansman.Last week, it seems, rumours were circulating around the Westminster bubble about the possibility of Michael Cashman, being appointed to the House of Lords. He is of course well qualified in what matters in the Bubble, as a former Eastenders star and MEP, not to mention a longstanding member of Labour’s Blair-backed but misnamed Members […]
A dilemma, but Doreen’s appointment should be welcomed
Aug 2nd, 2013 by Kate Osamor.When I first heard that Doreen Lawrence was to be made a life peer in yesterday’s list, I must admit to having mixed emotions. Partly because Doreen’s battle has kept her in the minds of the very same institutions that have a record of upholding institutional racism. On one hand I have little or no […]
Do we really need a House of Lords?
Jul 31st, 2012 by Kelvin Hopkins.With the Euro getting ever nearer to collapse, the world economy moving deeper into recession, unemployment in Britain predicted to surge above three million and the IMF warning that we are facing a decade of depression unless the government does a massive u-turn, there are definitely more important matters to deal with than House of […]
When Labour (almost) threatened to abolish the House of Lords
Jul 11th, 2012 by David Osler.Ever so briefly, it was official Labour Party policy to abolish the House of Lords. A resolution demanding exactly that was carried with a two-thirds majority at the 1978 conference. As the rules then stood, that qualified the proposal for automatic inclusion in the following year’s manifesto. Indeed, in his autobiography, the late leftwing MP Eric […]
Lords reform may break up Coalition: bring it on!
Apr 23rd, 2012 by Michael Meacher.It’s almost incredible that after public spending and benefit cuts of £109bn went through with scarcely a murmur of rebellion, the reform of the Lords now look set to be the issue that splits the Coalition in two. It’s incredible because no-one in their right mind can make the argument that with 92 hereditary peers […]
It’s PR in the Lords, not AV, that could save the skins of Lib Dem MPs
Apr 20th, 2011 by Jon Lansman.Political Scrapbook today reports that Lib Dem losers — Elwyn Watkins, two-time loser in Oldham East, and soon-to-lose leader of Sheffield Council, Paul Scriven — are to be given “ermine parachutes” in the House of Lords. Many more ermine parachutes could of course be available to Lib Dem MPs who lose their seats when the […]