House of Lords Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Steel, for introducing this Bill and thus giving me the opportunity to comment for the first time on Lords reform. In view of yesterday’s Statement, I will not go into the detail of the Bill, although some matters need considerable exploration. However, I support it as it deals with the urgent need—I emphasise that—for a statutory appointments commission which otherwise is not on the immediate political horizon, given the Government’s timetable of 2014. It also deals with some of the rather ludicrous consequences of the machinery for by-elections. The history of the reform of the House of Lords is littered with promises unfulfilled, and in the mean time it would be most useful to have this Bill under our belts. I shall now go a little wider and comment on the Government’s proposals, which are dismissive of this proposal. I fear that the House of Commons—and after nearly 42 years’ service in it, I remain a House of Commons man—believing in its paramountcy, has not realised that once there are elected Members in this House, things will never be the same again. There will be a tension fuelled by the demand for more powers. We have seen that in Brussels, Cardiff and Edinburgh, and it would be strange if it did not happen here. Moreover, there are no means of permanently enshrining the status quo. I want to make five brief points. First, the Statement ignores the element of tactical voting in the Commons on this issue. Secondly, consensus is commended, and there is no actual mention of the Parliament Act. The threat of the latter is in the words, ““the will of this House””, which contradicts a consensual approach. The Government say, ““We are looking to build on a consensual approach””. Their chances would be much higher if all duress were removed. Thirdly, why should the all-party group consist of only Front-Bench representatives when, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Howe of Aberavon, said only a few months ago, the Leader of the Conservatives in this House is a ““captain with few troops””? Fourthly, promises have been made about the position of existing life Peers. Now they are only to be discussed with a range of issues to be considered. Is this a watering-down of previous Statements? Perhaps my noble friend Lord Hunt will deal with that matter. Lastly, I welcome the Government’s aim to ensure in a constitutional Statement the ““current balance of powers””, for what it is worth. I commend the Bill. It will be most useful; it is urgent, and we cannot wait until 2014, which I understand is the Government’s timetable.