House of Lords Bill [HL]

My Lords, I welcome my noble friend’s Bill as an important step which leaves us in a better place from which to move to a fully reformed House. I imagine there will be consensus around the fact that we do not want in this House those convicted of a serious criminal offence. The Bill could be an opportunity to break the link between honours, titles and the second Chamber and, after the recent cash-for-peerages issue has, as noble Lords have said, brought the whole political process into disrepute, this is important. Cash for the right to scrutinise does not have the same ring to it. Nor should this House be regarded as a retirement home for those who have done a great job in industry, in the community or in the other place. I do not refer to those who have experience and time to offer and who would play an active role here. I was very attracted to the suggestion of the noble Lord, Lord Williamson of Horton, that a willingness to participate could be an element of the Bill because, certainly, one grand speech a year can be made in any setting. I agree with my noble friend Lord Falkland that some of the debate has begun in the wrong place yet again. It is critical to debate the powers of this House—for example, the right to scrutinise international treaties—the increasing load of secondary legislation and the inability of a scrutinising Chamber to amend any such legislation. Public understanding of the powers of the House and what it should be doing is an essential first step before asking the public to decide on its composition—if, indeed, we include that in our manifesto. I congratulate the Lord Speaker on her programme of going out into schools, universities, organisations and the public generally to explain what the second Chamber does and why it is so important. I hope that more of our energies will be devoted to that debate before we ask the public to decide who should be conducting the business which complements the work of the constituency MPs.