House of Lords Bill [HL]

My Lords, in-house it may be, but stitch-up it is not. The context is very clear. We have enabled free votes to take place in both Chambers of this Parliament. The other place, the elected Chamber, has made clear its intent that the second Chamber should be wholly elected. The manifestos of the political parties support that. This group is working to take forward that intent and to make concrete proposals. In that context it is entirely appropriate that the representation should be from the leadership of those parties together with the representatives of the Cross Benches and the Lords Spiritual. Alongside that, there clearly needs to be thorough consultation and discussion with other Members of both Houses. That is what we intend and that is what we will put into action.