House of Lords Bill [HL]

My Lords, as one of the very first batch of the new breed nominated by the Stevenson Commission for the Cross Benches, it will not surprise any of your Lordships to know that I support the Steel Bill wholeheartedly. In addition, I suppose that I could call on my experience of 50 years and more as the kinsman of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Howe of Aberavon. That has given me an extensive, close-up, spectator experience of politics and politicians. Against that background, your Lordship’s House stands out as the most effective and civilised political scene that I have ever encountered. I have witnessed mutual respect, balanced thinking and an astonishing and hugely valuable diversity of expertise and experience, which are all very necessary as we scrutinise the Bills that come before this House, together with a shared determination to find the best possible answer to difficult questions. Its aim is to complement and not compete with the other place. The Bill rightly tries to enhance what is best about this House. The old army of hereditaries did us a great service by selecting the 90 or so who are with us today, and excellent they have been in many ways. By all means, let us build them into the system by making them life Peers like the rest of us. A statutory appointments commission is essential—I agree with what has just been said by the noble Baroness, Lady O’Cathain—especially its duty to monitor every appointment to this House and ensure the continuance of a 20 per cent independent sector. But I should like to see its remit a little more clearly defined in two particular respects. The first is the specific need for regional diversity, as well as the other form of diversity, which has been mentioned frequently in this debate by other noble Lords. Your Lordship’s House should indeed reflect life from all parts of this country. The second is the need for a far better balance between the sexes than is the case in the House’s present composition. I say in support of this—without fear of contradiction, I believe—that some of the brightest stars in every part of this House are women. A number of them would have stood for the elective system but, alas, I suspect that they would not have been appointed at that time. The recent appointments to the Front Benches vividly illustrate that point. Female membership of this House is, of course, much higher than when the hereditary Peers were still here. The percentage has been rising since they left, but slowly—from 16 to 19 per cent. However, it still remains one or two percentage points behind the other place. Fifteen of the commission’s 42 appointments— 36 per cent—have been women, but I should like to see the need for that ““catch up”” specifically included in the objectives of the statutory commission as a constant reminder of the gap that remains. That is one of the many ways in which the Bill can help to consolidate and, indeed, enhance the present high standards that we try to set in the present House. That is why, as a fully paid-up supporter of a wholly appointed House, the noble Lord, Lord Steel, can count on my enthusiastic support for his Bill.